breast cancer side effects of treatments

Lwilliams

I am 75 years old and have been diagnosed with breast cancer recently. I had a lumpectomy and one lymph node removed. I have not met with a radiologist yet but am undecided about going forward with radiation treatments due to the awful side effects. I am afraid it will drastically change my lifestyle and give me more health issues. Is it worth it ? Is quality of life the better choice or just existing being miserable everyday ? How much longer can I live if I get the radiation and will it cure the cancer. Anybody out there in their 70s that have gone through the treatments ?

LovesPrimes

@Lwilliams I'm so sorry for your reason to be here. I know that the decisions are so hard to make and I won't offer advice as my cancer journey is very different. But I do want to point out a thread on here titled "Choices" where you will hear real life experience with choosing to go through treatment and choosing not to. I hope it helps!

Saramee

I'm72 and went thru 16 rounds of chemo, 30 radiation treatments and had a mastectomy.

I hated the radiation treatments because I had to be there every day - the actual treatment didn't take long it was just the hassle of it.

BUT, I suffered from severe burns. Right after my 18th treatment my skin blistered, turned black and peeled off. This is NOT normal and my regular oncologist was not happy that the radiation doctor had given me such strong doses.

I had a bit of fatigue with the radiation but I did not get sick or have other side effects. If you decide to do radiation just be sure to watch your skin - when it starts getting dark or turning red then it's time for a break.