Should I get radiation ? I had BMX.

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new2bc
new2bc Member Posts: 559
edited June 2014 in Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After

Hi everyone,

I was diagnosed with 3 different areas of cancer (IDC) plus an area of pagets disease in my left breast. The largest tumor was 9mm. I am stage 1b grade 2, ER+, PR+, HER2-

They did SNB which was clear and 2 lymph nodes were taken from my left underarm which were clear. My oncologist did not recommend chemo. I had double mastectomy. I met with my RO and he suggested I do radiation for 6 weeks because I had scattered areas of cancer + pagets on the left breast. The radiation is not going to involve my underarm. I get scared sometimes when I read that it can cause damage to my lung and heart. I asked my RO and he said that is why he is doing a CT scan to map out where things are. I also asked him if the chances for lymphedema is being increased because of radiation and he said he is not going to radiate my underarm so that should not be an issue. I just would like to get your opinion to see what you think. My scan is  this Friday so I need to make a decision fast. Thank you for your help.

P.S.   I did not do reconstruction so I do not have tissue expanders.

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  • addisonse
    addisonse Member Posts: 14
    edited February 2013

    You should throw everything that you can at this disease. I had a MX and I'm getting rads. I'm 25 and TNBC.

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  • kltb04
    kltb04 Member Posts: 1,051
    edited February 2013

    I had a BMX WITH Te's because I was under the impression that I did not need rads (from my BS, PS mostly).  I was in a gray area because I had one positive node found during SNB.  After a LOT of research and two RO opinions, I decided to do rads....it is worth the extra insurance for me.  They take a lot of precautions to protect your heart/lungs.  Good luck with your decision.

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  • NatsFan
    NatsFan Member Posts: 3,745
    edited February 2013

    Can you get a second opinion with another RO?  I had a BMX with ALND and one positive node over 5 years ago.  That put me in a grey area for rads. 

    After doing a lot of research and consults with two different ROs, and weighing the risks of rads v. the benefits of rads, I declined rads.

    Also, there is such a thing as breast and truncal lymphedema, not just arm lympedema.  I didn't have rads so I'm not sure, but my guess is that rads would increase the occurrence rates for breast and truncal LE.  You may want to post that question on the LE section. 

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