Chemo or not?

Hi

You are young and you have a lot of years ahead of you.  

Take a look with this tool from the NHS  - you can see the benefits of having chemo. in % based over 5 - 15 years.  

When you think about it, even a 1% advantage at your age is a lot and your team wouldn't recommend you having something which they feel is not needed.  Just playing around with the information you've given, it looks as if it's over 10% additional benefit over the long term to have chemo.

Hope this helps a little.

Best wishes, Lesley

Thanks Lesley from the calculations it’s 22% with surgery 38% with hormone therapy and 47% with chemotherapy....I never thought I would be contemplating my own death at 36! Seems like chemo is a no brainier if I want to see another 15 years (brb just gonna cry in a corner for a while) 

Hi

That seems a particularly low % considering no lymph node involvement?  Perhaps at this stage, just look at the figures for what benefits it gives, rather than the survival rate or you'll drive yourself silly with worry!

I met a 50 year old lady when I was first diagnosed who had BC 15 -20 years previously and she had a lumpectomy, but refused to even take Tamoxifen - given that she was still going strong, I wonder if the %'s are based on some cases in their study, rather than everyone?.(which is probably why they say look at it in conjunction with your doctor).  I personally would always recommend taking whatever treatment your team suggests as they've seen it 100's/1000's of times and know a lot more than we ever will.  The main thing for this predict tool is to use it for benefits and try, if you can to ignore mortality - that's what I did anyway when I was thinking about taking the tablets 

Best wishes, Lesley

Thanks Lesley I will try and ignore mortality was hoping that after this was over I would kinda live to a good age given they my doctors are telling me now I’m cancer free! I’m seeing the oncologist for the 1st time in a couple of weeks so maybe best for me not to think about any of it until then or I will actually go insane 

Hi schittscreek 

it’s scary I know; I had mastectomy 16 years ago with just one node involved and grade 2 HR sensitive. Was unsure about chemo but had it in the end. Your name is a good description of how I felt! I then had ten years hormonal therapy. After 16 years it has reappeared; that’s a lot of extra time which I may not have got without chemo. Treatment has improved dramatically too, so there are options that didn’t exist in 2005. Worth a few uncomfortable weeks to me and my family! Best of luck x

Yeah same the name just felt right because as you say it’s how we all feel (plus it’s my favourite show lol), I’m so sorry that the cancer came back after all this time :-( did it come back in the same place or the other breast? 

Hi Meiard

Sorry to hear that your cancer has come back after all this time.  Wishing you the best of luck with your treatment.

Best wishes

Daisy

Chest wall; I wasn’t offered radiotherapy!

I’m gutted for you :-(