Sisters, help me decide! To chemo or not to chemo....

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  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    #22
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    poplolly said:

    To me, in my opinion only,
    To me, in my opinion only, anything is worth the risk to live. If you try chemo and the first one wipes you out, you can always decide to stop treatment. I was lucky, I guess, because chemo was very tolerable for me. They also gave me a shot once a week for four weeks to help me fight any infection.

    I would get a second
    I would get a second opinion. So you can feel at peace with whatever decision you make. I had estrogen positive cancer this time, and my docs feel the tamoxifen is more important than the chemo. I had both because it needed it. If my doc says no then I would get the second opinion. If my doc gave me the choice then I wpuld do it. although like cave diver I was pretty sick But we crawled across that finish line!
  • Ritzy
    Ritzy Member Posts: 4,381 Member
    #23
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    poplolly said:

    To me, in my opinion only,
    To me, in my opinion only, anything is worth the risk to live. If you try chemo and the first one wipes you out, you can always decide to stop treatment. I was lucky, I guess, because chemo was very tolerable for me. They also gave me a shot once a week for four weeks to help me fight any infection.

    Have you come to a decision
    Have you come to a decision yet? I've been praying for you.


    Sue :)
  • Corinna11
    Corinna11 Member Posts: 75
    #24
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    Ritzy said:

    Have you come to a decision
    Have you come to a decision yet? I've been praying for you.


    Sue :)

    Thanks everyone for your
    Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts! Ritsy, I saw another onc. and they rec radiation and Tamoxifen as well. Mind you though, I was between ins when I was dx so I have Medicaid coverage and these were the only 2 oncs my ins would cover... I don't know if the MD's dont make any profit on the chemo considering the Medicaid write-off and maybe that influences their decision re chemo recc or not...

    Anyway, I've decided to just do rads and Tamoxifen. They only wanted to rad 1 breast but I'm going to have them do both. I would have done chemo 2 but I have a crappy home situation with my husband (will separate after tx) and I dont think I can really count on him if I have to go through chemo for 3 months. Anyway, I'll have to leave it in God's hands. I truly appreciate all the prayers also!!! Thanks so much sisters!!
  • LoveBabyJesus
    LoveBabyJesus Member Posts: 1,679 Member
    #25
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    Corinna11 said:

    Thanks everyone for your
    Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts! Ritsy, I saw another onc. and they rec radiation and Tamoxifen as well. Mind you though, I was between ins when I was dx so I have Medicaid coverage and these were the only 2 oncs my ins would cover... I don't know if the MD's dont make any profit on the chemo considering the Medicaid write-off and maybe that influences their decision re chemo recc or not...

    Anyway, I've decided to just do rads and Tamoxifen. They only wanted to rad 1 breast but I'm going to have them do both. I would have done chemo 2 but I have a crappy home situation with my husband (will separate after tx) and I dont think I can really count on him if I have to go through chemo for 3 months. Anyway, I'll have to leave it in God's hands. I truly appreciate all the prayers also!!! Thanks so much sisters!!

    Hi -- If this is what your
    Hi --

    If this is what your heart tells you to do, then go with it. However, if you are not doing it because you are scared of not having support around you - please think again. Hospitals and volunteers offer help for cancer patients, and they might be able to tell you what to do best under those circumstances. But if you feel in your heart this is the right choice, than OK.

    If you have cancers in both breasts and you are not getting chemo, I would suggest radiation for both.

    God bless you.
  • Lalalopsy
    Lalalopsy Member Posts: 1
    #26
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    Always fight
    dear,

    It is always a hard choice, however, i think you should go for the chemo and wait once you are not convenient with it you can stop it.

    good luck sis
  • jnl
    jnl Member Posts: 3,869 Member
    #27
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    LoveBabyJesus said:

    Hi -- If this is what your
    Hi --

    If this is what your heart tells you to do, then go with it. However, if you are not doing it because you are scared of not having support around you - please think again. Hospitals and volunteers offer help for cancer patients, and they might be able to tell you what to do best under those circumstances. But if you feel in your heart this is the right choice, than OK.

    If you have cancers in both breasts and you are not getting chemo, I would suggest radiation for both.

    God bless you.

    I didn't have to make this
    I didn't have to make this choice. I know it must be difficult. Listen to your oncologist, think long and hard and make your decision based on what you want.


    Lots of hugs,

    Leeza
  • Kylez
    Kylez Member Posts: 3,761 Member
    #28
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    Lalalopsy said:

    Always fight
    dear,

    It is always a hard choice, however, i think you should go for the chemo and wait once you are not convenient with it you can stop it.

    good luck sis

    Only you can make the choice
    Only you can make the choice to do chemo or not. Weigh all of the information given to you and decide. Wishing you good luck whether you do chemo or not.


    Hugs, Kylez
  • renee616
    renee616 Member Posts: 181
    #29
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    Kylez said:

    Only you can make the choice
    Only you can make the choice to do chemo or not. Weigh all of the information given to you and decide. Wishing you good luck whether you do chemo or not.


