Surgery Before Further Chemo??

Begonia10
Begonia10 Member Posts: 6 ✭
in General discussion
Hi all you lovelies, Can anyone tell me if it is possible to have surgery before my next lot of Chemo change.  I have TNBC my tumour was quote large and I was informed by the surgeon that it was too large to operate straight away and that I would have chemo to shrink it first. I have been having chemo  every 2 weeks for 8 weeks, I am then supposed to start  my next course of 12 x weekly.  However, as the tumour has shrunk to next to nothing already, can anyone tell me why having the double mastectomy now and not continuing with the next round is not an option.  I was not able to get a straight answer from the Oncologist except for "this is the way we normally treat it". Surely if the Breast tissue is no longer there, then the likely hood of recurrence and not to mention that they want to do Radiation after surgery anyway, is slim.    Any ideas??
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  • primek
    primek Member Posts: 5,392 ✭
    It's all about timing. It's then delayed after surgery why you heal which is about 6 weeks. The 1st chemo is designed to hit in growing cycle. The next one just just it...yes tumor has shrunk but it's the one's you can't see that you want to mop up. And woohoo on the shrinking tumour. 
  • strongtogether
    strongtogether Member Posts: 167 ✭
    Hey @Begonia10
    Sorry to hear you are in this situation. The plus side is if the tumour did respond well to the AC, the Taxol will give you an even better chance of beating this thing once and for all. 
     The other positive is that it sounds like you have completed the hardest part. It should hopefully get easier from here.
    All.the best!
  • mtansyz
    mtansyz Member Posts: 10 ✭
    Hello There!

    I had surgery in between the two...but I was also pregnant during my first lot of chemo, which may have been the deciding factor?

    It went a little something like this...
    3 months chemo while pregnant, baby induced at 37 weeks, two days later single mastectomy / lymph node clearance....then a couple of weeks after that started the second lot of chemo / with immunotherapy.

    My tumour had softened and shrunk a little, but was still very much there at the time of surgery. 

    I can't remember the exact reason why I had the surgery in the middle....it was all such a blur...
    But just wanted to let you know that mine was done that way :)

    Best Wishes!
  • mtansyz
    mtansyz Member Posts: 10 ✭
    I just read your comment again and realised that you are talking about the possibility of not doing the second lot of chemo....sorry, my story doesn't really help in the situation (silly me!!). 
  • kmakm
    kmakm Member Posts: 7,974 ✭
    Interesting story though @mtansyz!
  • MisseMooks
    MisseMooks Member Posts: 10 ✭
    I have HER2 Positive breast cancer and my Oncologist explained the AC chemo treatment 4 x every 21 days is to shrink the tumour and then once its shrunk its saver to operate. Trying to remove a large tumour can risk loosing a cancerous cell and ending up in another part of your ..there is much less risk removing tumour when its smaller, less risk of a cancer cell escaping.
    After my surgery to remove shrunken tumour and 5 lymph nodes will me weekly chemo treatment over a period of 12 months and then finally radiation    

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