Newly diagnosed; Treatment order advice
i have seen my surgeon yesterday, apparently I have to have all three; surgery, chemo and radio; it’s just the Order.... i can have chemo first to try to shrink very large tumour then surgery, as if ...
Forum Discussion
Hi Spillsy, all these decisions can be so overwhelming. You are on a steep learning curve and rely on your team for info.Normally your specialists will advise you but sometimes they leave choices up to you and that makes it harder. You need to ask lots of questions before you can make a comfortable choice
It’s all very well to say survival rates are the same but you need to ask what are the chances of cancer coming back in the same breast after a lumpectomy.In my case, cancer back 7 years later in the same breast despite clear margins and radiation and it wasn’t considered aggressive! I had to go through the whole crap journey again and because of previous radiation,I have limited recon options.I would also ask ‘how will your breast be monitored if you have chemo first and if cancer is not shrinking will you change chemo and have to start again?’
I had to have a mastectomy and now I’m lopsided but I’m used to it now.I’ve been clear for another 7 years (14yrs in total).You don’t have to rush recon- it can be done years later.When you have all your questions answered,go with your gut feeling.Keep coming back to this network if you need to ask questions or get support.You are at the anxious/scary bit but once you have a plan in place you’ll hopefully feel a little calmer.
It’s all very well to say survival rates are the same but you need to ask what are the chances of cancer coming back in the same breast after a lumpectomy.In my case, cancer back 7 years later in the same breast despite clear margins and radiation and it wasn’t considered aggressive! I had to go through the whole crap journey again and because of previous radiation,I have limited recon options.I would also ask ‘how will your breast be monitored if you have chemo first and if cancer is not shrinking will you change chemo and have to start again?’
I had to have a mastectomy and now I’m lopsided but I’m used to it now.I’ve been clear for another 7 years (14yrs in total).You don’t have to rush recon- it can be done years later.When you have all your questions answered,go with your gut feeling.Keep coming back to this network if you need to ask questions or get support.You are at the anxious/scary bit but once you have a plan in place you’ll hopefully feel a little calmer.