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Fear of radiation after lumpectomy

Breast Cancer | Last Active: Mar 9 5:46pm | Replies (129)

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@shortie0650

Well, I really don't want to have any more deformities and that is a personal frailty that I know should not be high on the list. However, I know what it would do to my mental health which is already suffering from clinical depression and a low self esteem. The more important reason is that I am scared to death of having any more "side effects" that will limit what I can do or add to the existing problems that I have and make me hate being alive. I have osteoarthritis and am being tested for psoriatic arthritis; neuropathy in my right foot; a constant battle with insomnia, weight gain and depression; and have low energy. After three years of constant pain in my shoulders where I couldn't sleep from the pain, I couldn't do up my bra or my apron, couldn't wash my hair etc. etc. - I finally got treatment that healed them and am back to being able to move almost normally. The relief of this made a huge difference to my entire mental and physical well being. I have suffered with suicidal thoughts and had one attempt a number of years ago. Having looked at the side effects from both the radiation and the Tamoxifen which might bring back much of that and more, I am scared of myself not being able to cope with it. Right now, about 5 weeks after the partial mastectomy, I have some minor pain that I can tolerate, I have a nasty scar that I don't like but can tolerate, my breast is a bit smaller than the other one but mostly looks normal and I can tolerate that. So I am going about most of my regular life activities without too much trouble, but if I get to the point where I can't do regular daily life without a great deal of pain and lack of energy etc. I am worried I won't be able to stand it.

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Replies to "Well, I really don't want to have any more deformities and that is a personal frailty..."

I think everyone's preference list is l

I am dealing with a similar situation. I just had lumpectomy for Grade I invasive ductal carcinoma, ER/PR positive and HER-2 negative. Spot removed was only 0 .6 cm (smaller than pea size). Surgeon rec is radiation plus AI. I have suffered for my nearly my entire life with chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, autoimmune thyroid, depression, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, vertigo, dizziness, swelling, severe allergies, etc. Three lymph nodes were removed and none of them tested positive. My BARC genetic test came back negative also. Surgery report says all margins are clean. I have struggled my entire life to overcome the overwhelming amount of symptoms I already have. In addition, my father died of leukemia and also my cousin on his side. My cousin on my mom's side has lupus and thyroid issues as does the entire side of mom's family. My aunt had lung cancer. With my history, I do not want to risk making my already awful quality of life even worse. So I am waiting on my Oncotype results. I too have read horrible things about AI and radiation. Radiation can bring on leukemia and lung cancer later on. I've had to cut back on work already due to my existing issues, so I can't afford to quit. I need to still work to pay bills. So far, I have not found that the benefits of radiation or AI's outweigh the risks or decreased quality of life. Unless there is some indication that you are at higher risk of recurrence. I'd like to see some studies on this topic but haven't found much out there yet. Has anyone out there found any studies on this?