Too old to fight bc

Hi Renate,

I am sorry you have to deal with this.  I am 42, 36 at diagnosis so I don't have your experience.  However knowing what I know, at your age I think giving chemo a miss is a good idea.  It is only for a few months but it can be pretty tough going at times.  However on the subject of the hormonals, why don't you give it a go?  You might find that you have very few side effects.  If it proves to be too much than you can always stop.  It is not the same as chemo.  I would point out though because I am premenopausal I took tamoxifen.  I didn't however think it had a massive impact on my quality of life.  Some people go through a bad time on hormonals, but you may be just fine.  As I said you can always try it for a couple of months and if you don't like it you can stop.

Based on MY experience chemo was a big deal, tamoxifen wasn't  Other ladies will probably be along soon to offer their experience.

I wish you all the best with your treatments and with continuing on with your "healthy and active" life for many more years.

 Take care,

Sandy

Hi Renate,

My Mom, who is 82, is stage lV.  She decided to go ahead with chemo, it was pretty rough on her.  After the chemo they put her on Arimidex, and she didn't like the side effects, although it was not nearly as harsh as the chemo.  She was switched to Femara and is tolerating it very well.  You should give the anti-hormonals a try.  If you decide you don't like it you can stop anytime.  The anti-hormonal is just a pill you take once a day.  It's worth a shot. 

Renate -

I was on Femara for just under 2 yrs; didn't seem to get any side effects except low (!) libido. i thought it was OK... then i realized i felt mentally fuzzy all the time. I also got some nasty joint pains at 18 months -- i'd have put up with those, but the mental fuzz wasnot acceptable - my brain is my most valuable asset! So i quit (with my onc's blessing, incidentally).

My point -- try an AI. If it messes up your quality of life, quit. At your age, you might want to avoid tamoxifen because of the risk of stroke -- unlike joint pains, libido and mental fuzz,  that's catastrophic/irreversible and not worth the reduced bc risk (i was 63 when i made that decision; too high even then!). And chemo - yeah, that invriably side effects on the whole system. But the AIs are very variable in the side effects - and easily quittable.

My aunt had bc at 70, a recurrence (single spinal met) at 88. She's just turned 96. People are living longer -- don't short-change yourself by reflex. On the other hand -- i really do agree with you about quaity of life!

cheers, mouser

Give Arimidex a try; since you are way past menopause (I presume ), you might not have any negative SE at all, as your body has long been adjusted to living without much estrogen. And, of course, if you have unacceptable SE, you can quit at any time.  I would have a hard time saying to do chemo at 83; I'm almost for sure that I would not. Best of Luck! Being healthy and active will help you cope with any choice that you make! Ruth

Wallycat,

I couldn't agree more with you about cancer being in lots of people and they don't even know it.  I often think that mine would have been just fine to leave alone.  It was small and I think they do more harm when they give you the needle biosy and spread the cells around.  I know that I did what the doctors wanted but also believe that it would have been fine to leave it alone.  Especially when the surgeon said it had probably been there for 10 years. 

Take care,

Nancy

If I were 83 with cancer, I'd do exactly what you're doing... fight it but NOT with chemo. Here's to you beating the odds and telling your family "remember way back when I had cancer?" on your 100th birthday! If you're as young at 83 as my 83-year-old grandmother is, you have PLENTY of life still in you!

Also see if your clinic has a cancer support group. (Usually clinics have a social worker who should check in with you, and your could ask him/her if there is one in your area). This is an awesome site, but it is also good to have people nearby to bounce along this road with. God Bless! Ruth

Renate, Deana had great advise.

In order to really make a choice, find out all the information you can.  Find out how much chemo, will help, hormonals, all those things.  get the numbers.  then you can really make a decision.  If chemo and hormonals will inprove your prognosis buy 50 or 60 percent and you don't want side effects--you can make your decision based on what you would like.

Glad you found us.

Lizzie