Radiation—yes or no

Hi aosh,

I think doctors aren't great at explaining radiation and its benefits. It took me a while to wrap my head around it.

I'll say that I think being 80 kind of works both ways. On the one hand, in theory, you don't have to stave away cancer for all that long to get to your 'normal' life span. On the other hand, if you did have a recurrence - even a local recurrence that wouldn't threaten your life - surgery can be a lot harder on an 87 year old body than on a 70 year old body or even an 80 year old body, which could complicate the decision-making process later. Another factor to consider is that many of the dangerous radiation side effects are not only very rare, but begin many years after radiation, which might also make them less of a concern for someone already closer to their 'normal' life span. (Important to note with that too, that since they are late, the data is based on radiation administered many years ago, and radiation technology has improved, so even those rates may not be accurate any more.

Can you ask about intraoperative radiation? To me that seems like it could be a great option, especially during a pandemic. Or have you already done surgery?

hello sweetie i had chemo and rads and tamoxifen now ong time Survivor Praise God.msphil idc stage2 0/3 nodes 3mo chemo before and after Lmast all while planning our 2nd marriages. Got married then 7 wks rads and 5yrs on tamoxifen hope this helps but its your call.