Chemo or not?

Forgot to say that I'll also be taking Letrozole for 5-10 years and Bisphosphonates for 2 years. 

I had neo adjuvant chemo with one node tested positive at biopsy.  I had chemo.  Only had a partial response to chemo and had mastectomy and full clearance and found i actually had 4 node affected.  

My oncologist did say that he considered the Letrozole to be the most important part of treatment after the surgery.  More important than chemo.  

I also know of a lady who had 12 nodes affected, refused chemo and is still here some 15 years later.  She has the occasional local reoccurrence and has surgery but is adamant she won't have chemo.  She had Letrozole.

Hiya,

I was not in this position as most of my lymph nodes tested positive for cancer (14 out of 18) so no brainer, I had chemo. But I just wanted to say to you that chemo was no way as bad as I expected it to be. It was completely 'do-able'. It all depends on your personal circumstances, but it isn't that bad as you may think. Most side effects can be managed these days. I used the cold cap, so didn't lose all my hair. I don't know how old you are, but I was 43 when I had my dx, and I was going to throw everything I could at it.

I am taking letrozole too - 8 years left and counting!

Cwtches, 

Gay xxx

I had a Mastectomy beginning of March had two sentinel  nodes removed.One node was found to have have Cancer cells under the microscope so a further three were taken and all  clear.I really didnt want chemo from the start.I too done the Optimal trial but unfortunately it came back that had to have chemo.I was not happy but had to do as I felt I may regret it in the future if I didn't. I started Chemo on 22nd last month every three weeks for six sessions.

If they say Chemo do it,It's your life.

Hi everyone and thanks,

It's so hard, isn't it? I've been trawling through research papers from the last five years in the hope of being better prepared for next week. SU47, you might still be low risk as women who are low risk are randomised either way.  I don't know if I'd want no chemo,  even though I want no chemo as a choice! Good luck with all your treatments:) xxx

Hi Londonmomof2

Just wondering how you getting on,I just had my second session of fec-t and it has not been to bad this time around.What was the out come of your situatation,?xxx

I was told I'd be pulled from Optima if more than a couple of nodes affected, so wrongly thought the tissue was being tested in the interim.  It's currently being tested and I find out on 26th June.  I'm still not sure about either choice to be honest, though my oncologist also said that the letrozole was more important. Oh, for the simple days of surgery where there was no choice and you didn't feel ill/ go bald!

 I had mastectomy first, I’m in the Optima trial, I had 7/21 nodes affected. I got chemo, I really didn’t want it so was going to pull out of the trial but I thought I’d throw anything at it as I want the best possible chance of living as long as I can.

Chemo was pretty straight forward for me, no real SE’s from EC, felt well, but then lost hair, eyelashes etc with Docetaxel, got hand, foot Syndrome, some aches and pains, felt very tired last 2 treatments as not sleeping well, due to taking 8 steroids a day for last  few sessions.

Now 7/15 Rads Done, I’m taking Letrozole as well.

Hello there,

All my nodes were clear, so it was down to the type and grade of tumor for me. I had Chemotherapy, Radiotherapy, Hormone - the lot.

I hope this helps x

I had one micromet in the first sentinel node, all the others were clear (although I didn't have many - they only found 5 nodes!) . I had mastectomy first (10cm tumour area) then chemo and radiotherapy. 

The oncologist said he was as sure as he could possibly be that I was clear and that would be it, but 3.5 years later, I was diagnosed with secondaries in lungs and bones. 

I think it's really difficult to make decisions on the treatment from the experiences of other people as it seems to be almost luck of the draw whether it returns or not! 

Good luck with your treatment OP, whatever it ends up being...