My mom is 53 years old and is diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, ER positive, PR and HER2 negative. Her lump size is 3.8 cm. She is currently in US with me but she wants to go back to chennai for the complete treatment as she feels more secure being in chennai. Can you please let me know how good the masectomy, radiation and chemo therapy is being done. Can you suggest some good hospitals, oncology surgeons, medical oncologist, radiation oncologist.
Breast cancer survivors can you please let me know how many years its been after your treatment and are you able to lead a normal life and where and with whom you had the surgery, radiation and chemo.
Thanks for your inputs, the information you provide will be of great help.
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Flower838Flower
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I am Divya, 39, breast cancer survivor...was diagnosed with IIIB stage IDC, during full term pregnancy. 6 days after my normal delivery I started off with my chemo therapy, followed by complete mastectomy and the radiation therapy. Now I am on hormone therapy. Everything went on well at BL Kapoor hospital at Karol Bagh, New Delhi. It has one of the best cancer team.
If she is happy getting a treatment at Chennai, it fine because her being emotionally stable is the key to correct treatment. Just make sure there are people around to take care. She should be surrounded not many but a couple of care givers. If there is no one there to take care....I think she should stay in US for the treatment. Ask her to watch comedy movies, sometimes soaps also elevate the mood.
Hi Divya, Thank you for your reply. I greatly appreciate and am proud of you for your good spirit and for encouraging others who are going through the same issue. I bless that you and your baby would be fine. Thanks for your advice. Do you think treatment in US is better than the ones in India?
Hi... ur mom would like to take treatment only in Chennai ? Hyderabad is also good BASAVATARAKAM INDO-AMERICAN CANCER HOSPITAL is well known for breast cancer.
Flower - Where are you in the US? There are excellent treatment centers here also. One important factor, as has been pointed out, is where she would have support during her treatment.
Thank you for you reply PKenn. I am living in Florida and we are thinking now more about the treatment here in US as the survival rate is higher here and we are not sure about which place to go exactly in chennai. My father did inquire couple of hospitals like VS Hospital, Apollo Cancer hospital and SRM Simms hospital..when talking to the patients there every one were suggesting to get it done in US if its possible it seems. When you say support what should we expect and what is required of us who is caring for them. It would be great if you could elaborate on the support aspect so we can be prepared. Also please let me know the list of excellent cancer centers that you were referring to. Thanks.
I am not very familiar with Florida. I know that the Moffit Center and the Mayo Center have good reputations. If you PM where you are in Florida I will try to find out more about something that might be close. I made the mistake of starting with a local surgeon. I ended up traveling to UCLA, which can be a pain with LA area traffic, but it was totally worth it to have the expertise of their breast center.
By support I mean family members who are there for her. It can mean going to appointments with her ( take a recording device or use a recording app on your phone), going with her for treatments if she wants someone there or rides to and from if she doesn't, helping with basic things when she is not feeling well, encouraging her that things will get better on the hard days, reassuring her if she loses her hair during chemo that she is beautiful and special and helping her to decide how she wants to deal with it - bald, but caps for warmth as needed, scarves, hats, wigs - everyone is different. It would be a good idea to ask about a neutropenic or bacteria free diet in case her neutrophils drop so you and she are prepared. Chemo can often affect neutrophils (our infection fighters) and if that happens one has to be very careful about food preparation and making sure foods are well cooked.
I'm sure you will have questions as decisions are made about your mother's care. Do post them here. Another good resource is breastcancer.org
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