Pre surgery chemo?

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