Can anyone describe their chemo? Stage 2a

Hello, this is about my mom(55),we had the apt yesterday after her surgery and there were no surprises other than the one lymph node they knew about (0/9, 1.2 cm) and the breast with calcifications and 1.8 cm tumor (mastectomy).She has an apt with the cancer Center but not for another month!!! Surgeon says due to the lymph involvement there will definitely be radiation and HIGHLY likely chemo. She is upset that she needs both but says she's willing to do what it takes. However...this may sound like I'm judging but...she has a lot of friends who are kind of fear mongering. They are "devastated" and "so disappointed" to hear that she needs chemo. They are insisting that sugar feeds cancer so now she's beating herself up with the smallest treat. They go on and on about how cancer loves an acidic body rather than an alkaline one - what? Doesn't our body regular our Ph level on its own? I'm so afraid they are going to convince her to go some alternate path. They are probably the reason she skipped mammos for 5 years because she didn’t want the radiation on her thyroid. She's already seeing a naturopath but she insists it's to "integrate" her through the chemo with vitamin c injections to bolster her immune system. However she mentioned that the naturopath said not to TELL HER ONCOLOGIST that she's seeing him? What? Is it just me or does this sound sketchy. I'm so afraid my mom will buy into this irrational fear of western medicine and skip chemo. Chemo is the best chance you have of not having cancer recur which is way worse.... were so close to having this nightmare behind us. I wish I could take the chemo and rad for her. Can anyone tell me that it wasn't that bad? Thank you.

thank you. I do not mean to diminish certain beliefs especially in regards to nutrition, I mean, processed sugar is of course of no nutritional value to anyone and therefore doesn’t help the body thrive.

hi she is hormone positive, and her2-

thank you for this moongirljess. Can I ask, do you still maintain that diet? Although some things about naturopathy concern me, I do of course believe in eating healthy foods.And this scare in general has got me thinking that we all need to have pristine diets or else. But it seems to not matter, when I hear of cases like yours

I would absolutely request the Oncotype (her surgeon can submit the tissue sample) and/or the Mammaprint before proceeding any further. (There's information on the main BCO site on both tests.) Her insurance should cover both of these. If not, ask the laboratories involved about patient discounts, which can be generous and fairly easy to qualify for.

In many cases endocrine therapy (aromatose inhibitors/tamoxifen) can be at least as effective (if not more so) as chemo. I had two positive nodes and did radiation (a given, regardless, due to tumor location) and letrozole - no chemo. I've had numerous scans in the last 4.5 years (for other reasons) and at this point show NED and feel fine. This isn't to say your mom's results would be the same but to give both of you something to discuss with her team. It does require a committment to staying on letrozole (or the like) and it sounds as though her friends may try to talk her out of endocrine therapy as well as guilt-tripping her about her nutritional approach, so maybe be prepared for that. Good luck to both of you.

Whoa!!!

I’m a big fan of supplements and modifying diet for best outcome. But not keeping oncologist informed is completely against every rule in the book. I would strongly recommend your mother reconsider that naturopath. She can’t have it both ways to be a success without disclosure!!

Chemo was no walk in the park; I had a long and aggressive regime. But I never vomited, I ended up gaining weight on my second regime and my side effects were well managed with pre-meds and meds they send you home with. It honestly wasn’t as bad as I anticipated. I carried on a relatively normal life. Trouble sleeping was big for me because of the steroids involved and getting constipated. There are no regrets for me doing chemo in the least

Who are these “friends” have they beat a cancer diagnosis? I hope she starts to trust her oncologist and know at an early stage she has a great shot of kicking cancer to the curb with either chemo or rads or both.

Good luck to you Jules and your Mom!!

Feel free to ask anymore questions you need to!!

Hugs

KC

jukeseyes, go read the AC thread in this section. Have your mom schedule a second appointment with another oncologist if she is worried about treatment plans. Have her heal from surgery. Chemo was easier than radiation for me. Tell her to stop talking to her friends who have not had breast cancer.

PM me if you want.

Hi,

I asked a Dana farber nutritionist about the acid vs. alkaline theory and she said there’s a lot of barrier between our digestive system and the rest of our body that would prevent our food ph level to make any difference. Also sugar itself is not bad, but sugar spikes, because that triggers insulin production which *may* stimulate cell growth.

On chemo, i had weekly Taxol and it really hasn’t been that bad on me. Just some minor fatigue and nausea on days 3-5. And neuropathy, which is getting better post chemo.

On alternative medicine, I have seen it help people improve chronic health conditions and such, but cancer is really too aggressive for it to make much difference. As a warning, my mom took Chinese herbs (known to remove toxins) to help alleviate side effects from Taxol, and her cancer recurred within months of completing chemo. If your mom does decide to use alternative medicine, make sure you understand how those supplements would interact with chemo.