Advice on Chemo for my mom

I have all of her paperwork in front of me.

 She is ER + and PR+. She is HER2 negative.

 It says the infiltatrating ductal carcinoma grade is 1 of 3.

 In regards to the lymph nodes, it has spread into some fatty tissue that will also be removed. That is what alarms me.

 Also, I need to correct what I stated above. The largest metastatic deposit in the lymph node is 0.4 cm.

The BS office closed at noon today. I am pretty positive they said that they would remove all of the lymphs. She was in such shock that it was hard to focus at yesterday's appointment.

Thank you all for your responses.

 We are going to discuss not having additional lymph nodes removed with the BS and Oncologist on Monday. I do not understand why they are going in an removing all of the lymph nodes and doing chemo both. It seems like they are being really agressive with treatment, but we are very worried about the risks of Lymphedema (as you all have mentioned). Does that sound okay?

Coraleliz- She is supposed to have 6.5 weeks of radiation too. This sounds really promising.

Thank you all for your help. This all happened so fast. The doctor thought her nodes would be fine and we were all surprised by the news yesterday. This board has already provided so much help. Yesterday I felt defeated and today I feel hopeful.

We have discussed a lot tonight. I will ask her oncologist about the Oncotype test. We have been reasearching all day on the interest. I think she is *okay* with chemo more than she is with the ALND. I do not understand why the BS is wanting to remove all of her lymph nodes when it seems like radiation and chemo will work just as effectivly. My mom has joint problems already, so I am afraid the SE of the ALND may be too much for her to handle. I am going to discuss the study you posted above with the Oncologist Monday and the BS also.

coraleliz: Thank you for your response. It has been very helpful, as you have a lot of similarities. I just don't understand why they want her to do Chemo, Rads, and ALND. I am going to talk to her oncologist about it Monday. I feel like this has all happened so fast, and we haven't had enough time to process and discuss what treatment will work best for her, considering all of the risks. It seems like ALND will do the same thing that Chemo+Rads will. She is also going to be on a pill for 5 years. I forgot what it is called. It starts with an Ax....

Thanks you to everyone for your responses. Your input has been very helpful.

Deanna,

Thank you so much for taking the time to write all of that. We are going to try schedule an appointment with her breast surgeon Monday. She is very busy, so I am hoping she can squeeze us in. I am fowarding all of the posts I receivve to my mom. I am hoping that she with time she will be ready to join this forum. Right now she is still not feeling well from her first surgeoy. Thank you, again!

Thank you for the responses. We met with the oncologist today. Unfortunately, my mom will have to do the Axillary node removal tomorrow. She will also have a port put in for chemo. After that is radiation and Armidex. We spoke with the oncologist and the BS surgeon about not having to do all of the treatments mentioned, but they were pretty adamant that they were necessary. I was really hoping otherwise, after reading of how all usually are not need. Because the cancer "burst" from the lymph node into the fatty tissue, they are going to treat it very aggressively. We were really thinking about skipping Chemo but the BS is saying that the Cancer has a VERY HIGH chance of coming back if we do not do Chemo. That took me by surprise. Thank you again for the help. If she has none or a minimal amount of additional nodes with cancer, then her treatment plan will be 4 sessions (1 x every three weeks for 2.5 hours). Her chemo treatment will consist of taxotere and cytoxan. Thank you again for your help and responses.

Thank you, Omaz. I am gong to relay all of that information to her. I am hoping she does well, but she is emotionally weak right now. I am going to talk to her about all of the thngs you mentioned. She does not eat a lot of meat, so she will have to eat a lot of beans to get her protein in. She can handles meds really well, but she gets carsick easily. I am hoping she does not get too nauseas, but I will make sure she always takes the med for it anyways.

Thank you so much for caring! My mom's surgery went well. After the surgery, they had to treat her for pain and that caused her heart rate to rise. That resulted in us not being able to see her in recovery for 5 hours. I am really happy she had the surgery now and I think we made the best choice. My problem is with the drain the put on her back. I was told to grip and pull the tubing to get all of the drainage (which is currently blood and very small amounts of tissue) out. I feel like I am hurting her when I do it. Otherwise, she is handling is very well. I stayed with her last night and will be with her again tonight and for as long as she needs me. Thank you all again!