25th February 2007
Hi there,
For what it's worth, my mom went through the same thing. Lumpectomy, followed by radiation.. she started on Arimidex but her body did not handle well so she decided the radiation was enough. She got through the sessions. They were not painful, just stressful and made her very tired. 6 years later and she has tremendous pain in her rib area.....I am not saying that to deter you, it is probably the right thing to do, to take every precaution. There is no easy answer, you just dont want to do any of it. But I just wanted to share that it is true, there are lasting side effects. My mom only agreed to it because it was the second time she had breast cancer.
We were told that the chance for reoccurence "without" radiation was 30-40%, and with it, was reduced to 10% so she decided to go ahead with it.
Good luck with your decision, I know it's a tough one....yes, she had pain in her ribs but if it has prevented anything from coming back, it's worth it. Unfortunately we'll never know that....
Caroline
For what it's worth, my mom went through the same thing. Lumpectomy, followed by radiation.. she started on Arimidex but her body did not handle well so she decided the radiation was enough. She got through the sessions. They were not painful, just stressful and made her very tired. 6 years later and she has tremendous pain in her rib area.....I am not saying that to deter you, it is probably the right thing to do, to take every precaution. There is no easy answer, you just dont want to do any of it. But I just wanted to share that it is true, there are lasting side effects. My mom only agreed to it because it was the second time she had breast cancer.
We were told that the chance for reoccurence "without" radiation was 30-40%, and with it, was reduced to 10% so she decided to go ahead with it.
Good luck with your decision, I know it's a tough one....yes, she had pain in her ribs but if it has prevented anything from coming back, it's worth it. Unfortunately we'll never know that....
Caroline