Why Im Not Doing Chemo
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Thinking of Eve and hoping all went well.
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Thank you ladies from the bottom of my heart. I wasn't for sure what I was going to do when I went into surgery. I said to the breast surgeon that I didn't have peace about a blmx. The plastic surgeon said due to the pain issue of RSD, he would take the right breast off now and the other before the implants are put into the first. That was disturbing thought...we'll see.
I'll write more on my expereince later. The pain drugs make you tired. Sleeping on the sofa tonight. I had a good experience in the hosptial. It was such a warm and healing place. They put a colorful wrap around my breast area, I was also given a softy cami.
I have a post op appointment with the plastic surgeon tomorrow and the bs post op appointment sometime mid week. I'll know then the full story.
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Eve: YEA! So glad you made it through the surgery and had a good hospital experience. I was praying that you would come through this and have peace about your decision. I will be away for about a week and won't have access to my computer, but will look forward to hearing about your experience when I return.
Sending you lots of prayers and healing energy. Take care...lots of hugs!!
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Glad you are doing as well as can be expected! May the rest of your treatment go as well! Thoughts and prayers, as always....
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Healing thoughts, Eve. I hope all goes well.
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Eve, I've been watching this thread and waiting to hear from you. So glad that you had a good experience at the hospital, and glad to see that you are back home and well enough to post. Sending healing thoughts and warm ((((hugs))) your way (good thing it's cyber hugs because real ones might hurt!).
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Eve .. I've been reading this thread too, just not posting. I'm glad to hear you're doing okay and your stay at the hospital went well.
Wishing you all the best,
Bren
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Evebarry,
I had stage 1 BC diagnosed 2009. I had BMX, Chemo and Herceptin treatment. I did have the Her2+. I'm cancer free and doing great. I respect your decision. For me I wanted to do everything I could to beat the cancer. I went with an aggressive treatment. I had an BMX even though I only had BC in one breast. I don't regret any of my decisions. The HER2+ is an aggressive cancer. I'm so THANKFUL I was able to receive Herceptin as one of my treatments. As I look back over the pass two years I see how my husband and kids still need me. I trusted GOD and took a step in faith.
Blessings,
Debbie
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Thanks again ladies. The reason I didn't post earlier is because I was in the hospital until yesterday after noon. I can't walk around much right now due to feeling like I'm going to pass out. So...I am lying down on the sofa in the TV room. My daughter sat my laptop on my tummy so I can answer e-mails and of course come here as well. Once I'm feeling a little stronger and better, I'll work on my novel.
The drain concerned the doctors because the bulb was filling up so quickly...the second day in the hospital the drain filled 3 times back to back. Under my collar bone is a huge seroma...anyway that is what it looks and feels like.
I'm still taking pain meds, antibiotics for 5 days and supplements. Next week sometime, I will meet with my bs who will go over the path report with me. So far, amazingly wonderful all the scans are coming out clearn. That gives me peace of mind that I'll be ok and trulty cancer free...I hope. But, I've learned from prior screenings that my luck hasn't been so good.
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eve, I'm so glad things are looking good. Take it easy and have a relaxing New Years Eve.
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momofthree...most women go for all that is offered to them. I'm reluctant to overtreat myself if the cancer was stationary in the right breast.
I know that there are risk in not doing treatment and in doing treatment. I'm not deciding anything until I meet with my breast surgeon next week. If the size is big, and shows vessel growth from the cancer then herceptin is the choice for me. But, if the final pathology report is pretty b9, I might not do more than surgery. Can't say yet. I have a strong feeling I will be on herceptin later in January. As for staging, my oncologist doesn't want to stage me until after the results come from the surgical pathology report. I am sooo fortunate that it probably is nothing more than stage 1.
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Evebarry,
Hope your feeling better today. (((Hugs)))
Debbie
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Evebarry,
so happy your surgery went well. It was the easiest decision for me. So glad I did it. I have been carefully listening to your feelings on BC treatments and I totally agree with you. NO chemo NO AI's. My own personal choice. However I am reluctantly doing rads.
You concentrate on overcoming the surgery and think of it as a time for R&R. You are strong and you'll make the right decisions for your self.
Healing and health.............................Maureen
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"...........Nov 8, 2011 08:28 pm, edited Nov 8, 2011 08:30 PM bymsmpattymsmpatty wrote:Me neither, Gill! I keep thinking of Steve Jobs who rejected traditional treatment of his cancer for nine months...and it spread. I say do whatever else you want, but do the treatment too!..........." So Mr. Jobs would have survived pancreatic cancer if he had accepted to have aggressive treatment 9 months earlier? I seriously doubt that.0
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Hope you feel better soon, Eve...
