Posted February 27, 2010 By imsally
I was diagnosed on Jan 19 2010. I have had my surgery, a lumpectomy. The doctor removed all the cancer and their was no cancer on the first sentinal node or the tissue surrounding the tumor. My cancer is ER positive. My cancer was caught early .I am fortunate about that. I met with my radiologist and he suggested I would be put on Tamoxifen at some point during my treatment along with radiation therapy.He also suggested I meet with a medical oncologist and that I would benefit from chemo treatments.. the word chemo really scares me. I just feel so overwhelmed by all of this info. Is anyone out their with this similar scenario .Are all these treatments really necessary?There are so many side effects with chemo. I have a lot of thinking to do.
Posted March 1, 2010 By Bandna
Hi imsally
I was diagnosed on June 11,2009. My nodes were negative, ER, PR positive and stage 1. I have a 2 year old at home. It was very scary when I had to go through this. I did do chemo. I can't say it was easy, but I made it through and so will you if you decide to do it. I just finished my radiation treatment and I am on Tamoxifen as well. All I can tell you is to take one step at a time. One thing for sure is that you have to stay positive through this. As you said that you are fortunate that it was caught early.
Posted March 1, 2010 By imsally
Hi Bandna
Thanks for your advice. I am trying to stay positive and am taking it one day at a time. I am trying to learn all the terminology for everything also. I really like this site and I know it will help me in this journey that I am sure we all here taught we would never have to make.
Posted March 2, 2010 By deydey
I am currently in the midst of my chemo treatment. All my life for some reason the word "chemo freaked me out. I think it was the fear of the unknown that bothered me the most. Every time I'd ask what to expect from chemo I was told the same thing. How it's different for everyone & every round can be different. Unfortunately it's true. With my first round I was able to have every possible side effect there was to have. On my second round my oncologist change my chemo drug & I breezed through it with no effects. At first I thought it was just the change of drug that made the difference. However this last round is resembling the first round even with the alternate drug. Although even though I've had side effects they can be managed. The biggest thing is to educate yourself. Find out what type of chemo drug they are planning on using & then look it up. Take one day at a time & hopefully this will all be a distant memory soon.
