Pre surgery chemo?

Hi Lyn. I had 8 rounds of chemo to reduce the size of the tumor  before having a double mastectomy.  My oncologist and surgeon wanted me to have surgery within 3 weeks of finishing chemo.  I had surgery just on three weeks after chemo, which was enough time to recuperate from my last dose of chemo. It has been just over week since my surgery and I am feeling pretty good and I am healing well. I spent four nights in hospital and I was able to come home with no drains.  I will get the results from my surgery on Friday.  

I know it is all very overwhelming but stay positive and go with it.  All the best for your upcoming chemo.

Cheers, Lorraine

Hi Lyn.

I was diagnosed with grade 3 stage 3  ER PR positive BC last August. I was also node positive and therefore started 16 cycles of neoadjuvant chemo a few days after diagnosis. At first I was a bit bothered by knowing the cancer was still there all the time but after 2 cycles I had another MRI which confirmed that the tumours were responding to the chemo. This was a really reassuring feeling as I knew that if the cancer in the breast and nodes was being killed off, then so too would any stray cells elsewhere in my body.

I finished chemo  29/01/15 and had my mastectomy exactly 2 weeks later on the 12/2/15. My oncologist advised me to have the surgery within 3 weeks of chemo as they knew that I only had a partial response and still had active cancer in my breast and nodes. In hindsight I was glad that I had the extra time before surgery so that I could prepare myself physically and mentally. The surgery itself didn't seem too bad although I was still tired from chemo. I didn't really need much pain relief and I made the most of the few days just to rest and recover from chemo and surgery. The post surgery pathology was informative and my tumour was down staged to stage 2 grade 3 and was  only ER+  I know that it would have been nice to have a more definite calculation of the stage,  but in the long run I knew that we had done everything we could to kill off any stray cells early and that for me was more important.

So now I have just completed 6 weeks of radiotherapy and have a four week break before I start Tamoxifen. I feel happy that I have done everything possible to minimise the effect that this horrid disease can have on my future. I hope you can take it easy during your chemo so that you are in the best possible shape to tackle your surgery. Don't be afraid to mention to your medical team, any side effect that bothers you. They have so many tricks up their sleeves that can make it much more comfortable.  Good luck with all that lies ahead for you and please feel free to inbox me if you would ever like to chat.

Cheers,

Polly

Hi Lyn I had 2 attempts at getting the dcis, after 2nd was told I needed a mastectomy. I had 4 cycles of chemo before my mastectomy ( I had reconstruction at the same time) Chemo is different for everyone I was quite sick for the first 2 and my oncologist decided that she would drop the dosage for the last 2 and I wasn't as sick.

The fatigue for me was the worst, I would fall asleep watching tv. One day at a time. When you go in to see your oncologist ask as many questions as you can take a notebook and keep notes. When I went my husband and daughter came and they thought of things I didn't.

Go out and get yourself a diary as your life becomes very busy with appointments. You will get there, it will be 12 months at the end of June since I had my last chemo, Be kind to yourself it is very overwhelming at the beginning.