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Thanks all of you for caring...it means a lot right now...Slowly, I'm recovering. I'm still a little light headed. By Monday, I can see myself back to normal. Right now, I'm not thinking about anything but taking my daily meds and supplements. My family is spoiling me
I did sneak in a load of laundry a few minutes ago...towels. I have friends coming over this afternoon to help me out, although I did most of the cleaning on Monday. My husband is making sure I take my antibiotics and etc. I will feel completely relieved after I meet with my breast surgeon next week...after the final pathology report. Hopefully the worse part of all this is over.
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Eve, I am still reading your story and am wishing you the very best; it is always a relief to get the final report behind us. Sending you good thoughts. Barbara
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The oroginal surgery and chemo gave me four years of relatively good life, even went back to work. I could have skipped the hormonals. Didn't work and too many side effects. This last year, chemo has put me in bed.I will stop all treatment now unless they give me a vavvine.
My mother-in-law had cancer in 1976 and with a lot less treatment she lived 5 years. DH cousin carries the gene. She is around after 15 years. Who knows. Good luck i
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Actually, Yazmin, Mr. Jobs had a type of pancreatic cancer that is considered highly curable if treated early. So the consensus is yes, he would have greatly increased his survival chances had he chosen conventional treatment earlier. This is according to what has been made public.
Eve, sorry to hijack your thread but it's great to hear that your recovery is going well.
Caryn0 -
Evebarry, I certainly respect your decision and I too am very wary of chemo and side effects. However, in addition to looking at the alter/complementary treatments and information...you can also log on and into &read oncology journals and see what the docs are looking at from their colleages research and get a feel for why they are pushing chemo..the problem is that it is real helpful on one hand but has side effects so you have to get with your dr and decide whats best for you. Can a person make that decision or do the docs automatically install a port during the bmx without any input from the patient? I honestly want them to let me get all the info which they can't get til after surgery and let me take it to an oncolo doc and get his input before they go forcing their ideas on me. Can I tell the surgeon I wanna wait and make my own decision on it? I guess I can...she made a face when I told her I wanna get the TE and implants and recon as if I am just suppose to not get recon if I want it? I mean is there another choice, its either recon or no recon..isn't a little recon like a little pregnant...it's not real? She says she is against recon due to the infection or complication that could happen. Ok,,I read the info,some studies say as low as 2% patients get infects and some say as high as 28% but thats still 2/3 who do good,huh?
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Evebarry, I certainly respect your decision and I too am very wary of chemo and side effects. However, in addition to looking at the alter/complementary treatments and information...you can also log on and into &read oncology journals and see what the docs are looking at from their colleages research and get a feel for why they are pushing chemo..the problem is that it is real helpful on one hand but has side effects so you have to get with your dr and decide whats best for you. Can a person make that decision or do the docs automatically install a port during the bmx without any input from the patient? I honestly want them to let me get all the info which they can't get til after surgery and let me take it to an oncolo doc and get his input before they go forcing their ideas on me. Can I tell the surgeon I wanna wait and make my own decision on it? I guess I can...she made a face when I told her I wanna get the TE and implants and recon as if I am just suppose to not get recon if I want it? I mean is there another choice, its either recon or no recon..isn't a little recon like a little pregnant...it's not real? She says she is against recon due to the infection or complication that could happen. Ok,,I read the info,some studies say as low as 2% patients get infects and some say as high as 28% but thats still 2/3 who do good,huh?
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Sorry ladies, lately I've been a little brain dead. I don't do well with pain meds or meds period! Since the mastectomy I've mostly slept. When I'm awake, I'm miserable. I don't know how you ladies do it. I am soooo glad I only had one breast removed. It was nice to wake up with some assemblence of a breast. Because my ps used botox he was able to put in 300 saline cc ... not sure I got it right. He put in 60 cc today and 40 next week. I'll be totally filled by next week and in six weeks I'll have the new impant. I'm not sure how I feel about all this. I've real mixed feelings about the implant. In the future I can see myself removing the implant for complete fat grafting.
Well...I also met with my bs today. Final results. These results are not based on the previous biopsy report as its from a different lab. The biopsy report from Oct. 4th...1.7 to 2 C of idc HER2+++ with some high grade dcis.
The surgical report is invasive ductal carcinoma, grade 3, Her2 positive, nottingham score 8 of 9, forming a 1.8 x 1.8 x 1.0 CM also found dcis high grade como necrosis 10% of mass (this is about all I understood of 5 pages).
