The Hopkins oncology nurses said to use Dove soap and if a washcloth was used, to get "baby washcloths" which are very very soft. Wash carefully and pat dry, then apply Biafine cream *except* just before radiation (as others have noted). After radiation, apply layer of RadiaCare gel and then, after it dries (it is aloe vera-based and goes on "wet") apply the Biafine wound dressing, a thick layer. Hydrocortisone cream to itchy areas first. (Scratching, esp. during sleep, can really damage the skin.)

The nurses pointed out that folks who were diligent about skin care had less problems with broken skin etc. However, our radiation tech said that in his opinion, there was a lot of individual variation and that some people's skin was just more sensitive to radiation and would blister and peel no matter what they did. (Though he agreed you had to do as much as possible to ameliorate the problem). The nurses had dressings to use if the skin became broken and oozing, luckily Barry never got to this point but some folks did.

The nurses at the Hopkins Recovery Center (who deal with a lot of breast cancer patients) advised Barry to "condition" his skin before radiation, starting about 2 weeks before, using Burnblock or similar gel. They have their breast cancer patients do this, it apparently helps prevent the worse skin damage. They also emphasized need to keep area clean.

Gail