need help withdecision

I had partial breast irradiation last year. It was 2x per day for 5 days.  Physically, it was very easy.  No side effects....well maybe a little tired, but not anything significant.     I am very happy that I chose this option as I think it was a good fit for my situation (small tumor, no evidence of cancer during lumpectomy...all out with initial needle biopsy, and low proliferation index). 

A couple of things to keep in mind

-  Clinical trials are still under way in the US.  It has been shown to be about as effective as WBR for the first 10 years, but there is not definative long term data.   As a result it is often not done on women under 50.

- once you get radiation (even partial) i do not believe you can get it again for that breast.  So if you have a recurrenace  in that side, additional radiation (WBR) will not be an option.  So it may drive to you a mastectomy if you get a recurrnace.  (in which case you will not have as many reconstruction options because of having had radiation).

The vast majority of recurrances (i think it is 90%) are in the area right around the original tumor, so only radiating the area a greatest risk made a lot of sense to me.

I believe it was the right decision for me.  I was ready to refuse radiation until i found out about this option.  Radiation seemed to have too many side effects and my risk of recurrance seemed low anyway.  I was happy that i found a treatment that lowered my chance of recurrance by targetting the area most likely the have a recurrance.       Feel free to send me a private message if you have questions.  I have not seen many people on this board who have had this treatment.