I really need to update this more often!

When radiation was over, I felt pretty good – my skin was just a tiny bit reddish, I was just the tiniest bit sore, and the only sign of fatigue was the more-frequent migraines, which could easily be explained by having to drive out of West Seattle every weekday.

The radiation oncologist said to keep using the prescription steroid cream for 2 weeks after the last day, so I did that. Everything seemed more or less the same. I was looking forward to being done with the cream since it is really thick and you have to mix it with a regular moisturizer to get it to spread. But I was instructed to keep using plain moisturizer, which I did.

Over the weekend, after I stopped using the steroid cream, my skin started to get redder and itchy, and the skin under my arm started peeling. I got a little concerned and called the radiation nurse on Monday. She reassured me that this was pretty normal and recommended something called Aquaphor. It didn’t really feel too bad and at that point I was just calling because I just wanted some reassurance. But it kept getting worse over the next few days. The Mighty Sam went to Bartell’s and got me some Aquaphor on Wednesday. That did help a little.

So, I’m thinking that the steroid cream worked EXTREMELY well and when I stopped using it all hell broke loose! My skin now is quite red in all the radiation areas. It is worst under my boobicle, in my underarm, and there’s an extra tingly-itchy spot in the center of my chest. I checked the intarwebs and it turns out that these three spots are exactly where one should expect it to be worst, because of how the radiation beams are directed. So fun times.

Now I am really, really looking forward to when this starts healing up. I kind of feel like it’s getting better now – I think it was probably the worst on Wednesday, right before I started using the Aquaphor. But it might just be that I feel better because of the Aquaphor.

I feel kind of irritated, because I had this false sense of security when I finished up the radiation and didn’t have any significant effects! It is so lame to have thought I was past the worst of it and then get blindsided with it 2 weeks afterward! Because I thought that it would get worst 2-3 weeks into it! Not 2-3 weeks AFTER being done!

I have an appointment with my main oncologist next week. Thursday morning. Then a follow-up with the plastic surgeon in mid-October to talk about getting my permanent implant.