Thinking of no radiation

Fifilovesme · August 2014

Hi. I'm just curious to see what everyone's thoughts may be regarding opting out of radiation therapy. I have had a lumpectomy and currently in chemo and will start tamoxefen shortly thereafter. I am lucky to have no lymph node involvement, but do need one more surgery to clear the margins. Do I really need radiation??? Doctors are saying yes and throw all the stats at me about survival rates, but I am wondering if it's really necessary. Has anyone opted out of radiation? I'm very torn about this, so I would appreciate some advice. TIA!

pupmom · August 2014

Yes, if you had a lumpectomy, you need radiation to mop up stray cells in the breast. Even with chemo, radiation adds more insurance that they "got it all." Radiation was easy for me, at least until the very end, when I got pretty red and itchy. I was helped by creams they give you and the effects didn't last long after rads. This is only my opinion, but if you follow your doctors' advice, you will have peace of mind knowing you did everything you could to defeat this monster, that literally wants to kill you. (Never underestimate the diabolical designs of cancer.) Best wishes!

BrooksideVT · August 2014

I was going to skip rads too, but when I met with my RO, she pointed out that chemo treats distant escapees from the original tumor, but radiation directly treats cancer cells still hanging out in the breast. The two treatments are complimentary, not duplicative. As your margins left something to be desired, I'd think the direct-to-the-breast zaps would be a pretty good idea. It turned out that I did not need chemo, but rads alone reduced my statistical chance of recurrence by about half, from 15% to 7 or 8. I went with the odds, and had rads, despite my absolute horror of the procedure. My very pale skin did just fine, and, looking back, I am very glad I took advantage of this risk reduction opportunity. II know the decision is not easy, but a close look at those statistics, a good chat with both your onc and your RO, and, of course, a second opinion might give you the perspective you need to make a decision you can trust.

ruthbru · September 2014

Yes, radiation is a given with a lumpectomy. I did chemo and then radiation & found rads to be 'a piece of cake' compared to chemo. My advice is to do everything advised now to give you a better chance of never having to go through it (and worse) all again!

lyzzysmom · September 2014

I never had chemo but for me, with fair skin, rads was easy and expected after lumpectomy. Barring any other underlying condition, if I was told I needed it on the other side would I do it again? Yes in a heartbeat! Uncomfortable towards the end? Yes. Painful? not really, just a little sore.

TB90 · September 2014

Hi Fifi: I am one who opted into rads. As I had a mx for DCIS, rads are rarely recommended. However, I had a focally positive margin even after my mx. No doctor actually recommended radiation, and even my breast surgeon tried to talk me out of it. However, I did my own research as I just could not let it go and found a number of recent studies indicating radiation for exactly my situation. My RO was supportive and said it was my decision. Then I researched the heck out of all the possible negative SE's, both long and short term associated with radiation. The whole decision process drove me crazy and I agonized over my decision. I finally recognized that the chances of any serious SE's are very small and I needed to know that I had done everything I could do to ensure that I never have to deal with BC again. I had some skin burning at the end of rads, otherwise it was absolutely a piece of cake. So I had one week of discomfort and have never regretted my decision. If I had opted out of rads, I could do nothing about that now and it would have always bothered me that I may have missed an opportunity to have done all I could do. That is my perspective on my thought process about rads. Hope it helps.

Thinking of no radiation

Comments

Categories