Radiation therapy or not?

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Jean54
Jean54 Member Posts: 9
edited March 2015 in DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ)

Well my lumpectomy on Jan 15th went very well. Except for some pain with the wire insertion, there was little pain involved. After having a consultation with the radiation oncologist, I was sent to a genetic counselor. I am now waiting for the results to determine if the cause was a genetic mutation. If not I need to decide whether to go ahead with radiation therapy. Has anyone regretted their decision after getting radiation therapy or not doing it

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  • Janet456
    Janet456 Member Posts: 507
    edited February 2015

    Hi Jean

    There are quite a few threads in this forum on DCIS with or without rads, but I could not manage to copy/paste the links for you.

    If you do a search they should come up and they are very informative.

    I didn't have rads and have no regrets so far, long may that continue :)

    A lot depends on the extent and grade of the DCIS, as a very small area of grade 1 is far removed from extensive grade 3.

    Hope this helps a bit. Janet x

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  • BLinthedesert
    BLinthedesert Member Posts: 678
    edited February 2015

    I had radiation, it was not fun, but I have to regrets, and no lasting side effects.

    Going to treatment everyday was a hassle, I was super tired all the time, and I had some pretty awful skin the last 2 weeks. But, I ran every day, traveled to a wedding, and was pretty much back to normal within 6 months. Now, nearly 3 years later, I don't even think about it anymore.

    Best wishes, everyone is different, their level of risk of recurrence as well as benefit of treatment. The risk/benefit you are willing to live with is a very personal decision.

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  • april485
    april485 Member Posts: 3,257
    edited February 2015

    Had rads and have no regrets whatsoever!

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  • proudtospin
    proudtospin Member Posts: 5,972
    edited February 2015

    I am with the above, did the rads, tired at the end but I worked all the way through and slept after over

    6+ years later and all clear so it was worth it

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  • Jean54
    Jean54 Member Posts: 9
    edited March 2015

    Thanks for replying. I'm still waiting for the results from the genetic testing. Tomorrow will be 2 weeks so it shouldn't be much longer. So hard to decide what to do. Right now I'm trying to take one step a at time. At least surgery was easier than I expected

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  • gypsyjo
    gypsyjo Member Posts: 304
    edited March 2015


    Jean54, I was wondering what type of pain meds they gave you for during the wire insertion. I had a bad experience with my core biopsy and dread the wire insertion. The pain meds I received just didn't seem to go deep enough. Any suggestions on how to deal with it? Did they put in 1 or 2 wires? This is an area that I can't find much detail. I deal better when I know what to  expect. Thanks! I see my surgeon on Thurs for a consult.

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  • april485
    april485 Member Posts: 3,257
    edited March 2015

    gypsyjo, My wire insertion did not hurt all that much except for a moment or two. They did not give me anything for pain for this nor did they give me any anti-anxiety meds. After surgery, they did give me percocet for the pain later on which was doable with that med. My first lumpectomy hurt but not enough for pain meds but my second one was a different story. Quite a bit of pain there so took the percs and it helped.

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  • gypsyjo
    gypsyjo Member Posts: 304
    edited March 2015


    Thanks, april485! Thanks for the reassurance and the perocet tip.

     

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  • Jean54
    Jean54 Member Posts: 9
    edited March 2015

    Sorry for not replying sooner. They didn't give me pain meds for wire insertion. They did numb it and thought that's why it hurt so bad but didnt last long from the numbing meds.

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  • ballet12
    ballet12 Member Posts: 981
    edited March 2015

    HI Jean, I'm another one with no regrets in having radiation.  Given that the DCIS was multifocal, high grade and extensive, it was a no-brainer.

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  • MagicalBean
    MagicalBean Member Posts: 362
    edited March 2015

    Jean-I did rads and don't regret it at all. Side-effects were minimal for me, and the benefit outweighed any inconvenience. As for the wire-I had no numbing prior and it was not painful. I think a lot has to do with where the cancer is. Mine was close to the surface, on the top of my breast (at about 2 o'clock) so the wire didn't have to go too far. I did get Xanax from my PCP so I was pretty mellow before I got there.

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  • Annette47
    Annette47 Member Posts: 957
    edited March 2015

    Had rads, no regrets. I don’t remember any pain from the wire insertion, but I was also having a sentinel node biopsy, and they did the dye injection for that first, and I did have numbing for that, so it may have carried over.

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