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Deciding on radiation or not

Breast Cancer | Last Active: Oct 31, 2023 | Replies (74)

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@sessioja

Frogjumper been thinking of you often on this journey. We each have to weigh our options and proceed down our chosen path. I complete radiation treatment tomorrow— I will have a total of 5 prone 15 minutes of treatment. My onc wants me to take aramidex for 5 years at least. I’ve said no for now; I have osteopenia and the drug leaches calcium from your bones. A broken hip would ruin my life as much as another round of cancer so I want some better solution. I have a video consultation with an endocrinologist at Mayo Rochester set up to discuss all this with me and give me his viewpoint.
This is a whole body/life decision not just cancer.
I’ve been spinning back and forth. That’s one of the reasons I went with radiation… at least I’ll have one of the adjuvant therapies.. it should keep the one breast cancer free
Hugs and wishes as you chart your course..JAS

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Replies to "Frogjumper been thinking of you often on this journey. We each have to weigh our options..."

I am surprised your onc isn't considering tamoxifen for someone with your condition.

Unfortunately, I did not find this informative website until after I had made the decisions regarding my treatment. I still find it helpful because many people have validated my choices. I was diagnosed with Grade 1, Stage 1a-b cancer with clear lymph nodes. I decided to have 16 rounds of radiation which I tolerated well. I had MANY side effects from anastrozole which severely diminished my quality of life. My onc was adamant that I try exemestane, but I declined because like others have stated, I felt that the lack of estrogen would most likely advance my osteopenia to osteoporosis and would potentially cause other long term side effects. She was NOT understanding of my decision and told me to “Go, live your life.”
I know that some people do not have a choice to opt out of aromatase inhibitors.
I would like to add this thought to others when deciding whether or not to have radiation. When the decision is made regarding radiation, we have no idea, if our bodies will tolerate an aromatase inhibitor. In retrospect, I am glad that I chose to have radiation, since it will, hopefully, provide some protection from recurrence. It is discouraging that the treatment for breast cancer still involves treatments that can potentially cause harm to our bodies.