Big Decisions

[kymelody]

Thanks so much for your input -- I have found that no matter the different "phases" you go through while in this battle -- this website has ALWAYS been a great source of information. I will keep researching and reading everything I can get -- I truly believe you can never be too informed about this dreadful disease.

I do have some major decisions in the next few weeks and appreciate everyone keeping me in their thoughts and prayers. THANKS !!!

[TheresaM]

Melody: My impression, after 3.5 yrs on the her2+ bandwagon, and extensive research and interaction with other Her2+ folks, is that if you respond to Herceptin you may not re-occur. However, if you do not respond to Herceptin your chances of re-occurring, no matter the stage at initial dx, are quite high. So.....my impression is that lumpectomy vs mastectomy is not the vital question to ask when worrying about survival. It's a cosmetic issue and you choose the one that makes you most comfortable.

Remember, this is only my impression, you might bounce it off your docs if you are interested,

Theresa

[kymelody]

I kind of have a weird arrangement ..... I am having my treatments (Taxol and Herceptin weekly) using a local oncologist (we live in a smaller town in KY).... my original team would mean traveling over 5 1/2 hours round trip (in TN), which I did during my A/C treatments. I just couldn't do it EVERY week for the 12 weeks of Taxol - did not want my family or myself to have to make that trip. I am just fortunate to be able to only be 5 minutes away from my local treatment facility and the oncologists were gracious enough to work together for me. I will return to Nashville to see the plastic surgeon on April 19th and my breast surgeon April 20th, which is also the date of my last treatment. My oncologist indicated they could do surgery as soon as two weeks after the last Taxol treatment.
I guess everyone wishes they had a crystal ball to show our future to make those "big decisions" easier and to know that we made the right ones.
Some days I am like "take it off - who cares" ..... then there are the days the lingerie catalog comes, and I just want to forget I have to even think about it .... I am such a girlie girl ~ and a sucker for the vanity of society !