I pored over my books and on-line stuff this weekend until I couldn’t see straight. I was comparing the various treatment options and combinations thereof. I found statistics for dying, local recurrence, distant recurrence (metastisis), recurrence in the other breast, absolute and other kinds of stats – I couldn’t get any of it to line up neatly on a chart and point the way to a best decision.
I did, however, note some telling phrases from two highly regarded doctors/researchers – Susan Love and John Link. Basically, I’d be a fool not to do radiation and Tamoxifen. I at least have to try. I had been leaning away from these treatments due to their side effects, but it seems this would be foolish. And the chemo - in my case - is just a crapshoot. It is more likely than not that it won’t help me a lot, but it is somewhat likely that it might help me some.
Bottom line: I have decided to volunteer for the trial and be randomized to receive chemotherapy or not. The trial is to determine which women in the Oncotype DX score range of 11-24 are helped by chemotherapy. At least I'll be doing something positive for medical science and the women who come after me. I decided this morning, and I am living with this decision until sometime tomorrow; then I’ll notify my doctor. I posed some questions to him this morning via e-mail about timing – how soon would I learn whether I am to have chemo or not, and how soon could chemo or radiation start? I hope I'll hear back from him shortly.
Stay tuned.
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