You better shop around

This has been my mantra while seeking out treatment, and, like Goldilocks, I found a clinic that feels 'just right' on the third try.
For now, I will hit the main points and write in more detail tomorrow:

• I am not a candidate for Mammosite, for several reasons, the main one being that it is not indicated for women with DCIS.
• I would be scheduled for 33 radiation treatments, 28 for the breast as a whole and 5 concentrating on the site of the tumors. I could start the treatments as soon as next week and I'm scheduled to return to the clinic for a 30 minute teaching session on Friday afternoon.
  
• The most common short term side effect of radiation of the breast is fatigue, though there is a long list of others: skin irritation, sensitivity, itching and dryness; breast swelling and soreness; slight congestion in the lungs with a dry cough; swelling of the arm.
• Long term side effects include increased brittleness of ribs beneath the treated breast.
• For women with DCIS, the rate of recurrence of any kind of breast cancer (invasive or non invasive) is 30% if the cancer is treated with a lumpectomy alone. When treated with a lumpectomy followed by radiation, the rate drops to 10%.