Miss a month of chemo, then what?

[sabpri]

My original plan was to do chemo first to shrink down the Tumors and then surgery to remove at the end. I was to do 4 rounds of AC every 2 weeks and then 12 weekly doses of Herceptin/Taxotere. Ended up the Tumors shrank faster than originally projected, so we went ahead with surgery after 8 weeks of Herceptin/Taxotere. I was told I needed to wait for the surgeon to release me before I could start chemo again.

When I went to see my Oncologist about when to start the last 4 of the weekly infusions I missed, she said she was considering just letting me skip the remaining 4 and go right to radiation. I took it from her reaction that no one really knows what the "perfect" balance is between ensuring the person has enough chemo to get rid of the cancer for good, and making sure they do not have too much that it puts you at risk for lukemia. I told her I wanted to "make up" for my 4 missed doses and she knew what a big worrier I am so she agreed to go ahead. We ended up deciding to give me just one big 3 week dose treatment and while I felt worse than the weekly doses, at least I was done.

I guess my point is that there probably is no exact answer to where the line is for you, so without the exact science of it, you have to decide what makes you the most comfortable. Mine knew I would be anxious about skipping anything, so she agreed when I told her to finish it up. I would just worry about it so I am glad I did.

Hope this helps.
Natalie