Post Mastectomy/chemo Radiation - Risks vs. Benefits?

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dcsandpiper
dcsandpiper Member Posts: 26
edited June 2014 in Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment

Greetings,

I'm struggling with deciding whether or not do to radiation post double mastectomy and chemo.  Docs suggest that to cover all the bases, 5 weeks every day of radiation after my chemo (4 sessions TC, 1 every 3 weeks).  I had a double mastectomy, I have no genetic predisposition (at least did the genetic test), I had DCIS in left breast and 4 invasive DC tumors (<2cm) in right breast. And only 1 positive lymph node, of 15 removed, although they say the lymph node showed signs of cancer starting to go out of the lymph. My largest tumor had an oncotype result of 11 or 12, which is in that fuzzy area of whether even chemo is beneficial or necessary on top of hormone therapy to reduce reaccurence.  But I am doing the chemo just in case.  I feel like radiation on top of all that may be "overkill" so to speak.

There are lots of risks with radiation: More cancer, more issues with lymphodema, issues with capsular contractor and of course the fact that it just kills your skin so any surgery afterwards will result in not healing well.  And so far my skin is healing so well after the mastectomy I don't want to ruin that.

I'm going to have a serious talk with my team of docs, but just interested in knowing if anyone had thoughts, experience, or done research in this area?

Thanks!

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  • SelenaWolf
    SelenaWolf Member Posts: 1,724
    edited December 2012

    There are risks with radiation, but most of them are minimal or rare, at best.  Less than one woman in a thousand develops a radiation-induced breast sarcoma post treatment.  The difference in this development between a woman who had radiation and a woman who didn't is something like 0.1.

    I am nearly a year post-radiation.  No heart damage.  No lung damage.  No lymphadema.  No cording.  I run the equivalent of 20 miles a week on an elliptical machine.  In summer, I cycle 30 kilometres at a time.  I am fit and active.  My skin healed well from radiation: no discoloration, no "leathering", no hardened breast.  The only thing I notice is that the skin on that breast is more reactive; no more heavily perfumed body lotions since they - often - cause mild dermatitis.  Mind you, my skin prior to radiation was sensitive, so this is really nothing new for me.

    If you decide to move forward with radiation, follow all the instructions for caring for your skin during treatment to the letter.  It makes all the difference in the world.

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  • dcsandpiper
    dcsandpiper Member Posts: 26
    edited December 2012

    Hi Selena!

    Thanks so much for your reply!  Did you have a double mastectomy also? How many times were you zapped?  Did you have breast reconstruction?

    Thanks again, its great to hear from people!

    Sandra

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  • emmalee
    emmalee Member Posts: 20
    edited December 2012

    Do you know if you will be getting a chemosensitivity test?  This test will determine which chemotherapies are effective against your cancer.  Some women receive chemotherapy that is completely ineffective.  Your blood or a tissue sample should be tested.  It is a very useful test but doctors will just give standard chemotherapy and it doesn't work well that way statistically.  Suzanne Somers realized this when Farrah's chemo was completely ineffective.

    http://www.suzannesomers.com/Blog/post/Chemosensitivity-Tests-e28093-Why-Does-Big-Pharma-Know-About-Them-and-WE-Done28099t.aspx

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  • SelenaWolf
    SelenaWolf Member Posts: 1,724
    edited December 2012

    dcsandpiper... no, I had a lumpectomy - actually a quandrantectomy (left side) - with Sentinal Node biopsy.  Since the Sentinal Node tested positive for cancer, my Level 1 axillary nodes were removed (7 in all); all tested negative.  Following surgery, I had dose-dense chemotherapy (AC + T) and then radiation.  I opted for whole breast and regional node radiation based on the results of a study that indicated that regional node radiation could help prevent a metastatic recurrence (2 women out of 100 avoided a metastatic recurrence with RN radiation).  It amounted to 25 treatments in all.

    My surgeon was excellent and only I can tell that I'm missing part of my left breast.  I have minimal scarring; the mammographer who recently took some films had to ask me which breast it was.  I'm very pleased.

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  • emmalee
    emmalee Member Posts: 20
    edited December 2012

    I've researched treatments for breast cancer.  There can be late radiation effects on the heart.  Studies have shown that radiation can end in heart and vessel damage.  Here are some studies.

    http://www.breastcancerchoices.org/faqtreatmentart1.html

    Radiation-Induced Heart Disease: A Clinical Update

    http://www.hindawi.com/journals/crp/2011/317659/

    Have you considered alternative medicine after you finish?  I've been studying cancer therapies for many months now and I now believe that our bodies are made to heal, even reverse and prevent progression of cancer.  If you are interested I have lots of information and have posted a little bit of it.  Have you heard of Gerson Therapy?  Even Vitamin C therapy appears to me to be well worth considering after this news story on a miraculous recovery.

    http://www.3news.co.nz/Living-Proof/tabid/371/articleID/171328/Default.aspx

    I believe alternatives that treat cancer metabolically through holistic non-toxic approaches that address the underlying problems of disease hold the most promise such as Gerson Therapy.  I think alternatives are being suppressed.

    The Cancer Treatment Protection Racket

    http://www.energygrid.com/health/2012/04ap-canceract.html

    Choose the best treatment that is right for you.  Good luck.

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