Radiation Treatment NOW 3 months after Surgery

Firstly, I don't know about getting more oxygen in your body helping avoid cancer in any way. In fact, during biopsies and surgeries, the biggest concern is the oxygen feeding the tumour!!

I have Papillary Carcinoma as well and didn't get rads. It is a fairly good prognosis. I didn't get chemo either. Or Tamoxifen. Or Aromasin. Just a double mastectomy. I went for the mastectomies as I've had 3 other biopsies over the years and this was my fourth. I was so done with worrying about my breasts, so with the cancer diagnosis I said just take them off!

I know there is a window of time for radiation or chemo to do any good and I think you're pretty well at it. Your tumour was larger than mine. As ER+, our tumours grow slower. We don't have to worry about a recurrance until after the 5 year mark. As my surgeon said (IDIOT!!) "We'll save the big guns until next time"!!! I'm almost 3 years out and doing fine.

Let me know what you decide.

Hi, pil ~ It sounds like you might benefit from a consultation with a radiation oncologist.  Neither your BS nor your onc are truly the ones to advise about RT.  But with rads being the standard of care with a lumpectomy, I can see why your BS would not want to let you slide by without it.  OTOH, I doubt very much that a 35% chance of recurrence pertains to your personal stats, and is probably more across the board for all women who forgo RT after a lumpectomy.  Have you maybe tried running your stats on cancermath?  (Not sure that the stats that site comes up with are alwlays accurate, but it might be somewhat helpful.)

I'm sorry about the added stress of the Cobra issue, but thank goodness you have it!  I'd certainly take advantage of it now to get all the input you can to make an informed decision.

Good luck, and try not to let it stress you out too much.  If you decide you need/want rads, chances are you'll sail through them.  If not, at least give yourself the peace of mind of having looked into it and making a decision based on real evidence for your particular situation.    Deanna

With apologies to dlb, if you go to an RO s/he will tell you that you have to have radiation. That's because that's what ROs do. Surgeons believe in surgery, MOs believe in chemo, and ROs believe in radiation.

Doctors will disagree. My surgeon wanted me to have Tamoxifen, but my MO said it wasn't necessary. Ultimately the decision is up to you. 

Comment to the insurance, if you or your husband get a job with insurance you will be able to on that insurance as long as you do not have a gap of more than 32 days of  coverage.  

I have no ideas what the affordable health care act will affect this.  NJ

Because later stage bc may involve other areas such as the brain. That is why. I'm sorry you took offense to the statement.

Panamonyous, if someone has brain cancer mets, then they are Stage IV. They wouldn't be in the initial stages of treatment as we are talking about here.

Cycle-path, GREAT explanation!!! That makes so much sense. Duh on me for not realizing that.

I still think the issue for pil is whether it's 'too late' to do the rads.

I'm doing great pil, have all the worries that anyone with breast cancer has, but don't dwell on them. I only let myself worry once a year for the scans.

Wow Panamonyous, if you think you were 'attacked' you lead a very shallow, lonely existence!! I just responded to your very weird post that for early stage cancer radiation is a 'piece of cake'!! That was just SO untrue it was ridiculous. Anyone getting radiation can get pink, burned, blister and/or peel. It has NOTHING to do with what stage you are! You were the one that brought in the topic of brain rads which wasn't anything that pil had asked for info on! And, you lose hair from CHEMO, not rads. It seems like you are the one that is new to rads, not us!

You are the one bringing up topics that have nothing to do with what pil had asked for. Any pettiness has come from your posts, not mine. I'm the one trying to keep to the question that pil asked about BREAST radiation. I'm sure you'll be back to read my response...

Pil~ good luck with your decisions and treatment.  I was so lucky to have my MO, BS, and RO all on the same team.  Two of them were from the same clinic but the surgeon was not.  Somehow they managed to discuss my case before I saw any of them.  I had chemo and rads.  I can tell you that rads only makes the hair growth stop where you are receiving rads.  I was never sick to my stomach.  I was tired, but I worked everyday through rads, full time.  I did have skin issues, but everyone's story is different, and I think my skin issues were considered "normal", and they healed very quickly after rads stopped. 

I do have a seroma from the lumpectomy.  Did you notice any fluid build up from yours? 

I guess I haven't had your experiences, cycle-path.  In fact, as an example, my DH recently had consults re. orthopedic surgery @ UCLA & the Mayo Clinic, and both surgeons told him that while they could justify the surgery he was contemplating, neither one felt it was truly necessary, and both suggested he not have it at this time.

When I was personally trying to decide whether or not to do rads (after a mx), I talked to 2 rad oncs, then bugged one of them get a 3rd opinion from another highly esteemed rad onc at his institution.  And when I wasn't happy that they were all recommending rads because of a close margin and a node with extracapsular extension, I asked my onc what she thought, and she wisely offered to refer me to another rad onc outside of her institution -- which made me realize that no matter how many rad oncs I asked, it was unlikely I was going to find one who would advise me to skip them, because the bottom line was, I had factors about my dx that made doing them the smart choice no matter who told me so. 

I guess we just have different viewpoints based on our own life experiences, but in thinking about it, my preference would be to seek out the very best specialist you can find for any problem because not only will they have the most experience to draw on, but chances are they'll be much too busy to take on patients or recommend procedures that aren't really needed. 

And pil, I just meant I hoped you will make a decision based on factual information -- not because a doctor scares you into doing rads, or because you have concerns that may not have any real basis in fact.  The left side issue, for example, is something you can ask a rad onc about.  "Will any of the radiation you would plan for me actually touch my lung or my heart?"  My bc was also left side, but the rad onc I eventually chose was able to answer all of my questions, so that I was left with a much better understanding of real vs. imagined risks.  And if you haven't in the past, it's an excellent idea to take someone with you to your app'ts.  The stress we're under makes it almost impossible to hear and remember everything we're told, and having someone to listen and fill you in later helps a lot.       Deanna

pil, I had the mastectomies so avoided radiation. Clear margins means that the edges of the lumpectomy have no cancer in them. If there was cancer to the edge of the lump they take out, then they worry that there is still more cancer left in you. So, if you got clear margins (you would have had to have yet another lumpectomy) you don't have to worry about it.

I had a lumpectomy first, but as my tumour was SO close to my chest wall I didn't have clear margins. That's when I said just take them off! I tried....I have a full mastectomy on my left side, but a modified one on the right. BUT, due to lymphadema, the left divot has filled in. Gee, thanks for small favours!

As for the 1 to 2 percent, that is just a number I threw out there. Please confirm with your doctor what odds you increase by. If it's that low, would it really be worth it?

I would go with you if I could!!