Hi there,
I was expecting to be joining this board after my chemo finishes (6 wks left) but was rather thrown by my last hospital appointment.
Before my chemo started, the oncologist said radiotherapy was a “no-brainer” because the tumour was within 1mm of the chest wall, not attached but right up against it. So, I had prepared myself for chemo then 3 wks rads then hormone therapy.
Now, at my last hospital visit, the breast nurse (who seems very informed and in the know) said I was being reviewed at a multi-disciplinary meeting and may not now be having the rads, partly because they now know me to be HER- and not BRCA1 or 2 as was previously thought (I’m 36). To be honest, this scares me as I want everything possible done to maximise my chances of no relapse. I am having a reconstruction and wonder if this is a factor in them maybe changing their mind - I’ve got tissue expanders with metal ports in place. When the initial mx was done, they thought it was a 12mm lump but it turned out to be 3cm as it was lobular which apparently is harder to detect on scans etc. Maybe they wouldn’t have done that type of reconstruction if they’d known that radiotherapy would be needed.
I don’t see how not having rads done can be a good idea when you don’t have clean margins.
Anyway, if anyone has any advice to offer or has been in a similar situation then I’d appreciate your views on all of this.
Nicola