No rads under any circumstances it seems.

[Chelee]

For the people here that have tried to help me get radiation treatments since I have the problems with missing ribs. I have made calls, talked to anyone that will listen. I still have a 2nd opinion lined up. Its been 2 1/2 months since last chemo...I am late! I am TERRIFIED! They had their big tumor board meeting about me and my pulmonary doctor explained to them how lung function works. Since I only have 37% lung function...the rads doctor said he would hit another 13% of my lungs ONLY doing the axilla area and up by collar bone. Which would bring me down to about 30% use of lungs and he said that is just NOT good enough to take a risk with me. He said he doesn't want to kill me.

I freaked out and called an oncologist I went to a couple months back ago at "another" cancer center. I explained all my problems with rads...and during out talk the onc doc did express it was important for me to have rads especially since when she READ MY PATH slides it showed I had "Extra Capsular Invasion". I asked what that was? She said where the cancer cells spread out in the surrounding tissue where the lymph nodes are. I said "I have NEVER been told this"! She said she saw it on the slides. So it seems even MORE important that I SHOULD have rads to the axilla area at least!

I called my rads onc doc and told him what SHE said about this extra capsular extension in my lymph node area! He says without a pause, "Yes, WE ALL KNEW THAT"! I told him "Well I DIDN'T"! Its been 8 months and NO ONE told me! Now I am REALLY SCARED about recurrance since I CAN'T have rads. My rads doc did the 3D planning, looked at IMRT radiation...and other things. He just says there is no way to do it safely. I said, "should I just lay down and die then". (Then I started crying.) It takes alot for me to cry in front of someone.

Plus I have been WITHOUT any anti-hormonal therapy ALL this time while waiting for rads. All I am on is herceptin. Everyone on this board and one other board with my prognosis was hit very aggressivly with tx. They all got AC...followed by taxotere or taxol. And later herceptin. Plus one friend of mine got all her chemo which included AC and rads at the SAME time. But with me...they do the less with everything. They are the doctors...WHY didn't they FIGURE out at the first tumor board since I am MISSING all these ribs on the mastectomy side that it WOULD be a problem! I had no way of knowing it...but they did. (I told them the other day they dropped the ball with me and I am going to pay for it.) All THOSE DOCTORS & NOT one of them could see THEN there would be a problem. Hard to believe.

I am so stressed and scared. Had I known about this radiation problem...everything would of and SHOULD of been done differently.

Thanks to everyone that tried so hard to help me. It did meant the world to me. You guys care more about me & my out come then my own so called medical team.

Chelee