No treatment except mastectomy...

Hi Annie
Honestly there is no cut and dry answer to your question. I'm sure some live to a ripe old age who don't take follow up treatments and some get cancers connected to these same treatments in other parts of the body ie Tamoxifen can cause Ovarian and Uterus Cancer. I won't bore you with my details but one thing I know is after bilateral or single mastectomy (I have bilateral) one single cancer cell missed can travel into the chest area and start up somewhere else, ie bones, lung and organ cancers even the brain.......... Sorry scarey I know. Even with clear nodes, and successful surgery they never know if we are absolutely clear. Hence most of us do as much as on offer to reduce the chances but it is your choice. We trust the advice of our surgeons and oncologists and hope they are good at their jobs............... After four chemos it took me quite sometime to get over fatigue and indeed don't think I will ever have the same energy level as before, but then getting older and hard to know what is what any more. The chemo treatment was actually no problem. Irritating things like nail loss or near loss, mouth ulcers, lack of appetite, fatigue, I had a lot of arm jumping whilst asleep quite funny at the time, nearly gave myself a black eye. Good luck with whatever you decide, I wish you well.

I am quite positive that if
I am quite positive that if I had NOT done chemo before and after surgery and radiaction after that I would be dead today.

You have to remember that not all breast cancers are the same and have the same prognosis. For IBC, chemo is necessary before surgery/mast.. It does not not form as a lump but as a 'nest' or in 'bands' so chemo is used to try to get it shrink and form a lump so that it can be gotten out.

NED Doesn't Really Mean That Much...
I have been using online breast cancer forum since 1997. The discussion board I used is no longer available as they lost their funding many years ago. There was a lady who refused chemotherapy, didn't need radiation (or she refused it) and only had a mastectomy. She was a stage II. Her refusal stem from the fact that a niece died from over radiation for her breast cancer. We have Facebook now. This woman has never had a recurrence and is still doing well today. Lucky is what I call her. However, since we all know that cancer can return many, many years later, I would say, she really isn't out of the woods yet!

Hope that helps. Whether one takes the treatments offered by the oncologist is a personal decision that each woman has to make for herself. There is no right or wrong.

Oncologist are not gods of any kind and don't have crystal balls to help them sort out who will live or who will die. They suggest treatments according to what they learn from taking classes on the topics, their experience in treating patients, attending workshops,reading journals and etc.

In my 18th+ year since diagnose and am stage IV. I do everything that is offered to keep me on planet earth as long as possible.

Having no trace of cancer doesn't mean anything. A malignant cell can go dormant for many years, biding it's time and can reappear without notice until the day, a dry cough is notice, a headache that doesn't respond to over the counter meds, a pain on the right side, a pain in the abdomen, a backache and then an MRI, a Ct or Bone scan shows "it's back".

The decision is yours, Annie Therese to make and no one can decide for you.

Best,

Doris

Gabe N Abby Mom said:

Like Susan and Kay, my
Like Susan and Kay, my cancer is IBC. I'm also triple negative. These are incredibly aggressive forms of BC. Like Susan, I am sure that I would be dead today if I hadn't done chemo, surgery, then rads.

And like Kay, my cancer came back so I've been battling this beast 2 years. Sometimes even when we do everything, it still comes back. It's not something I have control over. It's going to come back or it's not, and we don't have a crystal ball.

As everyone has said, your treatment plan is a VERY personal decision. Each time there has been a decision to make in my treatment, I have always taken the most aggressive choice. I never wanted to look back with regrets. Again, you have to look at the risks and benefits and make your decision. It is an incredibly difficult choice to make. Whatever you decide, I wish you peace with your choice.

Hugs,

Linda

I can only hope that the
I can only hope that the cancer will not return. It's been almost 5 years since my dbl mx, no other treatment for stage 1 IDC. My oncologist reminds me, a good diet and exercise can be as effective as tamoxifen for some, as this was not an option for me. My LT Effect Specialist says that I can put the BC dx behind me. So, I'm hoping and taking care of my body.