Surgery pending for sister.
 

My sister has estrogen/progesterone negative, HER2+, stage 2 with no lymph node involvement.

She was given a treatment plan of 6 rounds of TCH chemo prior to surgery, double mastectomy (her choice not her doctor's) and herceptin for 1 year. No radiation therapy is scheduled.

Surgery was delayed for a few months because she developed a very bad yeast infection on her chest.
She has seen the plastic surgeon for reconstruction and the oncologist cleared her for surgery in February. He wants her to have one more herceptin treatment prior to surgery. She'll have 3 more rounds of herceptin after surgery. Also, there is no evidence of the tumor which the breast surgeon and oncologist have verified which is good news.

She has been a fighter with a good attitude. She is a little concerned but said the chemo would probably be worse than the surgery.

Which was worse the mastectomy or chemotherapy?

Thanks.

Re: Surgery pending for sister.
 

I expected chemotherapy to be a lot harder than what it actually turned out to be. It wasn't easy, not my most favorite thing every, but not nearly as hard as I had expected it. My Dr. had my accompanying medicine down to a science and I did not have any problems with nausea. I also was lucky that I did not have any allergic reactions and overall tolerated both course of chemo well. The easiest was the adjuvant 1 year perception with minor side effects (runny nose etc.). Worst side effects were foggy brain and great, great fatigue. I listed to the advice that my Dr gave and rested as much as I needed to and did not try to push through fatigue and that helped. I was able to work throughout my chemo (though not sometimes not in full capacity due to "chemo-brain".).

Re: Surgery pending for sister.
 

Hands down, no contest, chemo was much worse than the mastectomy. With the mastectomy I had some range of movement issues, which is to be expected, and that was it. I couldn't reach things for a while and couldn't lift a lot but otherwise the only "discomfort" I remember was during the first couple of days trying to get up from the couch (because it's a deep couch). I remedied that by putting some large pillows behind me so that I didn't have to "work" to get up. Other than that, I didn't have pain or sickness at all with the mastectomy. I didn't have to take pain pills either, although I think some sort of "pain booster" shot was given during the surgery.

Chemo, on the other hand, was much worse than I expected. So definitely, chemo was worse for me.

Good luck with your sister. Sending good vibes that all will go well.

Re: Surgery pending for sister.
 

Chemo was worse for me than the mastectomy. As Lucy mentioned, there will be some range of motion limitations after surgery. Having the drains in after surgery and not being able to take a bath was annoying but that being said , it was still easier than chemo.

Good luck to you sister

Re: Surgery pending for sister.
 

My mastectomy was a cake walk compared with Chemotherapy and I found radiation to be the worst of all. It just keeps on working and tightening the skin long after the appts are over. I have a separated rib that will never heal as one side effect due to aftereffects.

Re: Surgery pending for sister.
 

I just re-read my post and saw my atrocious spelling :( (I think I had some auto-correct going). My apologies. Reading through the other responses though you can see that individual responses are different and it always depends on how the individual can tolerate the respective treatment course.

Re: Surgery pending for sister.
 

Chemotherapy hit me like a freight train. I was only able to complete 4 of six rounds due to multiple blood transfusions for hemoglobin, dehydration, and vomiting that could not be controlled.
The double mastectomy was a piece of cake. I was out slowly walking 1-2 miles a day within a week. VERY slow miles, but it felt good. Dr said I could walk.