How much time before treatment?

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Derbygirl
Derbygirl Member Posts: 198
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Lumpecomy done June 20 with diagnosis of stage 1, less than 1 cm cancer. Re-excision on July 18 and lymph node biopsy were negative. Another re-excision is planned on August 8. It's an issue with clear margins. Breast Surgeon and Radiologist feel this is appropriate because cancer cells are in one small area. Appointment with Oncologist is August 26. What is the rule of thumb for time between surgery and next treatment? Has anyone had three surgeries to remove tissue?

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  • Unknown
    Unknown
    #2
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    They waited one month between lumpectomy and chemo to give me time for healing.
  • jmerel
    jmerel Member Posts: 10
    #3
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    Do you mean btwn surgery and chemo/radiation? Clean margins is a huge indicator. Doc will try to get clean margins. It's important. Congrats on no lymmph nodes.

    I have learned from my own experience and others that it seems that you get the tx regardless of node outcome. My sister had no nodes and had chemo and tamoxifen. While chemo seems horrible it can also be reassuring. Joanie
  • jmerel
    jmerel Member Posts: 10
    #4
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    Forgot to say my timeline. Surgery in October and chemo started Dec. I had a bad infection so chemo was delayed.
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #5
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    I had my lumpectomy on Aug 5, and was to start chemo on September 5...lol...fooled them, I was in the hospital Aug 19 with a total bowel obstruction from the resection I had had in May for rectal cancer...lol...I got the 2-fer...

    I agree with others, generally, the docs want you to heal before starting chemo...less chance of infection, etc. In most cases, cancer is slow moving, so it's best that you recover before the next step.

    Clear margins are what they are....whether it's 1 time or 3....they want to make sure they remove all they can, significantly less chance for reoccurance...

    Hugs, Kathi
  • mmontero38
    mmontero38 Member Posts: 1,510
    #6
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    My chemo was started 6 weeks after radical mastectomy and node removal. Nodes were clean but they found vascular invasion so therefore, the chemo. It gave me time to heal before starting the next battle. I then started Tamoxifen, 4 weeks after my last chemo infusion. Good luck to you. Hugs, Lili
  • seof
    seof Member Posts: 819 Member
    #7
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    I started with chemo first, then off for a month to get it out of my system, then bilateral mastectomy, wait about 6 weeks to heal before another round of chemo (different drugs), then off of that for a month before we started 6 weeks of radiation. Now I am completing 10 Herceptin treatments (every 3 weeks) to be done in Feb. I will have reconstruction surgery to finish off everything. I think about 6-8 weeks is the average range for folks to wait between surgery and chemo, but it depends on how your own body reacts and how the healing progresses, and Dr. preference, I suppose. Your Dr. is your best source of info for what you should expect in your own case.

    Best wishes, seof.
  • chenheart
    chenheart Member Posts: 5,159
    #8
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    I had surgery on March 29th ( 2003) and started chemo on May 5th~ five or six weeks seems to be the norm with tine for the body to heal from the surgery.

    Hugs,
    Claudia
  • Bill.S
    Bill.S Member Posts: 177
    #9
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    Had Mast. 5/22 and started chemo 7/14.Taking TCH cocktail every 3 wks. Hope that helps.
    Bill S

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