Hi @Lelle. You find yourself with a really difficult decision. I think many of us, myself included, have been where you are. I saw my radiation oncologist for the first time right after my medical oncologist appointment, and it was so obvious I was really flustered that she asked me what was wrong. I was about to start crying and told her I was having a hard time deciding about chemo (in addition to other issues). My ca was hormone positive too, HER2 negative, stage 1, grades 1 and 2 because I had multiple lesions. I also had them in both breasts. I was 39 at the time. I had one lymph node with a micro met. I was supposed to have clear margins cos I had a double mastectomy, but my rad onco and new surgeon confirmed my margins were not clear. That’s why I couldn’t dodge radiation on both sides, even though i shouldn’t have needed it. I was told that the micro met didn’t pose any danger at all though. That wasn’t the reason my onc said I should have chemo. It was mostly because of my age. I said I couldn’t do the oncotype dx test cos it was too expensive so he had to decide based on what he already knew. So his recommendation was that I should do it because I was so young, but he was also comfortable with me not doing it. He wouldn’t twist my arm to do it. He said surgery was the Batman that got rid of all the ca. Chemo was Robin, who only helped. Batman could do the job alone, but he wouldn’t mind having Robin to help. He also said chemo was the cherry on the cake. Not necessary but made it look prettier. He also said that not having chemo wouldn’t be the reason in the case of (God forbid!!!) a recurrence, and that having chemo also wouldn’t prevent it. Not having chemo also wouldn’t mean having a recurrence.
Finally, I asked his registrar at the time, a young woman, what she would do in my case. She was telling me all the reasons why I should have it, and even said to me chemo wasn’t poison, after I told her I needed a good reason to be injected by poisons. I said to her ‘what would you do, in my case? Imagine everything is the same’. She said she was risk averse and wouldn’t have it. But that was just her. I said to her I’m also risk averse, and haven’t been given a good enough reason to go through that ordeal, with potentially life long side effects that would require more medication. I asked if having chemo was recommended for me cos I had multifocal and simultaneous bilateral bc, which I’d read on google meant more prone to recurrence. She said no, don’t read google, and chemo isn’t recommended cos of that. So that was my decision. My surgeon also wanted me to have chemo due to my age, but I told her my age meant I want my body in a top functioning state, and chemo would hinder that. I was aware of her advice and it was my decision not to do it. My oncologist is also fantastic, and he’s key researcher at the Kinghorn Cancer Center and Garvan Institute in Sydney. So him telling me chemo didn’t guarantee being ca free in the future, and only gave me a 1% chance of higher survival rate, was the decider for me. Potential side effects, in my opinion, posed more threat. He also said that there was no question about me taking hormone suppressers for 5-10 years, which also had a similar function to chemo, and even better.
Good luck in your decision. I know it’s hard. Just make sure you’re comfortable with your decision, that’s all 🍀🍀🍀.
