Before beginning radiation, you will have an appointment for radiation planning. This is a painless procedure, but one which many women find emotionally difficult because the environment is strange and the machines may seem quite intimidating. Ask questions if you wish. You will be asked to lie still, your hand up under your head and your breast/torso exposed, for approximately forty-five minutes while several people measure, mark, X-ray, and study the areas to be treated. Here are a few strategies that might help.
You can bring a Walkman and listen to music. You can bring a companion to talk with. If you are still experiencing discomfort from your surgery when you raise your arm up above your head, take two Tylenol before you leave for the hospital. Marks (tattoos) will be put on your chest to guide the radiation. They are very small, but permanent. Rather
than what you imagine when you think “tattoo,” these will be tiny pinprick-sized marks that are usually indistinguishable from freckles. You will feel the tattoo pinpricks, but the process is not painful.
It is theoretically possible to have these marks removed later by laser. Most radiation oncologists prefer that you not do this. If you should ever again require radiation therapy to this area, it would be extremely important to be able to exactly identify the area previously treated. The same place in your body usually can not be safely irradiated more than once (i.e., one series of treatments).
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