Poniette, Do write the questions down.
just so you know my status I was diagnoses grade 3 TNBC, tumour 31mm by 21mm with node involvement. I'm 56 yrs old and like you also have private health insurance and like you oncologist said the treatment will be no different private.
in order to act quickly and zap the cancer cells they gave me chemo first (8 rounds EC then Pictalxol) , this would not only attack the tumour plus hunt down any cells that may have escaped, or that was the intention. We will never k ow if more have escaped. That said, I was very lucky to have had what is know as a Complete Medical Response which means the tumour struck to nothing. This was tracked each two chemo cycles by ultra sound. This meant I could have a lumpectomy rather than full removal. They still re over a lump the size of the original tumour which was sent to pathology with the lymph nodes and fatty issue removed from under the arm. I had four nodes showing signs of cancer but they were hdryolised which is part of the CMR. After the surgery I had 20 Rounds of rads as the amount of rads is precribed in accordance to your first appearance I was told.
You ca. Request to see the pathology report and ask about clear margins as these are important indicators as to how well you have managed with chemo.
We are all different and our cancers are different so things may be different for you but I thought I would let you know my story.
If give the option of chemo although horrid I would take it again as a drop of a hat as it works on the whole body.
I also had CT and Bone scans before treatment started to see if the cancer had spread.
wishing you well with your journey.
Pam s
