Advised not to do last chemo treatment!

amber2012

My mom is 74 and was diagnosed in March with IDC, Stage 1, Grade 3, ER+PR+ HER- margins and lymph nodes clear

After a lumpectomy to remove the 1.7 cm tumour and an oncotype score of 25, her oncologist was on the borderline

about her having chemo or not but leaned more towards doing it because of the Grade 3 tumour. She prescribed 4 sessions

of Taxotere/cyclo.

She did not tolerate the chemo very well and ended up in hospital twice due to extremely low sodium levels and white blood cell count.

Today should have been her last treatment, but the oncologist (who was replacing her doctor on holiday) said there was no way she should do it and it could be fatal. Supposedly, my mom was in such bad shape after the last chemo that she could have had a fatal seizure.

Anyhow even though her bloods were fine this morning they denied the last chemo. On one side, she is relieved however, she also feels discouraged for not being able to finish it.

Does anybody know if the fact that she did 75% of her chemo will be beneficial or will it not do anything because she didn't complete treatment.  I would not feel good about the last few months (the suffering, hair loss etc) to be in vain. (She also has to do 4 weeks of rads and will be put on tamoxifen.)

crazyride43

Amber2012, I am only 43 but my onco also decided not to give me my final planned chemo treatment because I had terrible neuropathy.  I am no expert, but my understanding is that the benefit of treatment needs to outweigh the risk.  In my case, my MO explained that having the final treatment would only give me an extra 2 - 3% survival benefit, but the risk of permanent neuropathy was more than 50%. She also said that for my highly ER+ cancer Tamoxifen is the treatment that will give me the most overall benefit, and I will also get radiation to prevent local recurrence.  I also know that all the chemo I did have was NOT in vain.  I know that for sure because I did chemo before surgery and my tumor shrunk by 2/3 even without that final treatment.  Even with all this information, I know how your Mom felt because I also felt discouraged and relieved when I arrived for my last chemo only to be told it wouldn't be happening!  I was mainly upset that I had taken all the pre-chemo steroids for nothing!

Wishing your Mom a speedy recovery from her chemo treatments and smooth sailing through radiation!

amber2012

Crazyride43, I am sorry you also have to experience all of this as well. Thanks for your input re. the chemo.

My mom is also very highly ER and PR + so I am hoping the Tamoxifen will benefit her as well (her tumour is Grade 3). I am glad

you saw some results with chemo before surgery!! I figure it HAS to be doing something (hopefully killing all the bad cells too!) seeing how

sick one gets & all the side effects! Best wishes to you too!