What counts as "active treatment"?
What counts as "active treatment"? I'm honestly asking, since I am in that weird liminal zone between "done with surgeries" (I hope), but "still taking meds."
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I have not given this much thought but I would think that any treatment is active treatment. Whether you’re in the midst of chemo or taking anti-hormonals, you are treating bc. I doubt that there’s a hard and fast definition for active in terms of treatment but is there a reason that this has some importance to you?
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Hi @saltmarsh! Our main site has an article that might give you some insight into active treatment. You can check it out here: Beyond Treatment: Expecting More From Your Follow-Up Care (After active treatment for breast cancer ends, navigating ongoing care and support can be a challenge.)
Hope it helps!
The Mods
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Also, @saltmarsh, many of our members consider "active treatment" as the treatments initially after a breast cancer diagnosis — surgery, radiation, chemotherapy — and "passive treatment" as the treatments that are more long-term after active treatment — such as hormonal therapy or targeted therapy.
We hope this helps!
--The Mods
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mods,
Is there a formal definition of active treatment or is what you outlined a casual distinction?
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@exbrnxgrl This is not a formal definition, but how we distiguish our non-MBC Zoom Meetup members between the In Treatment meetup (active treatment) and the Bonded by Breast Cancer meetup (passive treatment).
We hope this helps.
—The Mods
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Thanks! So what you’re saying is that there is no medical definition of the term but rather an informal distinction that has been made on bco?
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Yes, correct.
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I considered my time on targeted therapy- Kadcyla- as active treatment, because it required trips to the infusion center, regular bloodwork, and a visit with the oncologist every infusion. Now that I am only on anastrozole, I consider myself no longer in active treatment. I don't need my bloodwork monitored, I take my meds at home, and only see my MO every six months, so she's not actively treating me.
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I feel that Hormonal blockers are still active treatment. Lots of issues with those drugs , joint pain and bone loss, being some of them. My oncologist would consider it active as he could justify insurance paying to see him. After you finish meds, No more oncologist visit.
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herb, please see earlier comments. There is no medical definition of active tx. You could argue semantics but if you are taking any tx/meds for bc, that’s active tx. What would passive tx be?
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Note I'm not arguing. I said I feel this is my definition. I don't think there is any passive treatment, it is all done in hope of not dying from cancer.
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I saw my oncologist until last fall, and she has me tentatively scheduled for September, but said I could cancel if my primary doctor will do all the thorough blood work she's done for five years. I only took Tamoxifen for about nine months, but my oncologist still saw me regularly until the five years were up. I think we need a word or term for "follow-up without interventional or prescriptive treatment." Maybe "passive care" or "observational follow-up" would be appropriate. To me, no care means no appointments, no prescriptions, no blood tests.
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alice,
Good to see you! I like your proposal.
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