The difficulty of choosing optional treatment

Hi Catherine, 

I also went through this and was absolutely thrown by being given the choice. I was diagnosed with very small hormone sensitive cancer and had a mastectomy in November. I was told at my follow up appointment with the breast surgeon that my nodes were all clear and no chemo was needed. Of course I was thrilled to bits!

 It was at my first oncology appointment a week later that I was offered the option of 4 cycles of chemo before starting on Femara. My questions revealed that there was evidence of a tiny speck in one lymph node, something that the breast surgeon hadn’t mentioned. I explained that I couldn’t possibly make such a decision on the spot and needed time to think, so a follow up appointment was made for a few days later. These few days for me were more difficult than my diagnosis, all the biopsies and the mastectomy. How the hell was I supposed to make this decision? 

After lots of research, I arrived at the follow up appointment still not knowing which way I was going to go. One of my many questions I asked my oncologist was “What would you do in my position?”. She was reluctant to answer this but could see that I was still undecided. However something in her chat about the value of health lifestyle choices and exercise provided me with the moment of clarity I was looking for.  I chose not to have chemo and it and I haven’t had any regrets about my decision. 

Catherine, I wish you all the best in coming to your decision. xx