how long after chemo do u have surgery

Public Archive
1

hi guys

im really worried, i had my last chemo 5 weeks ago, and im seeing my surgeon on 23rd july, which is going to be 6 weeks after chemo, which means its going to be at least another week for my surgery and im worried that the tumour is going to grow quickly and spread because i had palpable nodes in the right axilla which have shown cancer cells (dont know what this means), and its making me feel depressed

i would appreciate any advice on this

thanks

debs

2

Hi Debs,
There may be other ladies treated more recently than me, but when I had my first breast cancer in 2009, I had my surgery nearly 7 weeks post chemo - this was a WLE and lymph clearance. My surgeon had said it would be 6 weeks but in the end it was 7 as he had to go abroad for a conference! I do know of one lady on the form here who had her surgery very soon post chemo, but for those who have surgery post chemo (not before) there seems to be a delay for bloods to recover enough for surgery.
Like you I was worried about the delay.
Hope this helps reassure you.
Rattles, x

3

Hi Debcas,
My surgery was four weeks post the last chemo BUT the earliest my surgeon would do it was three weeks post chemo and he did say there was no rush, I could have left it longer. I felt I wanted to get on with it, but he was adamant that I could have waited AT LEAST another month, if not more, without worry. I had full lymph node clearance, by the way.
Try to relax and good luck.

Verity x

4

duplication - how does that happen?!

5

Hi Debs, I had my surgery 9 weeks post chemo - my bc surgeon had promised it would be 6 weeks, but it took a little longer to get the ps and surgical teams together. I think the timing can be due to many things, such as what type of surgery you are actually having ie bigger surgery may mean a bigger wait to enable your body to recover from chemo so you go into surgery fit so your body can heal and repair properly. My bc surgeon assured me that the delay would not compromise my chances of long term survival!
Sue x

6

I would like to be agreed with debs. You may take time but it should be keep in mind that not late so much then it must go to different turn.

7

ladies, thanks for that, at least i can stop worrying (for now haha), hope yous are all doing ok, no one really understands what we are going through unless they are going through it themselves, thats why this forum is great.

take care

debs xx

8

You are so right Deb about no-one else understanding! I was chomping at the bit for my surgery as I was really worried that something could have been going on in there. I though my bc surgeon was being overly cautios. Worry was my middle name lol. But, I was really pleased that I waited 9 weeks because my surgery was huge (greedy me), and I must confess it took all my inner reserves to recover.

Sue x