Has anyone refused chemotherapy?

I applaud you sticking to your own decision. I was blindly led by Onc and had 3 chemo drugs for 6 months including Taxol which left me w/severe neuropathy. I had the total surgery and lymph noded removals. Hormone blockers for 18 months before I quit. It now has reurned after 7 years so kinda feel that going thur that chemo was not the way to have gone. I am pretty disbled now and suffered lots of pain- during and after. Before I held 2 jobs and bicycled three times a week. I can do none of that for about 5 years now. I am back on Tamoxifen so sure hope it stopr something. I am also going to be more religious about excluding hormones and dairy out as much as possible.

FYI only...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/07/1229570/-Michigan-doctor-arrested-for-purposely-misdiagnosing-cancer?detail=facebook

I wonder if opinions about this are different with triple negative patients where chemo is really insisted on. I am willing to try chemo but am now trying to convince myself that it isn't necessary because I may miss the deadline due to surgery complications. The onc won't give chemo more than 3 months post op and I have a wound that will very likely not be healed by then. In some respects I am relieved to not have to make the decision but am also afraid because triple negs are really pushed to get it.

It's interesting to to read all of the perspectives

Thanks Grammy. The 3 months is almost up. My surgeon was neglectful in my opinion. I have a new one now who monitors my current wound. I also got a new family doctor today who was not too pleased with how things have gone. I have a feeling much of it was because I have an anxiety disorder and when I brought up concerns they thought I was just being anxious. It was just one thing after another by a couple of different people. I will take them on when I get my strength back.

thanks for your support.

they told me the same I had tnbc 2.7 cm and a her2 nu 1 cm. In one breast.had mastectomy no node s involved, I would have a 80% chance that it won't come back with no chemo, with chemo 90% 10% difference, what should I do, don't want to risk taking that poison and health complications down the road!

I find myself in a similar situation of should I or shouldn't I. I've decided to at least give chemo a try this Friday. I asked my oncologist what would happen if the side effects were bad. Her response was they would adjust the dosage accordingly. I'm also worried about long term side effects. I have a friend who went through chemo and radiation when she was 35. It returned in her fifties. She really hasn't had too many long term side effects other than thyroid but she is still going strong as ever. I never thought I'd get BC. I figured I would beat those odds but here I am. Now hoping that my odds of BC not returning are going to be better with chemo, radiation and hormone therapy. One of the gals in my Healing Connections group took the natural path way but said she would never do that again as it didn't work for her. It only made her BC worse. Who knows really why some therapies work and some don't. It's not really anything we've done or haven't done. It's just who we are. I'm scared to death of the side effects but also want to live longer. If six months of feeling crappy gives me 20 more years then I'll take that chance.

I am wondering if anyone else has refused chemotherapy and how it has turned out for you.

I had a mastectomy three weeks ago. I'm going through reconstruction. My scans are clear, but 5 nodes were involved at the time of surgery. No genetic link, no family history, my cancer was fed 100% by my hormones.

The general recommendation (push) from my Oncologist is chemo, radiation, then Tamoxifen. At first I considered simply going ahead since it was such a push to do all three. But, then my gut instinct was to dig a little deeper, look at the research, and see how others have fared that chose not to do the chemo route.

My gut instinct now is to nix the chemo, as the benefit does not seem to outweigh the risks for me. I do hope to have the radiation treatments and the Tamoxifen. My Oncologist, I'm concerned, may even refuse that route of treatment if I refuse, so I need to hear what others have been through, and how it worked out for them.

I had NO node involvement, but when my OncotypeDX score came back it was 24, which was much higher than any of the docs predicted, so I'm doing chemo.

I , and MO, originally was going with no chemo. Lumpectomy , brachytherapy radiation, then Femara. I am 97% ER+ My markers said 22% recurrence rate, down to 14% with surgery & radiation & pills, down to 6% if i did the four rounds of chemo. For me, getting to single digits helped me decide to throw everything at this. Crap shoot I suppose.

I just had my lumpectomy on Monday. The surgeon got clear margins, and there was no node involvement. We're waiting back on the final path report to make absolutely certain, but my surgeon said the path report rarely contradicts what he sees during surgery.

The doctor and nurse navigator don't think they're going to recommend chemo, just hormone therapy and maybe rads. I have already decided that, due to the fact that I'm grade I, ER+/PR+/HER-, and have no family history of cancer other than lung and cervical, I'm not doing chemo unless they tell me there's some staggering chance of recurrence, which is highly unlikely. I am willing to do rads and hormone therapy.

I also want a hysterectomy because I have severe endometriosis, and I can no longer take bcp's, so it's about to spiral out of control again.

It's all about risk appetite. I have a small risk appetite with the endometriosis because that's stage IV and highly aggressive; it's been making me violently ill since my very first period, it's all over my abdomen, and it's too extensive to just be taken out (I've had three laparoscopies, and the doctor did what he could). The cancer, thankfully, is slow-growing, so my risk appetite regarding this is large, especially since my surgeon got it all.

I said no to chemo. I was told my risk of recurrence would reduce from 23% to 10%.

I need to make an appointment for my yearly mri but so far so good almost 6 years.

Hi Monee, so what are you doing to treat your cancer and how is it going for you now?

Peacedreamer: Tamoxifen MAY cause endometrial cancer (as well as other side effects) but to the best of my knowledge, and per the information pages of this site, is NOT associated with ovarian cancer.

The association with endometrial cancer is the reason that women taking tamoxifen are advised to be followed carefully by their OB/GYN.

Please note that just because a side effect is possible does not mean that it WILL occur.

how are you doing now