I mean you can always say no. It's your body. But the only times I've seen Drs say someone could possibly skip them is someone very elderly. Have you met with the RO? They should be able to explain how much benefit the rads would give you.

DCIS is stage 0 and by definition not invasive but you should still understand your risk profile and what benefit they estimate from the treatment.

Rads are often not that bad for many. For me it's just tedious cause you have to go daily. I was back in school full time when doing rads in 2018. This time I'm fatigued but that could have many causes in my case.

I hear you on the going alone. I've been doing that several times a week since March. It does suck.

Best wishes

Someone with a tiny area of low grade DCIS and wide surgical margins might be able to pass on rads with minimal risk, but 5-6cm of DCIS is a lot of DCIS - not a small area at all. Clearly this is DCIS that has spread in the breast, and passing on rads could significantly increase recurrence risk.

The question is why you are having an SNB if your current diagnosis is DCIS and you are having a lumpectomy. Nodes do not need to be checked with DCIS. Should some invasive cancer be found during the lumpectomy, an SNB can be done as a quick second surgery. Given the life long risk of lymphedema, most surgeons don't recommend removing nodes unless invasive cancer is found for those having a lumpectomy. It is different for those having a MX, since an SNB can not be easily done after a MX.

Here are the DCIS surgical options from the NCCN:

Rads were just tedious for me, kind of like being in the movie Groundhog Day. I had the long course of 33 sessions when I was 68. I felt fine all the way through; just got a little pink and itchy on my clavicle. My mother was 85 or so when she had breast cancer. She had a lumpectomy and also had the long course of rads. She had to go to a town about 10 miles from where she lived for her treatment and drove herself there and back every single day and she managed just fine. Yes, some people have problems. But many don't and they don't have anything to post about so you won't read about their experiences as easily.

Agree with all the other posters. Each time for rads, going Every.Single.Day. for what seemed like years, was the biggest problem. The first time, I had some nasty skin issues. They healed, skin fine now. Second time, no problem at all.

You can do it.

I pushed back with my RO the first time I had rads. "Shouldn't we maybe hold off and keep that arrow in the quiver if I get a recurrence?" "The goal is not to have that happen." And then she told me rads would decrease my probability of recurrence by 50%, so it was an easy decision. I also decided not to have the SNB with the DCIS. My BS didn't see anything alarming on the ultrasound and was okay with that.

One more perspective--I did have rads and knew that I would because I also knew I might not follow through with tamoxifen. And in fact, that's how it's gone. I did have rads, tried the tamoxifen and chose not to continue. So I'm glad to have had the rads as that provides pretty good bang for the never again BC cancer buck.

Good luck on Friday!

I'm two years out from finishing rads, so I don't know how "long-term" that is. I have to get periodic CT scans for a different issue, and last year a smudgy thing showed up on my lung. The radiologist who read the report said it looked like radiation damage. I was furious! But on subsequent scans, it became scar tissue, then it shrunk, and now it's barely there. Everything has some side effects. The side effect of NOT having rads is that you're much more likely to have cancer come back.

I had radiation on my left side 11 years ago and I have had no problems.

Hope everything goes well tomorrow. Good luck!