Refusing Chemo

[RobynS4]

I am 63 and recently diagnosed with stage 2 invasive ducal carcinoma, hormone negative and HER2 positive. This is a more aggressive cancer but let’s face it, cancer is cancer. Going for a mastectomy in a couple weeks. They want me to have chemo along with herceptin and perjeta which kills off the her2 protein. I absolutely refuse to have chemo but I will have the herceptin and perjeta infusions. People may think I’m crazy but shooting toxic chemo in me while lowering my immune system doesn’t sit well with me along with all the other terrible side effects. Chemo is a crap shoot. There’s no guaranty that the cancer won’t recur with or without chemo. Anyone else refuse chemo?

[BeeWild]

Hi lovely sorry you’re facing this dilemma. You have actually joined the ovarian cancer forum on health unlocked and not the breast cancer forum. You may get more applicable responses on the breast cancer forum .

Good luck and best wishes for the future xx

[GINI-54]

Good morning, I had chemo last year, for ovarian cancer, it made me very ill then at my 3 month check up after I’d finished chemo, they announced that I had secondary breast cancer that had gone to the bone.... I couldn’t believe it, I said I thought the whole point of having the chemo in the first place was to Keillor off any rogue cells. They couldn’t answer me and said , I was just unlucky. They suggested another type of chemo to control the cancer, as they can’t cure me, but I refused. So I was discharged from the care of the hospital and put in the hands of the hospice. That was January this year, apart from a little tired and a few pains, I feel fine, I’m living me life normally, but knowing that I don’t have long. I’m determined to stay as strong and healthy as possible for as long as possible and that can only be achieved by refusing the chem, which last year weakened me so much I could hardly walk. I am taking a hormone therapy, letrozol, to slow the growths down and it is working well. Only side effect is hot flushes.

It is a very hard decision to make, and my family wanted me to have it, but I know that I would not have been as well as I am, or had the fun I have had this year, if I’d been in and out of hospital receiving treatment. So good luck with it, we all have a sell by date on us, and nothing can change that, treatment may keep it away for a few extra months but at what cost.

[kewl1]

Hi Robyn,

I had stage 3c colon cancer last year at age 68. I had the tumor removed and was offered chemo, a mixture of 3 chemicals, one I recall was called 5FU. Actually, I was given a choice of something that was a pill vs a drip at the hospital every two weeks and then come home with a small bottle for another 48 hours. When I asked about the comparative effectiveness they said the drip had a 5% higher success rate. I chose the drip. I was also offered 3 or 6 months and told that the second 3 months does not add as much as the first 3 but I took the six months. My attitude was that I wanted to fight this with everything I can. I don't want to be told a year from now that my cancer is back and then wonder if only I had taken the longer treatment or the one that was 5% better.

I know others that have had the same treatment as me and would get very sick for 3 or 4 days after each treatment. I never got sick once. In the entire 6 months of treatment, I never took one of the anti-nausea pills they gave me. They also told me that it would/could kill my immune system leaving me vulnerable to picking up bugs. I had to take my temperature every day and have a blood test every 2 weeks for a white blood cell count I think it was. The chemo, in fact, had absolutely zero effect on my immune system. In over 13 months including Canadian winter, I still haven't had as much as a cold. I guess, everyone reacts differently and I was lucky as far as that part goes too. I stuck it out till the end. They did get rid of one of the drugs for the last two treatments because I was getting what I thought was a lot of neuropathy. In fact, that got exponentially worse in the months after completion of chemo which really surprised me. But it seems to have plateaued now after 5 months and hopefully will reverse.

The actual chemo treatment days were rather pleasant. I always joked that I felt like I was at a spa. Reclining chair, pillow, hot blanket, pop, coffee, cookies, my laptop and the nicest nurses in the world. I used to think "I thought this was supposed to be bad?" Anyway, again I'm sure that I'm just lucky in that respect. So I guess my whole point is that, and only speaking for myself, I just wanted to make sure that I didn't pass up anything I might regret later. I have a couple of grandchildren that I don't see enough and no real retirement yet so I still have a lot I want to do and I'm going to fight this thing tooth and nail. So please just make sure you think this out carefully.