To Chemo OR NOT to Chemo

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  • MyTurnNow
    MyTurnNow Member Posts: 2,686 Member
    #62
    Gabbie99 said:

    taxotere and cytoxin X 4
    Tomorrow morning I will have a port put in. Told my surgeon that I felt creeped out about having a pop top on my body and we had quite a laugh about that. He said of all the things for you to worry about through this whole process, biopsies, lumpectomy, mastectomy, lymph node removal, and now chemo...I can't believe it's the port that's really bothering you! Well- what can I say..it is. Trying not to think about it at all and hoping the anxiety goes away before the surgery. It may just be the fact that it is one step closer to the chemo treatments. Going to the onc on Monday to set them up. Only 4 sessions- three weeks apart. By my calucaltions if we start by April 16th my last session will be two days before my birthday on June 20. It has definitley helped to hear stories on this website from women who have been there and done that. Thanks for all the info.

    Gabbie, I had this same
    Gabbie, I had this same cocktail and for the same duration. I didn't have a port put in because I have "good" veins or so they say. There are many ladies who have had a port and are very glad they did. They say it makes it much easier. I hope you start in time to really have something to celebrate this year for your birthday. I'll celebrate with you, my birthday is the 28th. Good luck and keep us updated. Take care!
  • jnl
    jnl Member Posts: 3,869 Member
    #63
    orangegirl said:

    factors
    Gabbie
    I'm new to the site, too but I was diagnosed 14 years ago. I had very agressive chemo to combat a very agressive cancer and even then I was asking myself if it was the right choice. My kids were very young then, 10, 9 and 7. I asked my onc. what my prognosis was without chemo and she said I had a 10-20% chance of surviving 5 years and half that of surviving 10 years. I wanted to finish raising my kids, so I did it. Afterwards I said that if i ever had cancer again, I would not go through that a second time. We have just found a new mass and we don't know if it's cancer or not but I'm already asking myself if I can do it again or not. Now I have a precious grandson who is only 3 and I can't imagine not watching him grow up. As everyone else has said, it's an intensley personal decision and many factors will go into making it. I truly believe that the 13 years I have had since my treatment ended were made possible by the chemo and I think I made the right choice. My grandmother was 72 when she was diagnose with non-hodgkins lymphoma and the family pressured her to get chemo and she thought it was silly at her age. She agreed to try one treatment and she was terribly ill from it so she said "no more". At 72 I would agree that being sick from chemo doesn't seem like much of a trade off but I was only 27 and it made all the difference to me.
    Sending you prayers of comfort,
    E

    Praying for you orangegirl
    Praying for you orangegirl and sending you hugs!

    Leeza
  • PattyC12
    PattyC12 Member Posts: 1
    #64
    Balentine said:

    to do chemo or not
    Dear Gabbie,
    Did you ask your doctor for percentages? They should have told you that by doing the chemo it would give you a certain percentage of recurrence compared to not taking the chemo. I also asks my surgeon and oncologist their advice and opinion. By doing chemo it is giving me an extra 9% chance that the cancer will not reoccur and from everyone I have talked to in the support networks and doctors, they said no question...that I should do it. My age is also a factor...I am 49 so longevity is a factor. If I were 60 or 70 I may have chosen not to do it. With the chemo and tamoxifen I will have a 92% success rate. I have Invasive ductal carcinoma 2.2cm lump, had mastectomy 1/19. I start my chemo on 3/15 for 4 treatments. Taxotere and cytoxan. In the end....as everyone has said...it is your decision but I felt like you did...that if I don't do it and in 5-10 years it returns how would I feel?? Pray about it. I know you will make the right decision :)
    Lorrie

    Me too
    Lorrie
    Your situation sounds so much like mine. Would like a friend to talk too via e-mail or phone. If you would like to contact me let me know and I will forward you my e-mail. I am new to bc. Getting ready to start treatment. Not sure yet how this blog stuff works yet. God Bless.
  • kelliemak
    kelliemak Member Posts: 7 Member
    #65
    RE said:

    Never fun to have to decide.
    Hello Gabbie welcome to the site, glad you found us. I had no involvement in any of my lymphnodes the first time around. I had a mass in my left breast so I had a lumpectomy, did chemo and did radiation therapy (6 weeks). Eight months later it was back and now it was in my chest wall and my sentinel lymph node, had I not had chemo the first time I am pretty sure I would not have survived. Once cancer is in your lymph nodes in now has a path to anywhere in your body it wishes to attach itself too. I cannot tell you what you should do it is a very personal decision. I can tell you that i have had cancer 3 times and have had lots of chemo and rads, it is not fun but it is doable. No matter what you decide we will be here to support you.

