I know we all feel differently when we are diagnosed with Cancer, I am 46, I was diagnosed with Invasive Breast Cancer in August 2020 and had Surgery in September 2020. My treatment plan was to have Tamoxifen as well as Radiotherapy, Both of which after discussion with my Oncologist I decided not to have.
The invasive and DCIS cancer they found was removed and no lymph nodes were affected.
So although I am 5 months after surgery I have to go back on Monday as I have another growth in my breast - same one as cancer - I believe it is a cyst, but everything seems to take on a different take these days.
I have been made to feel that I should be having treatment and that I am not right in deciding not to have treatment and feel I have to keep justifying my reasons, but with so many conflicting feelngs and different people giving different versions of possible outcomes I find it hard to make a decision, I suffered horribly after surgery, it all went well but took me three weeks before I was able to look after myself again, I had to uproot my Dog and Cat and myself and move in with a friend.
I have a 23 year old daughter who is very much in denial and just didn't want to discuss anything with me, we are very close so I knew exactly how she was dealing with the news and it just wasn't good, she was worse than me at the news.
My cancer grew in the space of two years, I had a mammogram two years previous to the cancer diagnosis, because I had a cyst in my other breast and they then also found a fibroadenoma, so two years on having another mammogram they could see the cancer. I know that in the back of our minds we are always waiting and wondering when and if the cancer will recur, I can't imagine 5 months on that this possible cyst is anything sinister, but it is making me feel that this is just another way of not allowing me to just get on with things.
Did anyone else decide not to have treatment?
Did anyone else have cysts or other complications after surgery?
I'm just hoping that there is someone else out there that understands what and how I am feeling, to know I am not unusual, weird and wrong!
Hi and a very warm welcome to the online community
Deciding whether or not to have treatment is a very personal decision but I can understand why you'd want to hear about the experiences of others who may have gone down this route.
I hope you don't mind me suggesting that you copy and paste this question into a post in the main breast cancer group as you'll then open it up to a wider audience, some of whom might also have decided not to have treatment. If this is something you'd like to do clicking on the link I've created will take you straight there.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
