I was diagnosed with stage 1 end of November, er and pr +, her2 -, wide local excision and sentinel node biopsy mid December, follow up appointment with surgeon yesterday. It’s stage 2 but hasn’t spread. However I’m still awaiting genetics results as there’s breast and ovarian cancer in my wider family. It’ll be ‘a couple of weeks’ before these come through.
So surgeon advised tamoxifen and Radiotherapy or mastectomy if I’ve got a mutant gene. I’m not so sure.
Has anyone considered no further treatment as an option? I’m wondering if I should take my chances. I’m also pretty distressed by all the waiting around. It’s a continuing nightmare. I haven’t been able to work - I’m self employed, and can’t get benefits I don’t think. Again, I’m waiting for advice. And counselling. I’m trying hard to stay sane.
Sorry to hear you’ve got such a difficult decision to make. I do understand how you feel although my situation is different, I was diagnosed at a similar time with 2 different tumours, lobular and ductal, stage 1 and 2. Although it hasn’t spread to nodes they have offered me chemo as it’s HER 2 positive…not sure if I want to go through with it. I found it really helpful talking it through with the breast nurses as they gave me a different perspective. One of the nurses asked me how i would feel if i didn’t have the chemo and the cancer returned, a difficult question to ask yourself but I think it’s important you do. If it’s any help I had a mastectomy and found the surgery and the recovery extremely manageable. With regards to benefits I think you need to investigate this further as there is a lot of financial support you might be entitled to. Macmillan have a useful section on their website for this. Good luck whatever decision you make!
Hi, I was also diagnosed with stage 1 end of October, er and pr +, her2 -. None in lymph nodes. I am 45. Decided to do a double mastectomy. The recovery was doable, I was back to work 3 days after surgery (sitting job).
I know I am not answering your question with this. I am personally very much against taking any chances, I guess.
I felt that if the cancer started in one breast, how will I live with a thought that it might still happen in another. The chances are only 2%, I was told, but going to annual exams and testing with one breast and worrying… Happy with the decision. With a younger family, my main goal was to prevent it from happening again. I am on tamoxifen. No further treatment.