    RE

    chemo or not

    This makes me feel that chemo didn't help you at all.  I know some very strong health professionals that say having chemo can also cause cancer as when our body is depleted of good cells, then the cancer cells can also hybernate until just the time chemo is done and continue to grow as our defenses are down.  So this makes me wonder if I should have it.  I just had double mastectomy, clear lymph nodes and only 1.4 cm cancer.  Very non aggressive cancer.  They have said because of these facts I may or may not need chemo.  I feel chemo can be so damaging to our bodies that I may decide not to take it.  After all the cancer they would be treating is gone anyhow, with the breasts.  So I may be wrong but I think even if they tell me to take it I am going to refuse it and do all the natural things I can do to get healthier.  Just my thoughts.

  • kelliemak
    kelliemak Member Posts: 7 Member
    #66
    Gabbie99 said:

    option
    Thanks to everyone for the posts - I have pulled up so many clinical studies, (even paid for some) and so far am still leaning towards saying NO to chemo. I have heard from people who had chemo and cancer came back anyway. I had a lumpectomy, (several margins not clear) and sentinal node biopsy, (<.1mm tumor) first and then elected a mastectomy and more lymph node removal. WJ- they took an additional 20 nodes with no more evidence of cancer during the second surgery. I am surprised by your question "So you were given the option by your doctor to have chemo or not?" My oncologist made it clear from the beginning that I am the boss. He can give recommendations for standards of treatment and in the end NO doctor can tell us which will have to deal with cancer again and which of us will not. Of course - if my cancer was aggressive and more lymph nodes contained cancer there would be no doubt that I would go for chemo treatment....but as it is I am just really tired of surgery and want to heal without the hassle of chemo..especially when considering the 2-4% over the 85% chance that I already have that it will not come back. This is the perfect example of why so much more needs to go into research of this disease. They have been so aggressive in finding all of the little tumors early- but they still can't tell you which are going to cause problems and which will not. A lot of women go through lots of needless suffering just in case.</p>

    chemo or not

    I am deciding to not have chemo.  I had breast cancer 1.4 cm and non agressive non lymph node invovled.  I can't understand why chemo would benefit me.  Both breasts off so the cancer they would be treating and have tested in the oncotyping is gone, so why have chemo for something that is not there anymore.  Chemo is also very damaging to the body and it is proven that chemo and radiation can also cause cancer.  so I am deciding to not put my body through the abuse of chemo when I don't believe it is necessary.  My oncologist said the only way cancer cells can get to other parts of the body from the breasts is through the lymph nodes so if they are clear then why would I treat a cancer that is not there.  I hate to say it, but there is profit to be made on chemo and medical treatment as well.  So that is my thoughts.

  • kelliemak
    kelliemak Member Posts: 7 Member
    #67
    sunny_girl said:

    I chose not to take chemo
    Hi Gabbie,

    I chose not to have chemo and I certainly support your decision either way. I was diagnosed with IDC 3/08, one day after my 42nd birthday. I had lumpectomy with reexcision for a nearly 4cm cancer, ultimately with clear margins. I had micro-mets to the sentinal node, and no other nodes removed. Despite the "standard of care" recommending chemo (based on size), I chose not to have it. My canver was Grade 1 (Ki-67 was <1%), so my cancer was very slow growing. Chemo works much better on aggressive cancer. My Onco-Type score was 12 (8% risk of recurrence w/tamoxifen) - and if I read the chart correctly, I'd have a statistically higher chance of recurrence with chemo than without. My more controvertial decision was to not take Tamoxifen either. From my research, it appears that ~2/3 of women with breast cancer are cured by the surgery alone. The other treatments are done just in case you aren't one of them. The risks from chemo and Tamoxifen outweighed the benefits in my opinion for me (not necessarily for others). I may very well not be cured, and time will tell, but I don't believe chemo or tamoxifen would have made me healthier, and I won't regret my informed decisions.

