[annettchen]

I have had surgery because at the time of the surgery, it was not known yet that I had mets. Since mine was a smaller tumor (2.3 cm) I had a lumpectomy. They tried to take out the sentinel nodes, too, but what they took out did not contain any lymph nodes (I have yet to understand how that came about).

As far as I know they would not have done the lumpectomy if they had known at the time that I'm stage 4. At any rate, lumpectomy and sentinel node surgery was the easiest part of the journey so far. I went riding 3 days after the surgery. Lumpectomy, though, not mastectomy. Definitely easier than Herceptin and Perjeta, and that - for me so far - is a walk in the park compared to Taxotere.

I have asked my oncologist for radiation - she does not want to do it even though I asked for it. Part of her reasoning was that she would like to keep the option open in case it's needed at a later point. And that recurrance in the breast is the least of my worries. So far (13 months after stage 4 diagnosis) the breast is clean, so I acquiesce.