How crazy is it to not do chemo?

Your question has really made me think, because when I was first diagnosed I was sure I would refuse chemo, no matter what. I was so afraid of the side effects and how it would probably ruin my quality of life. Luckily I never had to make that decision but after reading these boards for the last year and a half I have a new perspective.

Chemo is hard but people make it through it and get on with their life. But you aren't offered just chemo - you're being offered herceptin and perjeta, a powerful tool that is targeted to your specific cancer and will cut your recurrance from 50/50 to 1 in 4. How awesome is that! If it were me I'd grab those stats and run with it.

Wishing you the best of luck as you make these difficult decisions

Zen, I really understand your wish to avoid chemo but as I recall Herceptin is most effective in concert with chemotherapy. Herceptin & Perjeta along with chemo seem to be extremely efficacious.

As dismaying as it is, if I were in your shoes I'd throw a pretty good tantrum at the world and then (sullenly) accept the need to do chemo plus HP. I'd also work at re-framing the issue to see chemo in a more positive light - I'm not saying that YOU need to, but I would definitely have to!

In regard to your other post re: which regimen - I'd also search out a few studies comparing AC to TC and make careful notes. If you decide on Taxotere, be sure to look into cold capping. There's a very good thread on this board on that topic which you may find very helpful. In my experience, most MOs sort of downplay its effectiveness but I'd take that with a grain or two of salt.

Whatever you decide, good luck. It's a crummy set of decisions you're faced with but at least you have HP to considerubly up your odds.

ZenMushroom - What are the main concerns you have about having chemotherapy? Side effects during treatment? Long-term effects? Toxicicty on the whole body?

It's a really personal decision but spend some time really dissecting your reasons for possibly refusing chemo. Once you get to the nugget that really worries you it might help to drill down on that aspect. Do some specific research and get some opinions.

I had no choice but to do chemo since I have triple negative breast cancer, but that's the decision making approach I applied to what sort of surgery to have. It helped me.

Good luck in your treatment whatever you choose!

Zenmushroom, as I remember you are only 29years old, don’t you think chemo would give less chance for recurrence. You still have so many years to live. Chemo is doable even for this old bird, you should handle it better than me.

It isn’t an easy journey and you might need to take some time off for infusion. Also aren’t you going to need radiation also?

Wish you luck on your decision.

Zenmushroom- Your post caught my attention because I have been battling the same exact question about chemo post-mastectomy (12 weeks of Taxol & Herceptin, then 9 months of Herceptin for me). The side effects are scary and having a miserable year are not at all appealing. I'm not sure of your diagnosis date, but, for me, since I heard the chemo news on Dec. 20th, each day I panic a little less about chemo. This forum has helped so much! It's really hard to choose to do something that is going to suck. I am getting a 2nd, and maybe a 3rd, opinion on chemo. If all the info is the same, then I will focus on ways to suck it up and start looking at chemo as a benefit, as something that I will be thankful for later, when I don't have a recurrence (I have no idea how I’m going to create that shift though!) I am sorry you have to make this decision. I wish you the best and hope you will post about your final decision.

While this study data has been around for a while, the first two names at the top of this study are the docs who brought Herceptin to the market and thus helped pave the way for its use for early stagers. My oncologist prefers TCH due to the cardiotoxicity of both anthracyclines and Herceptin. The cardiac issues resulting from Herceptin being usually reversible, but with Adriamycin they are usually not. I did 6 TCH, and would do it again. I had no issues being around people, Neulasta injections the day after chemo kept my WBC in good shape, but I did take a leave from work - more due to the five surgeries I had in the 16 weeks prior to chemo. I started chemo very much behind the 8 ball, but if I was able to just do the initial surgery I think I could have continued to work. I did return to work 30 days after my last infusion per pre-arranged terms of the leave.

Hi. You can’t hold these stats as absolute truth because they are averages of many cancer patients and everyone and their situation is different. I wouldn’t base life or death situations on those stats. Let the doctor make the decision. That is my advice. He or she has the training and experience and may also have an intuition aboutyou as a patient.

I have AC and taxol, I was semi retired before Dx, afterwards I took a leave. I’m at my 60, and I still have energy to do 40 min walks most of the day during chemo. Many people worked during chemo, sure they took some time off when they do not feel well. Some of them work at home on some days. When I did AC, I was covert careful on some days, I avoid crowds because I know my WBC is low.

For neuropathy, I have to stop on #9 taxol because of neuropathy. I iced my hands and feet during infusion still got neuropathy. 2/3 of my feet were numb and my fingers were all numb. Now I’m 8 weeks post, feet got 80% back to normal, fingers are much better almost 90%. I’m so happy Neuropathy wasn’t permanent for me. I took all the vitamins as MO suggested (same as SpecialK) somehow I can’t avoid this side effect. Everyone is different you might not have th problem I have.

Zen, I am so glad that I saw this post...my mom is struggling making this decision right now. She is really scared and is worried that she won't be able to handle chemo. The unknown is what's really getting to her head so I am going to share these posts with her to see if it helps make her decision. I think hearing opinions from others who have been through it really helps.

She was diagnosed in early November +, +, - and had a lumpectomy (it was a little over 2 cm). She is healing well after surgery and has had minimal pain. The pathology came back node negative but her oncotype is 34. It was recommended that she do 4 rounds of Taxotere and Cytoxan, followed by 4 weeks of radiation, and then TAM. She will be 68 next week.

Does anyone have experience with these two drugs? I think she needs to hear that it's do-able and that she won't be miserable every minute of every day for 3 months.

I am so grateful to read everyone's posts...I've been having a hard time wrapping my head around everything and am so relieved I found this website...extremely helpful!!!

did they do a recurrence score on the tumor or just general stats? I would ask them to test it.