Chemo yes or no

Connect to people like me Younger women
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I was diagnosed with stage 1/2 grade 3 ER positive HER negative breast cancer at the end of April I had a left side mysectomy 23rd May my prosigna test has come back Intermediate so chemo was recommended with hormone treatment after I’m 39. I have bad mental health issues so said no to chemo now I don’t know if I can live with that decision to not do everything to stop this happening again. I had a nervous breakdown about 14 years ago and ended up agoraphobic its taken me years to be able to change that to be able to leave the house, work, drive a car and function day to day. Now I’m in a really bad way again. I don’t know what to do

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Hello, I just wanted to let you know about my experience - I had a grade 3 ER + and HER 2 neg tumour removed on 20th April. I also had 2 tumours removed from the other breast, both ER + 1 HER neg and 1 HER +. My original treatment plan was chemo, surgery, radio and hormone therapy.

I declined the chemo and went straight for the surgery, the surgery removed the tumours with clear margins. Chemo was suggested again, mainly due to the HER2 + tumour and met cells in a lymph node. Again I have declined the chemo, I have also declined the radio and have started taking the hormone therapy.

What I would suggest to you is to speak to your breast care nurse, gather all the info from sites like this one, and make your own decision. 

I have found that Oncology have tried to influence my decision based on having had a HER 2+ tumour and the risk of spread.

It is quite a scary place to be, but I am happy with my decision, which is primarily based on the effect on quality of life and side effects. 

I am not trying to persuade you either way, you have to make your own decision and be confident with it. I just wanted to let you know that there are some of us out here that do not follow the suggested treatment paths suggested for us. It is our body and we have to be happy with what treatment we decide to have.

There is a ‘Horizon’ programme, presented by Hannah Fry, called ‘Making sense of Cancer’ there is some specific information relating to breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. It could be worth a watch on catch up if you have it. 

Good luck with your decision and treatment, and I’m sure you will make the right choice for you, and don’t be rushed, take your time and make your decision when you feel ready.

Love and blessings…

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There is no right answer. It’s what you can live with after knowing all the facts. We all do a risks versus reward analysis in our heads after getting information and treatment suggestions. Some of our risks we all have in common. Like statistical chance of cancer coming back for instance. But other risks would be unique to us depending on our own makeup. You have severe anxiety to consider. Would that anxiety be worse with chemo or worse not getting chemo? And then what would be the benefit to counteract that risk? There’s no wrong answer as long as you know all the facts. You are the one who has to live with whatever outcome you get and you have the right to be the boss of that. There are some people who choose to take HRT treatment after getting diagnosed with ER/PR breast cancer. No oncologist will recommend that. But the reward of it is worth it for the patient after considering their quality of life. So in saying that, if you have a mental health professional or someone you love and trust who can sit with you as you consider all the possible results of whatever treatment you decide, both positive and negative, that would probably be helpful. And I wish you the best in making your decision because we all know making these kind of decisions sucks.