Arm & Shoulder Morbidity in BC Patients

Chemo- I take a combination vitamin that I get at Walmart that contains both Calcium 1.2grams, (1200 mg) and 800 UI Vitamin D, combined in one capsule by Spring Valley. I take 2, twice per day. 400 capsules for $9.00

For skin care, after surgery, Have your Dr give you Medipore. By 3M. It is a type of weaved wound cover, that will stay in place, keep your wound from stretching, and clean, because you can shower with it on, and it dries quickly, when patted with a towel, then dried with a hair dryer on cool/warm setting. The stuff is AMAZING, but expensive, so be sure he gets you a roll before you leave the hospital. And.. ANY tape you might need to use.. use PAPER tape, after surgery because any of the other tapes will irritate and in some cases rip your hide right off, and get the swabs on a stick with the green brown iodine sticky mix(I cant remember the name) for underneath it, helps as well. You can get thru about 5-6 showers before needing to re-apply, depending on how careful you are with it.

Gold Bond medicated quick spray, triple action protective, antiseptic, pain relief, and itch relief. I use this under my breasts, it stops you from breaking out with a rash under there, cuz face it, unless you are breastless, if you don't wear a bra, and even sometimes when you do, we get rashes and sores under there, anywhere from a slight rash, to open wounds, and even fungal/yeast infections, due to all the crap your body is going thru and medications/toxins. A couple sprays, then dry it under there with a hair dryer. It is in the section with first aid sprays, bright yellow bottle with a red cap. I also use there powder away from my wounds as well, but prefer Talc for every where else and during the day, cuz it has the menthol smell, using the Gold Bond only at night.

You will probably be told to go and buy 100% pure aloe. They tell you that you can get this at Walmart, in gel for, for $3.00....I did, and was NASTIEST FEELING YUCK, never felt like it dried, left a sticky residue, and stuck to my clothes too. Hated it.

I buy the ¼lb size and still have plenty, after two and a half months, and I use it everywhere, and she sells it in multiple sizes. The mango is really nice too, for other parts of the body. I have bought several of her products and have not found any that I haven't absolutely loved. Read thru her listings entire page about the differences between what she sells, and you will see why.

For Rad burns, I use a mix of essential oils that I mix up myself and place is a small spray or roll -on bottle. I will make up some for anyone who wants to try it out and mail it to you in a small amount, but you need to test it on a small patch of skin somewhere else,to be sure you wont have an allergic reaction.

I had a burn that started out at about 4 inches long, and 2 inches wide, one spot about the size of a quarter that burned very deep, all the way thru my skin to where you could see my fat  on the top of my breast just under my collar bone, because I had a skin fold there, created by laying on my back, arm up over my head, after 4 days . Stopped tx for 2.5 weeks was given SSD creme mixed with lidocaine, then Biafine, and somehing else by the Dr, cant remember the name, none worked, and the quarter sized burn hole was so deep, it had burned passed my nerves,  I couldn't feel it, the skin around it had scorched, and was turned gray. So I told my rad PA, I was going to mix up my own solution, and use it, of which she was really skeptical, and warned me against it, but I had already known that Calendula oil works well for serious burns, and even found a few studies for it on NIH, as well a couple cancer sites, that it was being used, on a sort of trial basis, and having fantastic results.

Go to a grocery store, and buy Turmeric. I took 300 mg capsules 4 x daily. Start this about 2 weeks before starting rads, and then continue it for the entire time you are in tx, and a couple weeks after. It is a miracle to help keep you from burning.

Its normal to feel some lumps after, especially on/around/under your scar. I had sharp shooting pains in my arm, and breast, they said its common, due to the severing of a lot of nerves and muscle. At times, they hurt so bad, it would double me right over, like some one had punched me.

Now, after all is done, my breast has filled back in where the large sunken in area was, mine looked like a crater, about half of a baseball had been removed, but now, if it wasn't for the scar, you wouldn't know how much tissue had been removed at all. My nipple feels weird, when it hardens up from the cold or I am itching it, it feels like a chunk of leather or something, kinda hard to explain I know, pretty exhausting and long post, but that is my story of how I got thru it.