Recurrence Rates with Surgery vs. without Surgery

I was probably where your mother is mentally and emotionally a while back. I had a great response to chemo and the logical part of me thought "why do I need surgery if the mammo, MRI, and US all show the cancer is gone"? It's a valid point to consider, but I don't think any oncologist would ever recommend that.

It's true what's posted above. All of the studies include surgery. All of the models assume surgery. There really doesn't seem to be a way to avoid it.

What changed my mind? Well - I knew skipping surgery was a pipe dream. I knew I wanted to do everything I could to avoid ever having to do this again!

I have possibly done more than was necessary. No one knows for sure. But I did know that I would kick myself if I had to deal with a recurrence and I hadn't done what was recommended.

Of course - it's your mother's call. Is there a reason (beyond just not wanting surgery) that has her going down this path? I was a healthy person with no other health concerns. I may have felt differently if I had other problems.

Has she met with both a breast surgeon and a plastic surgeon (or two or three)? Or maybe talked with other women about their experiences? Has her oncologist given her any guess about her risks?

For what it is worth, my sister did the opposite, also against medical advice. Diagnosed at age 41, she would only agree to surgery, and while her oncologist disagreed, he was also respectful of her decision. She was stage 1 Her2 positive and decided to have only surgery and alternative home remedies nothing more. She lived for 11 years, but was clearly metastatic for several years and quality of life suffered. She opted for no chemo, hormones or herceptin. Her choice. Her way. There are no guarantees, but I always wonder if she'd be here today if she had followed medical advice. She was my younger sister and best friend. My mother was diagnosed at 43 but cancer was already advanced to where surgery and chemo were too little, too late. She also died from this disease. I decided to blast with all available options and will see if it makes a difference. I respect my sisters decisions. Her body, her choice. It was still very painful to be supportive while helplessly watching her deteriorate.

On what are they basing the conclusion that your mother has had a complete response to chemo? If it's from imaging (MRI, etc.), it might be helpful for your mother to talk with her oncologist about the reliability of imaging. My 5 centimeter tumor turned out to be 10.5 centimeters when they did surgery. I was told that it is very common for imaging to be inaccurate. It's better than nothing, but you don't really know what happened during chemo until the surgeon goes in and takes a look.

Needle biopsies aren't foolproof either. The inflammation of my lymph node that a biopsy said was benign was in fact malignant. They didn't know that until they were able to biopsy tissue taken it surgery. The needle biopsy apparently missed the cancerous tissue.

In other words, your mother might want to reconsider the reliability of the data she's receiving this point. Her doctors may be able to help her understand the likely margin of error.