Hi Please can someone advice me.
My mother has a 4.5cm lump on her breast what is best for her to remove it first (surgery) and after Chemo - or should it be the other way round.
Does the lump shrink with chemo or is it best re,moved.
We are all worried and confused please can some one advice
Hi Branston,
It sounds like you and your family are having a really difficult time at the moment. Unfortunately we are not able to offer advice via the discussion forums, but I’m sure you will receive support from other forum users, who can share information about their own treatment experiences.
Could your mother speak to her breast care nurse or another member of her medical team to talk through her specific circumstances?
I thought it might be helpful to attach a link to the BCC booklet Treating Breast Cancer, which gives information about treatment options and also has some useful suggestions for questions your mother might want to ask her medical team:
breastcancercare.org.uk/upload/pdf/bcc08_treating_final2.pdf
It might also be helpful to give the BCC Helpline a call as they can provide information and support, tel 0808 800 6000 Mon-Fri 9am-5pm and Sat 9am-2pm.
With best wishes,
Anna, BCC Facilitator
HI Branston, sorry to hear about your mother’s cancer diagnosis. I haven;t worked it all out yet but there will be lasses on here who have and can advise you. I just know that there are very well worked out guidelines about what treatment happens when based on type of cancer, grade of cancer, and if nodes are involved or not. These treatment plans are made on the basis of knowledge from trials…in some cases there are choices to be made but often there is just advice as to what to do (which of course you can disagree with if you fance it!). Hope that helps - and BCNs are a godsend, so do call, Nicola
hi,as in ur previous post about ur mums transfer to derby royal,def chase them up,they were fantastic 2 me explaining everything to me im my language!!! good luck!
Hi Branston,
Sorry you weren’t able to join chat earlier but glad to see you posting.
I don’t think there is a definite answer to your question. Most of the time specialists will want to remove the cancer through surgery though sometimes they do give chemo first to shrink the tumour. It depends on several things; the position of the tumor, the size,the type of cancer etc,etc. The medical team will opt for what they think will be best for your Mums particular case. The waiting for results from tests is horrible but necessary so that right choices can be made.
I hope you get some answers soon and wish you and your Mum the very best, Julie x
Whatever your mum’s treatment plan, it will be put together to best meet her needs.
Sometimes the suggestion is surgery first, and that could be removing the lump or mastectomy, sometimes the advice is to give chemo before surgery in order to shrink the lump so that the final surgery is less and the cosmetic outcome is better, or to allow the surgeon to do a lumpectomy rather than mastectomy.
It’s all really confusing, so I suggest you give the helpline a ring in the morning to speak to a human voice rather than just typing. They will be able to explain generally what the alternatives are that are sometimes offered but of course won’t be able to say “you should do this” or “you should do that”. But it’s well worth finding out what the alternatives are, it’s quite frightening and daunting particularly at this stage.
Best of luck for you and your family, right at the very beginning is so frightening, but it DOES get easier to deal with once you get a bit more knowledge. Careful with googling though, stick to reputable sites.
CM
x
Hi Branston
everyone has their individual treatment package so it’s impossible to say what is best. If your mother is being offered a choice or even if she isn’t, you need to talk it through with her team to understand their rationale.
I had a larger lump than your mum and I had chemo first, following by a radical mastectomy and then further chemo. This was right for my particular circumstances. For others, they may well have had surgery first.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions and ask for the rationale. It is very reassuring to understand the reasons for any given treatment.
I wish your mum well. Elinda x
Hi
I have/had 4 lumps, one of which was about 5cm. I say had because i opted to have the chemo prior to mastectomy as i thought i would cope better pycologically this way so i know that they have shrunk a lot and one can’t be felt at all.
I proposed this way round and my Onc and Consultant discussed if it was possible before just leaping in.
Talk to them about the options and then decide how best to tackle it.
x
Many thanks for all your help and support I have spoken to Derby Hos and they will be having MDT meeting this week so we will know by this Fri - Will keep you all posted - Thanks again
Hope it goes well for your mother Branston and that the meaning helps to reassure her that the treatment plan is the right one for her x
I agree with everyones comments… its different for each individual… I also had a 4.5 lump and was offered chemo first in an attempt to shrink it … I opted for MX and glad I did, because the results were 4.5 cm lump with 1.5 cm margin … total 6 cms … its doubtful this would have shrunk enough to just have lumpectomy after chemo and my breast isn’t that big either! I made the right choice but it was my choice…Good Luck x