I wad a lumpectomy and full axillery clearance last month, I have an appt with the oclologist wednesday. I cant get out of my mind the breast care nurse telling me i am border line for chemo because of my age (43) can anyone help me? what if i have a chioce! how can i make that choice
Hi baglady, have you had your pathology/histology results yet, from analysing the tissue removed from your breast and the lymph nodes? When I got my results the surgeon had a computer printout of statistics based on the size of the lump, the number of lymph nodes testing positive for cancer cells, hormone receptor status, my age and general health, showing the average 10 year survival rates with no treatment, chemo only, hormone therapy only, or both (I’ve been told I’ll need radiotherapy too but for some reason this wasn’t on the statistics). Any recommendation to have chemo is based on those statistics, including age, and if chemo would make only a very small percentage difference then it may be considered borderline. If you have not yet had your results perhaps your oncologist will have them ready on Wednesday. You don’t have to make an immediate decision anyway, you’ll have time to research your options. Good luck. Lyn x
I agree with Lyn… I had similar experience to her - there was no going into detail of life chances but lots of info - my oncologist - the v lovely Prof Grieve seemed to think that at nearly 50 i am ‘young and fit’… and i didn’t lie about the excessive fags and red wine!! While my breast care nurses have and are all lovely and v helpful, they are not doctors and the best thing you can do is talk to the oncologist.
I am in for the long haul - had the mastectomy (recon not for me at the time - one bit at a time), the current chemo, then radio and years of tabs. The thing that reassured me most was Prof G saying his job was to make sure i die of old age! best of luck for Wednesday (my last dose of epirubicin will be that day and i will think of you).
take care
jennifer x
Hi Baglady
Welcome to the forums. I am posting to let you know that Breast Cancer Care have published a Resource Pack, it has been designed for anyone newly diagnosed with information to help you better understand your diagnosis, test results and various treatments, it is available via the following link or by contacting the helpline:
breastcancercare.org.uk//content.php?page_id=7514
You may find our helpline useful to call to talk through the specific concerns about treatment possibilities that you may have, they can talk to you about our other support services too and also offer support, information and a ‘listening ear’. The number to call is 0808 800 6000 Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm, Saturday, 9am - 2pm. I hope you find this helpful.
Best wishes
Lucy
Hi Baglady (love the name!)
I was in a similar position. Had a WLE and was told I was borderline for radiotherapy because of my age. I took this to be good news. I am 49 and had I been older, radiotherapy would not have seemed worthwhile simply because the cancer would be likely to be slower growing and I would probably die of something else before it caught up with me again, if ever. On the other hand, if I had been much younger, they would definitely recommend radiotherapy because I would have many more years in which the cancer could come back. Being my age, I was dumped right in the middle, statistically. I chose after much reserach to err on the cautious side and choose radiotherapy.
Hope this makes sense.
Cathy
xx
Lol Jennifer, my surgeon also used the phrase ‘young and fit’ - I’m 51, he made my day!! Lyn x
Hi Ladies
When I went for my first Onc appt she was on holiday so saw her understudy my decision to get on with it. He said that because I had had mast, clear margins and no lymph node involvement and was have 6 FECmthat I would probably not have radiotherapy. When I saw my onc she said that I would more that likely be have radio but we would discuss it nearer the time. If Ive had chemo is radio that important? Hope I dont offent anyone with that last statemetn.
Karen
Hi Baglady.
I think its a hard decision i had mamogram clear but still felt a lump biopsy shoed lobular cancer so advised lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy followed by rads no chemo needed. then tamoxifen for 5 yrs. after lumpectomy nodes clear but found ductal in margins two spots so reccomended mastecomy and immidiate recon as i would no longer need rads and no chemo. after op they mentioned chemo threw me… follow up apts my consultant thought not neccessary over treatment saw oncologist said its up to me i may benefit slightly 2 percent. the only advantage of having it i could have herceptin which would add another 2 percent chance of not coming back. i got over shock and thought well if offering it i should have it. i would never forgive myself if came back and i hadnt done the lot. talkingto others our oncologist is over cautious thats good perhaps and if i had gone to local hospital i wouldnt have been offered it… by theway i am 49 hope this helps and good luck. xx julie xxx
Hi baglady,
I was 44 at dx last year. When I was in hospital following my mastectomy a breast care nurse told me to expect chemo whatever the results of my surgery, due to my age.
You will not necessarily be asked to choose - it depends on your hospital/onc. I have never been asked to choose. My surgeon recommended a mastectomy (I suppose I could have declined against medical advice) and my onc basically told me what regime he thought was suitable for me. I have never been told any statistics, or how much benefit any course of treatment will confer.
thanks for all you comments they really help, its the first time ive spoken to anyone who is in the same boat as me
jo x
Glad we’ve been able to help. it seems to me that there are lots of variations in treatments across the country - but it’s also always depends on what type of cancer, where it is and so on. my surgeon said that he recommended mastectomy and axillary clearance… then the MRI came back and the radiologist said i was a candidate for WLE… but surgeon still felt mastectomy better option. i agreed - tumour was under nipple so that wouldn’t have been preserved plus a huge chunk of my not 36E would have been taken so i’d have had to have some sort of prosthesis…and i wouldn’t have looked remotely normal…plus i wanted to reduce any chance of recurrence…
i tend to do belt and braces in life and if i had been given the choice i’d have opted for chemo - anything that increases my chances i’ll grab with both hands - diagnosis made me realise how much i love life! hemo was no way as scary as i thought it would be - But it’s a very individual choice. Best of luck Jo.
BTW Lynn - i cackled when my onc said i was young and fit and even more when he said the surgeon had said it first and that he had also said that i was ‘wonderfulyl feisty and the sort of woman who will get anything she wants or needs either by charm or willpower’!!! Gosh i lurve my doctors!! I keep meaning to drop into the chat sesh on thursdays but keep dropping off!!!
the young and fit jennifer (it still makes me smile!!!)