Anyone else get heart problems after chest radiation therapy?

My concern with left breast radiation is how they will protect my heart and lung. Lots of questions before I agree to it. Appreciate your post as I will ask this question. Not sure I could be kind in my rage. Wishing you the best outcome

It was also on my left side. Just finished Oct. 30th had echo Nov. 5th and came back with aortic stenosis.

What? Did they discuss this with you ahead of time?

No. Hence, all the rage...

Heart problems after chest radiation are unfortunately more common than many patients realize, and your frustration about not being fully informed beforehand is completely understandable. When discussing this with your medical team, focusing on wanting better communication going forward and asking about monitoring options might help you feel more in control while expressing your concerns constructively.

Thanks for the post. I’ve been referred to oncology radiation. My lumpectomy and lymphectomy are also on my left side. I now have more specific questions to ask.

I'm glad I can help. Best of luck to you in your treatment.

I had DMX with immediate reconstruction. I received 26 radiation treatments to my left breast amd surrounding region. During your initial alignment they coach you on breathing along with your measurements. I held my breath for periods of time during the radiation to protect my heart from radiation damage. By taking a deep breath in and holding it, it increases the distance away from your heart so that the radiation does not reach it. Holding your breath sounds tricky/difficult at first, but my techs were great about working with me and knowing my limits.

Betsy- I also had left sided radiation and was very worried about damage to my heart. I did hold my breath (as I assume you did). What symptoms did you have that made you reach out for testing?

Met with radiation earlier this week. After positioning me, arms above head, hands interlocked and head turned fully to my right, they made a custom form that I will lay on during my treatments. They took pictures of my positioning to put in my chart so I can be positioned in same way for treatments. Then they did a simulation run and coached me to hold my breath at specific points. They were very patient , not rushed and explained reasoning behind everything step by step. Was anxious at first but left feeling that they saw me as a real person and not just part of their job.

Terri, I did do the breath holds as instructed. I'm also getting Kadcyla every three weeks, so that requires quarterly echocardiograms. It was just time for me quarterly echo right after radiation, and surprise, there was aortic stenosis. My radiation oncologist has reached out after I sent a strongly worded email expressing my frustration of winning a stupid prize without even getting the joy out of a stupid game. She is willing to go through the treatment to prove to me it wasn't the radiation, but I'm sorry, I don't see any other cause, and it sounded very cover-my-own-rear of her. I have not taken her up on that offer because I need to now refocus on treatment, not assuaging a doctor's ego and their attempt to be absolved of guilt for pushing me into radiation in the first place.

I hit the feeling they didn’t care about my thyroid concerns when I had radiation. They were focused on breast cancer. My experience is doctors don’t cross over to the other concern that is not theirs.

No doubt we pay a big price of getting rid of one bad actor just to find out we have acquired another. I had double mastectomy radiation and nodes removed on left side. Now after 6 months, felt good, then have acquired lymphedema in left arm and hand. Will forever deal with this now and have to manage it daily. 😫 I’m so upset.

Susan I also held my breath to protect my heart. I was told ahead of time about the risk.

No rage here… had Echo prior to chemo… radiation dose too low. When finished all treatment heart still good! My cancer was right breast. Am NED now . ( no evidence of disease)

That is exactly why I am rolling the dice and not doing radiation. I am NED and going to start Kadcyla in about 2 weeks.

I strongly recommend fighting for Proton therapy, rather than traditional radiation, ESPECIALLY if you’ve got left sided cancer. It more effectively focuses on the tumor, while sparing healthy tissue.

So sorry to hear this happened to you that's why i am skeptical about radiation cause my breast cancer is on the left side and they talked to me about breath holding during the stimulation test, but I am still skeptical because too many people developed some type of heart conditions after having too much or aggressive radiation .We don't have proton radiation in my area and I know that target only the spot where tumor was and not surrounding tissue or organs.

Dennie T, I also developed lymphedema after mastectomy and node dissection. I want to have lymphovenous bypass surgery, which can provide significant improvement, and in some cases, complete cure for lymphedema. We may not have to live with this horrible condition for the rest of our lives.

No it's not available in the area where I live the proton radiation Only 1 place in North Carolina and it's a 5 hour drive from where i live and that would be impossible for me since radiation is five days a week.

I had right breast radiation just found out I have liver damage from it! I was never scanned after finishing radiation It took a local reoccurrence and being scanned a year later to find out! I was furious! There are breathing techniques they can use ie: hold your breath that pushes the liver out of the way during radiation treatment that can prevent this ....Well that was NEVER done with me! Had they at least tried to prevent it I wouldn't be angry...but they didn't bother! I blame myself bc normally I research everything but by the time I got to radiation I was just so done with all of it I didn't bother!!

After talking with my radiation oncologist and at first I was not going to do radiation because it's left side breast cancer but after talking medical oncologist I decided to have it but I remember them giving me a consent form to sign but later on as I started to develop side effects I thought to myself now where is the paperwork showing the side effects from radiation and I then realized they never gave me one the paperwork with all the side effects and when I questioned his nurse she said I am sure he discussed them with you Oh no he didn't and usually it is the nurse that have you sign the consent forms and on the day she did it it was just before they were getting ready to put me on table for actual radiation treatments she just came in and said you have to sign these before we can start treatment it is just giving your approval for the treatment .I never thought to ask for copies of the signature and she never said anything about all the side effects that were included on that paperwork that she never revealed or said a word about the side effects and everything was happening so fast and my radiologist team was waiting to put me on the table. I heard from some patients that have finished radiation saying they didn't get a copy of paperwork until they had finished radiation and discovered all these side effects were up there.

They also denied that the radiation caused my liver damage! Lol They said ALOT of people just get liver damage for no reason! Lol I said listen...go look at my scans before cancer treatment and after cancer treatment! I haven't suddenly became an alcoholic! I said so it was the chemo or radiation or BOTH it just didn't happen out of the blue! It made me mad they were denying it was from the treatment!

I can’t even get anti nausea meds as they aren’t radiating my stomach 🤷‍♀️. Yet you’re radiating right next to my sternum which is what’s causing the nausea from the first week. I don’t understand this.

So Sad that our oncologist team of Doctors can't be open and honest with us about the side effects . I prefer Honesty over trickery and that's what it feels like if they can't be honest and open upfront .I appreciate all that modern medicine has to offer but it comes with a price sometime.