Chemo decision

Sam44

I think I have just made the decision to not have chemo and still feel shaky about it.  I had a lumpectomy / sentinal node biopsy 18.12.12 and no spread to lymph nodes was found.  Bone scans etc all clear. Tumour size between 1.0 - 1.1cm, stage II.  I am ER +ve, HER -ve and 44 years old.  I paid AUS$3900 to have the Oncotype test done (not covered by insurance here) and have a score of 14.  So, the Oncologist recommendation is Radiation then Tamoxifen for 10 years.  Using the calculator, having chemo looks to lower my recurrence risk by only 2.5%.  I have no family history but my mother took the drug DES, a synthetic hormone, whilst pregnant with me which can increase BC risk slightly.  I would welcome other people's experience with this decision.  I KNOW I am in a VERY lucky place and this is the "best type" of BC to have, but I am also single parent to 7 and 12 year old girls. 

GrammyB7

I had the choice and decided to do chemo and rads. I am almost thru - the wait and wondering was the WORST part. Trust me, I have not found this treatment to be so bad. Of course I have yucky days by 2 1/2 orf the 3 weeks are ok. Eat healthy , drink lots of water and get rest to keep the blood counts at there best.

Good luck to you, you will get through it.

doxie

Sam44,  You should feel comfortable with your decision.  Was your grade 1 or 2?   You say you are stage II, but with a 1.0-1.1 cm tumor and no lymph nodes, are you a stage I?  

Though we wish it would, chemo won't help all of us and, in some cases does more harm.  A 2.5% lower recurrance rate runs up against the possiblility of doing more harm.  My Oncotype was 30 and my tumor larger, so I did chemo.  It still didn't lower my 10 year recurrance rate by that much <7%.  Tamoxifen and AIs are more important.  

My mom thinks I was exposed to DES also, but that didn't come in to play on my decisions.  Make sure you are getting your vaginal wall swabbed when you go for your yearly pap, though 1:1000 odds of getting clear cell carcinoma are much, much lower than a woman getting BC.  

Lily55

I did not do Oncotype and you can see i am stage 3 and had positive nodes but I refused chemo - my advice is to trust yourself, if they recommend no chemo go with that, calculator gave me 8% to 14% chance of benefit from chemo over 5 and 10 years but I had 25% risk of complications from chemo so decided to go for lifestyle changes and complementary routes in place of chemo...

Good luck