Calling It Quits

Last Thursday I had my fourth chemo treatment. It wasn't until afterward, and before the side effects hit hard, that I began to think about the fact that from the start, my oncologist recommended "four to six treatments, six if you can tolerate the first four." I like and respect my oncologist, but as I began to think about that, I questioned whether it was best to have six treatments just because I could tolerate them. 

One of the websites my oncologist had recommended was www.breastcancer.org and I have gained a lot of helpful information from their articles and by communicating with other breast cancer patients on their discussion boards. I've learned that there are many types of breast cancer and many variations of diagnosis. When I first learned that my biopsy had shown a malignancy last January, a few people asked me if my tumor was DCIS. I had no idea what that meant, but the answer turned out to be no. It was a little more serious than that. 

Now, after my user name, my signature line on the discussion boards includes:
Dx 1/2/2013, IDC, 3cm, Stage IIa, Grade 2, 0/2 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2-

I don't expect that to mean much to most readers of this blog, but it means a lot to breast cancer patients looking to share information with others who have a similar diagnosis. There are two bits of information in that line that make me comfortable stopping with four chemo treatments and made me doubt that any possible benefits of two more would outweigh the risks and side effects:

I had no lymph node involvement and my cancer was not "triple negative." 

Either of these details would have made chemotherapy a more critical piece of my overall treatment plan. I have no doubt that having chemo was a good decision, given the size, stage and grade of my tumor, but based on my own research and sharing of information with other patients, I'm also convinced that four treatments were enough.  Given the particulars of my diagnosis, the next two phases of my treatment plan, radiation and hormone therapy (make that "anti-hormone" therapy,) are every bit as important, if not more so, than chemotherapy. 

I didn't feel comfortable delaying radiation therapy any longer to have two more chemo treatments. Radiation is critical after a lumpectomy and it shouldn't be delayed any longer than necessary.

I told Rick that he was my witness that I had reached this decision before the pre-chemo steriods wore off and the side effects from last Thursday's treatment hit, because this fourth treatment has hit me faster and harder than any of the previous ones. I called my medical oncologist's office yesterday and told his nurse about my decision. She spoke with him and called back to tell me that he was fine with it and gave me a referral to a radiation oncologist. He will continue to follow me after radiation and through "anti-hormone" therapy.

It will take some time to recover from the side effects of my chemotherapy, but I'm thankful that I've been able to tolerate it as well as I have. In a future post I'll share some tips that have helped me get through it. I don't expect radiation or hormone therapy to be much fun either, but I'm glad to be headed out of the chemo zone and grateful to have multiple treatment options.  

I've learned a lot so far on this journey and I think it's important to learn as much as possible and make the wisest decisions I can. But one thing I had already learned from life before breast cancer is that when it comes right down to it, I'm really not in control of all that much. That's where faith comes in. God has been in control all along and will continue to be. I know that He is good even if some things He allows in my life seem far from it.

My fourth chemo treatment