    Hugs, Kylez

    Hi
    I gotta say, I had some
    Hi
    I gotta say, I had some side effects from chemo, but nothing that I couldnt handle. And I really took care of my self. I mean my husband drove me back & forth and took two days off a week on my treatment week, but i never asked for help with anything. I totally could have drove myself to appointments and I still handled everything at home. I probally would have napped more if it were just me! :) I know alot of people who worked through chemo. I would do it again if it meant keeping cancer gone! And during chemo I just kept my lysol handy and sprayed everything daily. I hope the Drs made the right call. Chemo is used to aggressively treat cancer. I do wish you luck in your journey!
    hugs Renee
  • Corinna11
    Corinna11 Member Posts: 75
    #30
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    renee616 said:

    Hi
    I gotta say, I had some
    Hi
    I gotta say, I had some side effects from chemo, but nothing that I couldnt handle. And I really took care of my self. I mean my husband drove me back & forth and took two days off a week on my treatment week, but i never asked for help with anything. I totally could have drove myself to appointments and I still handled everything at home. I probally would have napped more if it were just me! :) I know alot of people who worked through chemo. I would do it again if it meant keeping cancer gone! And during chemo I just kept my lysol handy and sprayed everything daily. I hope the Drs made the right call. Chemo is used to aggressively treat cancer. I do wish you luck in your journey!
    hugs Renee

    You've given me alot to
    You've given me alot to think about. I actually am going to have to wait now till I get a couple of teeth fixed first. I need a couple of root canals. Yippie. I will need them done first or I could increase my chance of infection with chemo or rads. Sigh..... what next??
  • Noel
    Noel Member Posts: 3,095 Member
    #31
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    Corinna11 said:

    You've given me alot to
    You've given me alot to think about. I actually am going to have to wait now till I get a couple of teeth fixed first. I need a couple of root canals. Yippie. I will need them done first or I could increase my chance of infection with chemo or rads. Sigh..... what next??

    I hope that we helped you
    I hope that we helped you somewhat Corinna11. The ultimate choice, ofcourse, is yours. Just do whatever you have to do to rid yourself of the beast!


    Sorry about the dental work you have to have done. Good luck Corinna with that.


    Big hugs!
  • joannstar
    joannstar Member Posts: 403 Member
    #32
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    Corinna11 said:

    You've given me alot to
    You've given me alot to think about. I actually am going to have to wait now till I get a couple of teeth fixed first. I need a couple of root canals. Yippie. I will need them done first or I could increase my chance of infection with chemo or rads. Sigh..... what next??

    Had to do the same thing
    I had to delay my first chemo due to dental work needing to be done first. During chemo I had a flare up with one tooth and was on antibiotics for a month... So much better to have the dental work done first!
    Good luck.
  • survivorbc09
    survivorbc09 Member Posts: 4,374 Member
    #33
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    Corinna11 said:

    Thanks everyone for your
    Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts! Ritsy, I saw another onc. and they rec radiation and Tamoxifen as well. Mind you though, I was between ins when I was dx so I have Medicaid coverage and these were the only 2 oncs my ins would cover... I don't know if the MD's dont make any profit on the chemo considering the Medicaid write-off and maybe that influences their decision re chemo recc or not...

    Anyway, I've decided to just do rads and Tamoxifen. They only wanted to rad 1 breast but I'm going to have them do both. I would have done chemo 2 but I have a crappy home situation with my husband (will separate after tx) and I dont think I can really count on him if I have to go through chemo for 3 months. Anyway, I'll have to leave it in God's hands. I truly appreciate all the prayers also!!! Thanks so much sisters!!

    Glad you have a treatment
    Glad you have a treatment plan now Corinna! Good luck with rads! Keep us posted as to how you do.


    Hugs, Jan
  • survivorbc09
    survivorbc09 Member Posts: 4,374 Member
    #34
    Options
    Corinna11 said:

    Thanks everyone for your
    Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts! Ritsy, I saw another onc. and they rec radiation and Tamoxifen as well. Mind you though, I was between ins when I was dx so I have Medicaid coverage and these were the only 2 oncs my ins would cover... I don't know if the MD's dont make any profit on the chemo considering the Medicaid write-off and maybe that influences their decision re chemo recc or not...

    Anyway, I've decided to just do rads and Tamoxifen. They only wanted to rad 1 breast but I'm going to have them do both. I would have done chemo 2 but I have a crappy home situation with my husband (will separate after tx) and I dont think I can really count on him if I have to go through chemo for 3 months. Anyway, I'll have to leave it in God's hands. I truly appreciate all the prayers also!!! Thanks so much sisters!!

    Glad you have a treatment
    Glad you have a treatment plan now Corinna! Good luck with rads! Keep us posted as to how you do.


    Hugs, Jan

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