I am tempted to ask my surgeon to send my tissue samples to legacy who have done past reports. At least they are easier to understand.
If you put the biopsy and surgical report together then the size would be greater than 2 C, but if it depends only on the last surgical pathology report then I am a grade 1 a.
Confusing ??? I'll meet with my oncologist mid January. Hopefully she will explain more fully this very confusing report.
Right now, I can't even think past this mastectomy...the idea of doing or taking anything making me feeling sick is out of the question. I just want to feel normal right now.
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evebarry,
Your doing great. Surgery sucks but very neccessary.
Herceptin????????????????????
hormone therapy.................Not me.
radiation...................I better do something
F--K CHEMO.
I will survive.
Join Me.............................Maureen
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EJandKJsMom .... actually I appreciate your story and the stories of the others who shared here. The HER2+ apparently is what we need to worry about. I just wish there was a way they knew for sure if it spread beyond the breast area. I am open to herceptin, but dread taking anything right now. I will not take chemo and since I've had a mx I don't need rads. I am fortunate in that the tumor found was not close to the chest wall or skin. Hopefully it hasn't spread beyond the breast. There's got to be a way they know if the cancer has mets besides clear nodes. So many women with clear nodes still have mets. I don't want to do anything if its not necessary.
What exactly is Nottingham? I am 8 of 9.
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Nottingham is another way to gauge aggressiveness. Eight out of nine is very high.
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Chef - you are not HER2+ve so you are not in the same situation as Eve.
EJandKJsMom - thankyou for sharing your story. I was extremely saddened to read about your experience some time ago.
Eve - sounds like your tumour was bigger than you thought - bummer. I hope you recover quickly.
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susieq
I, in no way was comparing MY situation. Never questioned my need for herceptin. If I were her2+ I would investigate it before making a choice.
Just making the point of being OVER DIAGNOSED, OVER TREATED. For me, I will not submit. Maybe my choices will prove to be wrong. But they may be wrong with or without the poisons.
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I've got alot of catching up to do on this thread.
I now have the final path on my 2011 cancer. It is triple neg, so it is a new primary (2006 was positive). This info leads me to think that maybe the chemo/rads/tamox did do something the first time around. However, I am still on the fence about whether or not to do chemo again this time. I have until next week to decide--I waffle regularly but lean most often toward not. My onc told me that my dx is something of an anomaly, they really don't know what best to do for me but he recommends C/T admitting that the T may be irrelevant or maybe it would help.
When I am thinking not:
I recall my last chemo--A/C/T (which I really didn't suffer through, they gave me great meds to combat the se's) but I remember that "I used to be smart. Seriously it still affects my mind processes. How much dumber would I be after doing that again?
Chemo would only add 8% to my chances of no recurrence--do I really want to go through all that for 8%? Really?
I really like hair, don't want to be bald again. Stupid, I know, but I think it.
When I am thinking yeah:
Triple neg, grade 3 sounds really scary, I don't want mets.
If it does recur, I don't want to be kicking myself in the butt for not having done chemo.
That's all I can think of right now--overload. Time to keep reading.....
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Chef127, evebarry and noodle6,
I don't know where each of you are in terms of menopausal status, age and ovarian function, but want to express my thoughts about it in case they are meaningful in your deliberations.
My inclinations lean similar to yours, even though I have no recurrence at present and did do CAFx6 and some tamoxifen.
I remain unconvinced and doubtful about the choice of chemotherapy because there has been so little effort made to do a fair job of studying and comparing the treatment of ovarian ablation by way of chemotherapy, and ovarian ablation by way of other means, as treatments in combination with other modalities such as radiation and hormonal treatment.
I truly do not see any fairness or factual logic in failing to at least give the statistics for comparison, for consideration. If the studies haven't been done, then why haven't they been done? It would appear we are supposed to assume that they aren't worth proving one way or the other.
When I was trying to decide what to do 10 years ago for treatment, I suggested to my onc that instead of lumpectomy followed by CAFx6 followed by rads followed by tamoxifen, an alternative would be to have lumpectomy, then have my ovaries removed, then have radiation, and then do tamoxifen as a T1c. I could not get a comparison from him. Even though I remain clear of any evidence of any recurrence after doing the CAFx6, etc. I still have no documented basis comparing the two options.
As long as there is no mention of ovarian ablation by other means that is used for our consideration in such online tools as Adjuvant Online, I feel that we are being rather effectively discouraged from considering such less toxic possibilities to use in making our own judgement about what is worthwhile for ourselves.
AlaskaAngel
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