Chemo and hormone therapy advice

Hi Evonne,

Thank you for getting in touch and welcome to the online community. I’m Isobel one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialist, on the Macmillan Support Line. I can see that you have joined our breast cancer forum I hope that you are finding this helpful.

I am sorry to read that you are so worried about your treatment response, I can only begin to imagine how anxious this is making you feel. It can be so difficult when it appears the cancer is not responding to the treatment that is given.

As your cancer is hormone receptive, it is most likely that you would have Tamoxifen, or similar endocrine therapy.  However in most cases these are usually given after chemotherapy treatment is completed. This is because, it is possible that Tamoxifen may interfere with the cytotoxic effect of some chemotherapy drugs, therefore could potentially reduce the effectiveness of the drugs.

That said we would advise you arrange to talk to your specialist to discuss your treatment plan and the response that you have had so far. Everyone’s situation is individual. They will be considering what next steps may be but will want to give the Paclitaxel time to show if it has been effective.

It can be very challenging going through extensive treatments and talking can be helpful. Asking for support and help is important.

Worry is natural, often made worse by things that we cannot control, such as how your cancer is behaving. Taking control of what you can, may help with your mental and physical wellbeing. This can be as simple as getting out daily for a short walk, simple breathing exercises and being with others. These will not remove the source of the worries but can allow some time off from the worry and allow your mind and body to rest.

Please know that you can give us a call on the support line to talk things through.  It’s completely confidential and although we don’t have access to NHS records, we can talk to you in general terms about what is going on.

Take care and best wishes,

Isobel

Cancer Information Nurse Specialist 

Ref: IY/Khe

Thank you Isobel, my oncologist wants me to progress with the chemotherapy and have the hormone therapy after this. I will look into the things you suggested for worry and stress.