I want to get off

AnnoyedWoman

Hi all, I am a high risk patient as my mother had breast cancer, no recurrence; whilst her mother had stomach cancer and passed away from it.My father and his side of the family have mainly died from cancer.I have recently had my breast cancer operation and been prescribed tamoxifen with radiotherapy treatment scheduled to commence once my appointment with the oncologist is completed, end of August.

Call me pig-headed or stupid but I just don't want to fill my body with chemicals that can have such negative effects.Having being healthy so far throughout my life then ingesting chemicals that may have negative consequences is not something I am jumping up and down about.

In addition to all this I have been headhunted to oversee a very large school as Principal outside of my home country; one of my dream jobs.So you can just imagine how unbelievably vexed, frustrated and angry I am.At this time I just want to ignore everything medical and just go and live my life.

The doctors have cut it out so why can't I just get on with this amazing opportunity and life?I can't be the only one that is thinking or has thought this?

pupmom

Neither radiation (once it's over) or Tamoxifen should interfere with your job. I've been on Aromasin and Tamoxifen for over 8 years, and haven't had any problems.

GreenHarbor

Annoyed, you’re not the only one! My recommendation was for surgery, radiation and an AI. Ultimately, it has worked out well for me. I don’t feel like it has limited my life in any way. My advice to you is to be honest with your oncologist. Ask him/her to explain why they’re recommending your treatment plan. Ask for a breakdown of your risk of recurrence with surgery only vs surgery plus rads and tamoxifen. The pathology report on your tumor and any lymph nodes removed will show how aggressive your cancer is. Your family history is also a factor. The doctors give us their best opinions based on training and experience, but the final decision is ours. Good luck withwhatever you decide!

Moderators

Dear AnnoyedWoman,

Breastcancer.org does not recommend or endorse alternative medicine, but there is a thread in the Alternative Medicine forum that you may want to check out, Topic: My choice--refusing treatment.

Hope this helps!

The Mods

AnnoyedWoman

Dear All, thanks for your individual input.

I have already had my surgery and being informed that the cancer had not spread to the surrounding areas.

AnnoyedWoman

Another question – has refused to take tamoxifen or have radiotherapy after breast surgery?

DorothyB

Annoyed - I think you were asking if anyone has refused radiation or tamoxifen.

My oncotype score was 29 showing an 18% chance of distant recurrence if I did hormone therapy. I never really considered opting out of radiation. The second opinion reading of my lumpectomy slides showed lymphovascular invasion so even though my lymph nodes were clean I felt that radiation was important. I did pretty well w/ the treatment - fatigue and slight nausea, but no burning.

With the 29 oncotype score, my medical team wanted me to do chemo, but I did opt out of that as I didn't think the benefit outweighed the potential damage to my system.

Since I opted out of chemo, I feel that it is important to do the tamoxifen. I think it helps me maybe another 18%?? I'm still getting up to having the full 10 mg daily dose in my system, but the dr wants me to take 20 mg daily. I will work up to 15 mg then decide if I will go higher.

In the meantime, I am working to lose weight, eat better, keep a positive mental attitude, walk at least 30 min at a time frequently and do some strength exercises.

letsgogolf

Don't automatically assume you will have issues with radiation and/or the hormone blockers. I have nad no issues with either nor did my sister. Best wishes.

AnnoyedWoman

Thanks letsgogolf

I will keep that in mind.

AnnoyedWoman

DorothyB, you are correct with your interpretation.

Your medical team seems to have provided you with data mine have failed to provide.I have emailed by GP to ask for more input as the consultant was reluctant to contribute to any further input apart from 'I should take the drug'.

I have since questioned why some individuals go into medicine if they are unwilling to examine or speak to patients?This particular consultant wouldn't even examine the breast I had had surgery on just looked at it from a distance and said it was fine.But that is another story.

I have since found some information on taking a lower dosage of 5mg per day apparently it is just as effective as 20mg.I have communicated this to my GP and am awaiting their response.My assumption is that for someone who has never had any illnesses or taken any drugs, recreational or medical, going for a full strength might be too much?

I wish you success in your endeavour to remain positive, increase your physical activity and improve your intake of healthy products.

ErenTo

It’s hard to comment without knowing the specifics of your cancer. Was it DCIS or invasive? What grade? You can make a risk benefit analysis and decide. I have an intellectually demanding job that requires occasional travel and I even worked during chemo, you shouldn’t automatically assume that hormone therapy or radiation are incompatible with your dream job.

DorothyB

The 5 mg has only been tested to be effective with DCIS. Only 20 mg or more has been tested effective with other cancers although a study was done on healthy women which indicate that lower dose does the same things inside the body that a higher dose does and ended with the conclusion that the results show that studies should be done to see if lower doses are effective on IDC, etc.

This information makes me comfortable if I only get up to 15 mg / day.

gb2115

Definitely ask them to explain risk vs benefit for your specific cancer. For some of us (myself included), the hormone therapy makes such a statistical difference it ends up making it all rather necessary. I mean it's a risk either way, isn't life like that? For me, I was told tamoxifen is to keep stage 4 away, not just to keep a local recurrence away. I am not happy with my tamoxifen experience, but I watch a family member with stage 4 and it's not something I want to experience.

That said, I do have side effects but they don't keep me from successfully working full-time. You should be fine as a school principal.