    That being said, I have a dear friend who was recently diagnosed with UPSC, a rare and very aggressive form of endometrial cancer (possibly associated with Tamoxifen). After reseaching her cancer, I plainly told her I thought she had no option but to take chemo, and I would take it too if I had UPSC. She had her 4th treatment yesterday.

    Best of luck to you.</p>

    thanks

    thank you for your post.  I have been battling that decision and I am not going to take chemo.  I did double mastectomy, clear nodes, 1.4 cm non aggressive cancer.  I just can't see taking chemo for a cancer that I believe has been removed.  With the risks and damage chemo does to our bodies I am opting out as well.  I may be wrong but the number of people I see go through chemo and thier cancer comes back...I don't see it would be worth taking unless you had severe or inoperable cancer.  Hopefully I'[m choosing correctly for me.  :)

     

  • kelliemak
    kelliemak Member Posts: 7 Member
    #68
    Gabbie99 said:

    Melt Down
    Thanks everyone for the comments...you all had chemo! Isn't there anyone who elects to not do it? I have always felt like the most positive, luckiest person in the world. It's hard to find anything lucky about this and I keep thinking maybe I am in denial that this is really that bad.... It's just really hard to roll the dice on the decision of chemo. I am scared to do it and scared not to.. there's no "good" choice. Feel like crying all the time and the nerves in my arm and armpit hurt sooo bad. It's been two weeks since my mastectomy. The first week went great..positive attitude, pathology report clear, all good. Everything fell apart yesterday and I can't seem to stop bursting into tears. No one has seen me like this except my husband..he is great, thank goodness. Everyone has told me they admire how strong and positive I am and do not want them to know any different. I think two things happened that started this melt down... I saw the entire scar for the first time and I thought that because my pathology report was so good I would be told that chemo was not a recommendation in my case, instead the oncologist said he still felt it would increase my chances that it would not come back by 4-5%. I feel so selfish about all of this crying when I hear about what so many have gone through that is worse.

    Melt down/ mastectomy and hormones

    what they don't tell us is that the breasts carry and produce a large amount of estrogen.  When we have a mastectomy, hot flashes and hormones go crazy.  I found that out AFTER when I started with the melt downs.  Don't be to hard on yourself for the emotional part.  You may also go through the change just from having a mastectomy...things they do not tell you that I have found women to report on many cancer sites.

  • kelliemak
    kelliemak Member Posts: 7 Member
    #69
    sparky72156 said:

    Actually, people CAN and DO
    Actually, people CAN and DO die from the effects of chemo.

    actually people can and do reply

    I agree after much natural research on chemo and radiation, they not only can help but also can cause cancer as well.  I had radiation for a 1 cm cancer in my left breast...11 years later another cancer in the same breast same area..new cancer not related to the old...no cells were missed it was a new cancer...I am convinced after my double mastectomy last month that it was caused by my radiation years ago.  On top of that they do not tell you that your body area radiated does not ever heal as well atfterwards.  I got massive infection in my radiated mastectomy side and the other side healed fine.  Still battling healing slowly on the 11 year old radiated side.  I am refusing chemo or radiation for my own health.  

  • Toni Dine
    Toni Dine Member Posts: 3
    edited September 2018 #70
    Me too and I'm really scared

    mine is invasive stage 1 grade 3 HER2 pos and I have the BRCA2 mutation. Everyone's in agreement about the bilateral mastectomY. My oncologist recommended it prophylacticly years ago when the mutati was found. But I still don't understand why Chemo again. (Just went through this 2 years ago with the endometrial cancer.) But if sentinel nodes were clear doesn't that mean it's all still contained in the breast? Wouldn't the mastectomy take care of it then. I'm 62 and I don't know if my body can hand this again. And I can't aford to miss work.  :(. 

    I don't understand. 

  • Apaugh
    Apaugh Member Posts: 850 Member
    #71
    Toni

    I hate  that you have theses choices to make.  Mine was like yours.  I had the mastectomy followed by chemo.   Positives are very agressive and hormone fed.  You will probably have to have the 5 yr pill too.  

    Only you can make that choice.  You do have an advantage that did not have before;  you know how to prepare, what to expect, and how to stay ahead of the SE's the best you can.    

    What ever you choose we support you.  We will pray for you and uplift you the best we can.  Please keep us posted.

    Hugs,

    Annie

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