Chemo or No chemo

ChattyCat

...Can't sleep,  After meeting with my medical oncologist yesterday, I left with no real answers on whether or not to do chemo.  I had a double mastectomy on 9/27 and I'm almost 1/2 way through the reconstruction.  Last week I had good news that I would not need to do radiation so I assumed (and remained hopeful) this would also be the case regarding chemo.  The oncotype score is 21 (grade 1/slowest growth rate) and they recommend chemo for patients in the range from 18-31 so I'm on the lower end which is good, but still in that grey area and my Dr said it is up to me.  He would not give me an answer on what to do but said he would respect whichever decision I chose.  So, I'm trying to weigh the benefits verses risk.  At this point my reoccurrence rate is at 13% and with chemo those numbers are reduced only 3-5% so it's a lot to put your body through for such a small margin.  At best 8% or 13% as it stands now...the results were also based on taking Tamoxifen for 5 years and I will be on it for 10 years so those percentages may be a little lower.  Any thoughts or advice?  I'm REALLY conflicted and if my chances of recurrence would be reduced in the range of 20-50% it would be a no brainier but 3-5%?!?! Is it worth putting myself through this?  Thank for your time!

joannstar

Tough decision

I was Stage 1, Grade3, TNBC, after lumpectomy and before radiation I had 6 rounds of T/C. Since there are no homone blockers for me to take, I was treated agressively--standard protocol in my case.

My thought for you: "they" claim there is on a 12% chance of getting bc (I guess we are both just lucky), if you have a recurrence, how will you feel if you didn't do chemo that may have reduced your chance a bit more? It was important for me to do everything I could to stop that from happening and it would drive me nuts to think..."if only".

I was 57 years old during treatment. Chemo was hard, but doable and I worked throughout everything. I'm lucky that most of the side effects are gone now, but the fears still arise at the now 6-month checkups.  

Good luck.

Hugs,

JoAnn

peony

I was stage 3 with one tumor

I was stage 3 with one tumor in situ and one IDC. I also had a lumpectomy and got the same reoccurance rate you did -  13%. I figured I only had a 13% chance of getting it in the first place and, at that time, I wasn't feeling lucky. I also thought about looking back with regrets if I passed on chemo and the cancer recurred in, say 10 years. I would feel like the world's biggest fool.  What really convinced me was that the IDC tumor never showed up on the mammos or ultrasounds, so something else could be lurking, unseen in my body and I figured chemo was the best way to deal with that. Even though I'm having side-effect issues (8 months after chemo), I haven't regretted it at all. What ever, you choose, it's your own decision for what you feel is best for your body.  There's no right or wrong.  Best wishes.

disneyfan2008

Hugs

Hugs

Kats2

Your decision??

Hi ChattyCat,

Was wondering what your decision was regarding chemo?  Kats2