Stage 2. I was given the choice of Chemo or no Chemo.

kapeterson said:

Stage 2. I was given the choice of Chemo or no Chemo.
Thank you!

I guess that would have been some helpful information.
YES, there was one lymph node with cancer.

Karen

Hi Karen,
My mom was
Hi Karen,
My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer 2 months after I was. Hers was so tiny (less than a centimeter) and was caught by her annual mammogram -her doc noticed a change from the previous year. So, it was super small and caught very early. At her initial appointments her oncologist told her that she wouldn't have to have chemo, that the tumor was so small, and wasn't there a year ago, therefore they were catching it in the earliest stages, he was sure it hadn't spread. Mom went in for her lumpectomy, and during the sentinel node biopsy the 1st lymph node was cancerous. Thank God none of the others were, but since that node had cancer in it, they changed her treatment plan and she did have 6 rounds of chemo, followed by radiation. In my treatment, I wasn't given a choice. My tumor was 2.5 cm and I was 34 at diagnosis, chemo is pretty standard for younger women with BC because it tends to be more aggressive. Given a choice, though, I probably still would have had the chemo. To give myself the piece of mind that I had done everything in my power to fight it. Especially with having 1 positive node, I would do it. Chemo is systemic -meaning it attacks cancer cells ANY where in your body where the little buggers may have gone off to & tried to set up home. Chemo is most definately not fun, in fact it's been the hardest thing i've ever done, but it IS do-able and it does save lives. Best of luck to you, and know that we will support you here whatever your decision will be.
*hugs*
Heather
ps-i hope Stacy chimes in -she recently was faced with the same decision of whether or not to have chemo & she ended up taking the chemo. I'm sure she could relate & maybe offer some advice.

margz35 said:

Definitely do chemo
Karen:
I am in the same boat. I had my sentinel lymph nodes removed for DCIS and the first one had 9mm on IBC so yes, I am doing chemo. The 2nd one was benign and 6 further auxiliaries were too.
Please consider chemo - it is a tough choice, and I am fortunate to only being doing 4 x rounds of TC. It is just God's way of putting life on hold for a bit to take care of business - you have many years ahead of you!!!!
Sending you hugs,
Margz

Life Insurance
Hi Karen, welcome to this amazing site! It sounds like you're having a real dillema! I wasn't given a choice, as I had to have both chemo and rads, and am doing my rads now, but the way I get through it is I look at it as Life Insurance. It insures(sic) that I will continue to live. I'm sure you'll make the right decision for you. Good luck with everything and please, keep us posted!

Be Well,
Dianne

I would get a second
I would get a second opinion. I was stage 2 A with no lymph node involvement. I was not given a choice. I am currently on round three of 8 chemo treatments. I will have radiation following the chemo.

Cinkal said:

I would get a second
I would get a second opinion. I was stage 2 A with no lymph node involvement. I was not given a choice. I am currently on round three of 8 chemo treatments. I will have radiation following the chemo.

Karen,
I just happened to
Karen,

I just happened to think about a conversation me and my oncologist had when discussing my treatment course. Each procedure you have done is another course of action to prevent the cancer from coming back. When I had chemo that left me for example about a 75%(not accurate figure, just showing example)chance of the cancer not re-occurring. My Mastectomy gave me better odds of 85%. Radiation now brought it up to 90% and my hormone therapy later will maybe get me a 95 % chance of survival. Nobody or no treatment will ever get you to 100% chance of survival, but everything adding up increases those odds.

I myself wouldn't have had to do radiation (not lymph node positive)but my tumor came in contact with my skin (skin sparing mastectomy)so it's a preventative thing. I would say if your insurance covers you, go for peace of mind. I opted to remove my healthy breast for that reason alone. Nobody wants to go through this all over again.

I am assuming you had a lumpectomy too right? Shame on your oncologist for putting this decision on your shoulders. That's what he/she is getting paid for, they are the ones with the expertise. Let us know what you decide and we will be there for you.

Lorrie

I was never given an option
I was never given an option - had to have neo-adjunct Chemo before surgery could be 'talked' about. More Chemo and Rads after.

Rague said:

I was never given an option
I was never given an option - had to have neo-adjunct Chemo before surgery could be 'talked' about. More Chemo and Rads after.

No option here
I was grade 1 stage 1 IDC no nodes involved. My ONC strongly encouraged chemo and rads. He said because I was so young (had just turned 49) I did not argue with him. My Med. Onc is great. I did 4 rounds of chemo and 30 rads and have been on Tamoxifen for over 8 months. I would do the same treatment over again if I could go back and do it over. I agree with others the more I could do to fight it the better. Best wishes. God Bless
(((hugs))) Janice

BioAdoptMom said:

What are your other stats?
I am not sure what your other stats are. I am stage 1 and am also in the gray area, but my doctor didn't give me a choice. He told me if I was in in the intermediate or high range for Oncotype I would get chemo, so I started treatments on Friday. I am glad I didn't have to make the decision myself. Your other stats would have a lot to do with it though. What is your tumor grade? Mine was 3 so that made a difference. We also still have an 11 y/o at home and I want to increase my chances of seeing her graduate from HS and college. I'm 52 and if I were anywhere under 65 and had a grade 2 or 3 tumor I would error on the side of caution and go with the chemo. But that's just me. Good luck to you and prayers for your wisdom with such a difficult decision!

Nancy

Yeah, I have to agree with
Yeah, I have to agree with the others that usually stage 2 with lymph node involvement would suggest Chemo. That is my diagnosis too, and I had chemo and rads with stage 2 and only 1 positive node.Now, my Onc. did say that I was borderline on needing rads, but chemo was never a question. Rads were required because the surgeon said the margins were't clean enough. A 2nd opinion might ease your mind.
Dee

dyaneb123 said:

Yeah, I have to agree with
Yeah, I have to agree with the others that usually stage 2 with lymph node involvement would suggest Chemo. That is my diagnosis too, and I had chemo and rads with stage 2 and only 1 positive node.Now, my Onc. did say that I was borderline on needing rads, but chemo was never a question. Rads were required because the surgeon said the margins were't clean enough. A 2nd opinion might ease your mind.
Dee

I had no node involvement,
I had no node involvement, so, I had a lumpectomy with rads only. I would encourage a 2nd opinion also, but, with the involvement with your one node, I also would think chemo would be a prerequisite.


Hugs, Angie

joannstar said:

I didn't feel like I had a choice
I was first diagnosed with Stage 0 DCIS but after the lumpectomies (had to have a 2nd to get clean margins), I was restaged as Stage 1C IDC, 0/4 nodes and triple negative. My onc said he'd STRONGLY recommend chemo because of the triple negative even though I had no nodal involvement and was only Stage 1. That was a shocker for me, because up until that point, I thought I was Stage 0 and only had to have rads (which was worrying me enough).
While chemo is no picnic, I would do it again if I had to. I survived it very nicely and after almost 4 months, my hair is growing back and my side effects have pretty much gone away totally. I'm a bit more tired than usual and my knees ache--which I think is from being overweight, but I am getting back into the swing of things now.
I'm glad I did EVERYTHING possible to give myself the best chance at not having a recurrence. There are no hormones for me to take so all treatment is over other than quarterly checkups.
Now I'm working on enjoying my life.
Good luck with your decision.
JoAnn

I would do chemo and
I would do chemo and advocate strongly for a second opinion. Do they do oncotype testing.I fthey do perhaps it can give you more info to make a decison.