JustJan
9 years agoMember
Radiation - short course or long course
Hello to everybody. I've just joined a club that I never wanted to be a member of. I am 56 years old and was diagnosed just 3 weeks ago with DCIS and two tiny areas of invasion 0.5mm and 0.6mm. I had a lumpectomy and three sentinel nodes removed a week later. The nodes were clear and no sign of cancer in the tissue removed, all cancer was caught in the biopsy. My surgeon and my medical oncologist were adement that I have radiation following the lumpectomy, but the radiation oncologist gave me a choice. She said as my tumour was so tiny I could opt to proceed or not. I decided to proceed based on the recommendations of my other doctors. The radiologist then recommended a short course (15 treatments). As I was expecting 6 weeks worth I was pretty happy about that .... then I mentioned it to my other doctors. They were not so keen. The medical oncologist recommended the long course as she felt it offered better cosmetic outcomes - less chance of swelling (I have D-cup breasts so definitely DO NOT want any swelling!). Right I thought, decision made! I booked my appointment for the planning session and went along today. Following the planning session I met with the radiologist again. She asked why I had changed my mind, then proceeded to offer a pretty solid case for the short course. Now my head is spinning! If anybody can offer any kind of help I'd really appreciate it. I need to let her know tomorrow if I've changed my mind AGAIN (she must think I'm a total ditz) so that they can complete the planning process. Has anybody investigated the options? Been recommended one over the other? I'd be really interested in your thoughts.
Thanks :smile:
Jan
Thanks :smile:
Jan