posted by bettersoon
17 June 2013
Anyone had mastectomy & chemo but no rads?
Last reply:
23 June 2013 20:03
I've had my surgery in Jan this year - right side mastectomy with immediate strattice & tissue expander reconstruction. Onco-plastic surgeon at the time said I was borderline case for having chemo, but no radiation therapy needed. I'm currently half-way through chemo. My understanding re. rads decision is that my tumor was less than 5cm (mine was 2cm), not embedded in chest wall, clear margins & v. low lymph node involvement (1 in 33).
Original surgery & decisions were made in UK, NHS treatment.
I came back home, to Ireland to have chemo with family support.
BUT, now the team dealing with me here say that a 10yr old european study says that there MAY be some benifit to me having radiation therapy.... My UK team and other US studies would disagree, I'm concerned for my strattice which prob won't stand up to rads and won't be replaced like-for-like by HSE (they'll opt for diep etc. because I'm a public patient) and I feel that I've got no concrete reasons to do rads other than fear and a broad sweeping 'just-in-case' approach with rads in Ireland.
Anybody here NOT had rads after mastectomy & why?
Or, anyone given good clear reasons why they did need it and what exactly it would do to benifit your body?
I meet radiation oncologist again this wk and will of course put all these questions in front of them again too
Hope everyone's treatment & recovery going well xx
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