pc allen

I am hopefully awaiting word if I can have this procedure for radiation
rather than the 30 treatments usually given. It basically is inserting tube
and having "seed" injected for 10 minutes, then withdrawn, 2 times a day for
5 days. Spares trauma to rest of breast and much less travel time. Has
anyone had this done? Please tell us if you have and how you feel about it.

deliciouslaugh

i haven't posted here in a long tong time, and i really should. I'm scheduled
for surgery - lumpectomy (possible recurrence) in 11 days. I asked the surgeon
about this and he said that it's possible. It's notthe MammoSite. This is
called brachytherapy. They give it under certain circumstances, and it is
after lumpectomy, just before radiation (I have to wait a month before getting
radiation, because the scar of lumpectomy must heal) ... the purpose is to
lesson the amount of time you must go to radiation (for me it would be about 5
weeks, 5 times a day). This would be a boost of radiation seeds.). When the
surgeon mentioned a "puncture with a tube" is when i freaked out a bit. I
said, with local anesthia, correct?" And he said yes.

I don't know if this helps you. Mammosite might be less invasive? Smaller in
terms of not being a "puncture."??

I am sure there is plenty of material on Mammosite - and it's fairly new
procedure - don't think it's done everywhere.
Regards,
Deva

mary fisher

Yes you should!
Hello again :-)

I hope everything goes well, let us know.

Mary

morning_dove1

Deva,
Good luck with your surgery dear. I hope everything goes okay. I had a
recur in 11/02 chemo for 6 months [ac/taxotere] and doing fine. All
recent testing came back okay. I do remember seeing your posts a while
back. [recognize your email addy]
Take care there/God bless
annie

Ultimately.....we know deeply that the other side of every fear is a
freedom.

"Courage"...is *fear* that has said it's prayers.

I completed Mamosite two weeks ago. Had a small tube hanging out of my
left breast for 7 days. Tube and it's little ballon were inserted by
my surgeon as out-patient. Treatment was twice a day for 5 days. I had
a weekend fall in the middle, otherwise the tube/balloon would only
have hung around for 5 days. Treatment was a scan to make sure balloon
was in good shape then 10 minutes on a table, hooked up to "R2D2" that
sent the "source" into my tube. It was tough not being able to
bath/shower but I got good at the sink with a washrag.

Removal of tube/balloon was at the Dr's office after a Percocet.
Liquid in balloon was sucked out, then just a little tug and out it
came. I kept the little bugger. It cost $3000.

I had a week of antibiotic. We weren't sure if I had an infection or
not. Now, nipple is quite sore and red, but, at least it is there. I
apply vitamin-E oil on the breast every night.

Surgeon put in my porta-cath at the same time as the tube/ballon, so
sleeping is tough since both sides are touchy. My right jugular is pa
little swollen & makes my neck stiff. I can't lay on either side, so
hubby is making me sleep on the couch. Seems that's the only place I
find comfortable. Chemo (ac) starts next week.

I decided on Mamosite because left breast involvment and traditional
radiation would do damage to already not-great lung & other
unnecessary damage to good tissue. And, a treatment every day for 6-8
weeks would have been tough to hang with through the holidays.

I couldn't do the multi-plane implants because I'm alergic to
shellfish and they have to inject "contrast" that is high in iodine.
They suspected that I would have an alergic reation to the "contrast".
The reacion could have been counter-acted with steriods, but that was
a path I've been down before & I don't like it's effects.

After the "cyst" that was removed was found to be cancer, I had my
hip-length hair cut really, really, really short. I knew that going
through all the medical stuff would a pain while trying to take care
of the long hair.

I've had to bath with Dial anit-bacterial soap. This stuff dries my
skin out so bad, I felt like a prune. I bought some of those bathing
cloths like they use in the hospital. After the sink bath with the
Dial, I would use the cloths. They had enough lotion in them to keep
my skin from drying so badly.

I'm medically challenged, so I feel like I'm doing ok for now. I have
Muga scan & PET scan this week then I start chemo next week.
Hi-ho-hi-ho, off I gooooo....

Gentle hugs & good luck.
bgg

richreilly

Is mammosite applicable to a site near the breastbone? Is it
considered as effective as other methods?

hoosier

Have heard from no one who has done this 5 day radiation treatment. If
anyone out there please tell me about your experience.
Peggy

I posted earlier, but you may have missed it. I did the mammosite
"5-day treatment". I had the balloon/tube thing surgically installed on
a Tues. Had a planning session on Wed then started the actual radiation
on Thursday. So, for me, radiation was Thur, Fri, Mon, Tue, Wed. No
shower or bath the whole time. I got good with sponge bath from the
sink & I also purchased those bathing cloths like they use in
hospitals. I survived. Fortunately, it wasn't the summer time, so I
didn't get really sweaty/stinky. On my last Wed of treatment, thy just
pulled out the tube/balloon thing. Only about 5 seconds of stinging. No
biggie at all.

That was all about 2+ weeks ago. I now have a "sunburned" nipple that
is peeling a bit. Boob is still a bit swollen but nothing really
noticable to anyone but me.

I barely had enough skin over the site to do the mammosite. My
measurement was right on the minimum amount, thus, I have the
sunburn-type peel. Fortunately, I'm not a true red-head or a blonde,
so, the skin pigmantation is on my side. Seems the darker skin doesn't
have as much problems.

My other alternative was to do the traditional, 6-8 weeks, every day,
external beam. A lot more interruptive to my life & it also damaages
areas that didn't need radiation.

Good luck.
bgg

I"m medically challenged, but to try and answer, I doubt if mammosite
would work near the breastbone. The reason being, the cavity left by
the tumor removal must have a minimum amount of skin coverage
otherwise, there is radiation burning. I'm a pretty big gal and when I
feel up towards my breastbone, I don't feel alot of "depth" there.


effective as the standard (external beam) and in many cases, more
effective because the radiation is really put right into the target
spot.

Do note that there are sort of two kinds of "mammosite". One is the
tube/balloon thing I had and the other is the multi-plane insert. I
wasn't a good candiate for the multi-plane insert because I'm alergic
to shellfish which equates to being alergic to the contrast they have
to use. I wasn't a great candidate for the tube/balloon thing because I
just almost didn't have enough skin coverage. And I wasn't a great
candidate for the standard because that would have been close to my
heart & it would have clipped part of my left lung. I just rolled the
dice & went with the tube/balloon thing. What the heck?

Good luck.
bgg

hoosier

I get to have radiation this way - was worried. But not as quick as thought
it would be. I wait to get surgeon's date for time to put little tube in,
wait 2 days to be sure no swelling, go get scan with measurements, etc., two
more days or so - then the 5 days of radiation.

I found a nearby affordable Comfort Inn to stay at for 5 days so I don't
have to drive 75 miles each way for the 5 days.

Believe I am first or almost so to get this done here as the girl said they
were going to do these after first of year, and here it is.

Add this to my long list of operations.

If anyone contemplating this and wants info as goes along let me know. (You
have to have only a small lumpectomy for them to use this method.)