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I had chemo first (neoadjuvant chemo) to shrink my tumor. I was diag. in July 2002 w/ a
tumor that was approx. 6cm. I had 4 A/C (adriamycin/cytoxin) followed by 4 taxotere, each 3 weeks apart. At the time of my mast. the tumor was only 1cm and all 7 nodes they took were negative. So, this route worked well for me. Chemo first lets you know how your tumor is responding to chemo, so if for some reason one type doesn't work, they can always try another. For me it was also good as my tumor was very close to the chest wall. If I hadn't had chemo first to shrink it away from the chest wall there would of been more risk of leaving cells behind in the chest wall. I don't know if my nodes were always negative or if the chemo did it, but my treatment would have been the same either way. I was also estrogen positive and now take arimidex. I also had radiation after my surgery. I finished treatment in June 2003 and so far am fine. As to the effects of chemo, with the A/C I was nauseaus (sp?) for 2-3 days afterwards but
it was very manageable. For me, the taxotere was easier. Everyone reacts to chemo differently but they do have a lot of good anti-nausea drugs that work well.
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