Options about surgery after chemotherapy
My sister has 3 rounds of chemotherapy of TCH left. She will have an MRI & bone scan before her surgery. The doctor's nurse talked to her today about her options for her breast surgery. My sister is HER2+/estrogen-progesterone negative. Stage 2B breast cancer. No lymph node involvement or spread of cancer.
She spoke to her breast surgeon over 2 months ago and the regimen she suggested (first MRI/CT scan came back clean) was a lumpectomy/radiation. My sister was adamant about having a double mastectomy and reconstruction. Because the tumor is in one breast only.
The nurse said that the survival rate was about the same as a mastectomy as with a lumpectomy/radiation.
My sister does not want radiation because of our mother dying from the affects of radiation. Our mother had cervical cancer and had radiation therapy. The radiation therapy killed her kidneys. She didn't die of cancer she died from kidney failure.
Should my sister stand her ground with the double and chemotherapy/herceptin therapy only? Thanks.
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