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Survivorship/Care after treatment
Breast Cancer | Last Active: Apr 22, 2023 | Replies (31)Comment receiving replies
Thanks all for sharing - I too am so confused - being treated at Dana Farber, Boston. I have ILC - lumpectomy, no node involvement (57 yrs old, dense breasts, 2cm right breast, hormone +, HER-), 20 radiation treatments on right breast post lumpectomy finished end of Jan 2023 and then started Letrozole (biggest complaints fatigue and brain fog). I see oncologist's NP in May, 6 months after lumpectomy to discuss Letrozole affects but no screening until a year - October 2024 - with dense breasts I asked if I could get an MRI but my onco said current studies have shown no benefit of screenings before a year? But so many on this site have said 6 months mammo, ultrasound or MRI is recommended? I'm very anxious -margins very close but radiologist said that the radiation should have addressed that? Any thoughts welcome - thanks so much
Replies to "Thanks all for sharing - I too am so confused - being treated at Dana Farber,..."
Cancer brings a lot of anxiety, peace of mind is one of the things I miss most from pre-cancer days. 😂
I do try to laugh about this, but the truth is, it can be hard at times.
That first year was the hardest, I understand that it can take a while to know if the treatment worked. Also the treatments continue to work for some weeks to months after they end. I had to ask a second doctor to get that little tidbit of information.
The other side of the equation is I have this much time before I have to think about it again. I can eat what I want, go ride my horse, do all the things I couldn’t do during chemo. One Mayo doctor told my husband “if you always wanted to go to Tahiti, now is the time”.
Do you have things you would like to do that can help you enjoy the time you get between appointments?
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Not sure about the scan time, but the rest sounds like a solid plan. I wish I had taken an AI the first time around. That may have prevented recurrence. I’ve been taking Letrozole for 26 months and will always. I started Kisqali at the same time so it’s hard to know which one causes which side effect. I started another med for non-related lung NETS (rare neuroendocrine cancer) two months after that. I can say fatigue is a main side effect, but all three meds cause that. Your radiation was so recent you may still have fatigue from that too. With any med, side effects can improve over time as your body adjusts. I think my fatigue was worse at first but I had also recently finished 38 radiation treatments due to a positive margin and very aggressive recurrent cancer. Seek a second opinion if you feel unsure. Best of luck to you.