Hi..been a while.. May 6th surgery.. sential node neg.. 1 c.m. invasive stage 1.. 1st oncologist

Lia, this sounds like a very good prognosis- congratulations! You've got lots of positives going for you. Now you have to make a tough decision. (How come when you break your leg you have NO decision to make other than what color you want your cast to be; but when you have a life-threatening disease, they want you to decide on your own treatment?!)

Statistically speaking, you should be safe going with no chemo; in the Oncotype DX range of 1-100, with 100 being the highest risk of recurrence without chemo and 1 the lowest, you scored an 8 - that's pretty darned low! But what you have to weigh this against is your own "worry quotient." Are you a worrier? Someone sho's constantly second-guessing herself, saying "I shoulda, woulda, coulda..."? If you choose not to have chemo and then, by chance, end up with a recurrence, will you be kicking yourself forever?

Or are you a "go with the flow" type personality? "Oh well, guess I should have had the chemo. But I'll go ahead and deal with this again, and hopefully that'll be the end of it for good."

Which person are you? You might want to read my piece on using the Oncotype DX test to help you make a decision. Best of luck, Lia- PJH

No one can make these decision but you - but I can offer some advice regarding chemo.  As long as you have no fear of losing your hair, you'll be ok.  Chemo does have some side effects - nausea, "chemo-brain", what is commonly called "cancer-pain" which is like joint/muscle pain - all of which most likely go away.  Your hair grows back, you'll have peace of mind knowing you did all you could to stop the cancer - yet sometimes, some people continue to experience these side effects long after chemo.  I still experience loss of memory 3 years after.  And my hubby has become real good at deciphering what I am trying to say when I mix two halves of a word together.

And now I'm getting ready to do my 2nd round just as soon as I finish my last 6 wks of radiation.

Good luck making your choice!

Angi

Hi Lia,

My score was a 13 so I faced the same decision.  My oncologist also wanted me to do Taxotere following 4 treatments of A/C dose dense chemo.  I chose the AC but skipped the taxotere.  I just completed the chemo yesterday.  The side effects were not too severe.  I get headaches, some nausea, insomnia and fatigue.  I did have a bout with ulcerations at the juction of my esophogus and stomach which was severe enough for a 1 day hospital visit but my oncologist started me on a liquid called carafate which has been very successful. I had IDC and chose a modified mastectomy.  My margins and nodes were clear and I'm ER/PR positvie HER2 negative so I too could have gone either way.  The Doc told me the chemo gave me an additional 5% which for me was enough to decide to do the chemo.  I have never been a worrier regarding my health because I have always been in perfect heath.  This cancer was a shock to me as I was sure my results would be negative.  Now I'm not as confident and I worry about it coming back.  I also know that I would kick myself forever if I didn't do the chemo and it came back.

Best of luck with your decision.

Dianec