RT or not post clean margins, neg nodes for 87 year old mom?

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Lelane4
Lelane4 Member Posts: 4
edited November 2021 in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

My mom who is 87 had a lumpectomy on 10/5. The margins were clean and four sentinel nodes were neg. It is a triple neg, Nottingham grade 3 but at surgery it was only 1.9 cm not > 2cm. The surgeon is 50:50 on whether or not she should do RT. RT is obviously pro RT. She was given the statistics of a 25-40% recurrence rate at 5 years without RT and 7% with RT. She would be 92.Other than some memory issues and glaucoma and high BP she is healthy and active and lives independently.

She is having a hard time deciding whether or not to do RT. She was told side effects are local skin and tiredness. It would be four weeks M-F and then 4 days of "targeted" RT.

Looking for some advice and how others felt during RT.

Thanks,

Lauren

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  • santabarbarian
    santabarbarian Member Posts: 3,085
    edited November 2021

    In her shoes I would skip it being that old.... but it is not that bad. Your skin can react and peel and 'burn' but it is not painful more irritating, itchy, and weird. It isn't bad the whole time but just the end (for me the last about 10 days). If needed, hyperbaric oxygen helps healing a lot. I was completely healed in about a week.


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  • Beaverntx
    Beaverntx Member Posts: 3,183
    edited November 2021

    I was 77 when I had a lumpectomy and RT. Followed RO's guidelines for skin care and had no problems, not even much fatigue. Drove myself to each appointment and frequently ran errands afterwards. BS commented at recent visit on how well my skin looked post rads. Others have had different reactions. Perhaps the fact that I have never tanned easily was an indicator of better tolerance to rads?

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  • Lelane4
    Lelane4 Member Posts: 4
    edited November 2021

    Thanks for the additional input. She has decided to see how it goes. Having her simulation today.

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  • AliceBastable
    AliceBastable Member Posts: 3,461
    edited November 2021

    How is your mother's health otherwise? Is she a self-sufficient person or does she need assistance doing things? My mother had breast cancer at 85 and had the long course of 33 radiation sessions, M-F , over six weeks. She had to drive to another town every one of those days for the radiation, and got through it fine, just tired near the end of all of it, but that's pretty normal no matter what the age. So it would depend on your mother's current health and circumstances. BTW, my mom lived to be 97 and had no cancer recurrence.

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