Chemo test confusion

Yep, I saw that petition and I’m so happy someone started it, I just didn’t know it was a doctor. Good on whoever it was! This test costs $5000 to do, and there’s another one here in Oz that costs $3000 or thereabouts, but to me that’s a lot of money that most people don’t have lying around!! And in my opinion shouldn’t have to pay out of pocket, but should def have it offered to them, especially since in the US and UK patients get it for free. This test shows you how likely it is that chemo will help in preventing recurrence. If it’s a small percentage, that means chemo won’t be of much benefit at all, and so it’s much better to skip than risk getting some side effects that could be lifelong, such as an arrhythmia. That would mean more long term medication with its own possible side effects, and so on. So if you can skip chemo, I think it’s a good idea to do so. I couldn’t afford the test, and my onco told me I was a grey area, with him being comfortable with me not doing it so I skipped it. I was told having chemo in my case would not prevent a recurrence (God forbid!) and possibly getting one would not be cos I skipped chemo. So in that case, I didn’t see the point. I was told hormone blockers would be much more effective in my case. So the test is def a good idea but if it’s for free. I think you should have your mum’s onco tell her how likely it is that chemo will be beneficial for her without doing the test, and then decide based on that. Some ladies who had the test still got inconclusive results that were in the grey area, so for them it ended up being a waste of money. That’s why if you can’t afford it, don’t mention it, but tell the onco he needs to decide and do his best based on what info he already has.