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Posted by NanciJeanB on 2/27/2009, 2:21 pm, in reply to "Due to be on chemo forever?"
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Thank you all for responding...
Yes, we (as a family, her main caregivers) have the same questions. Here's what I know: At diagnosis, October 07, her bc was found in the lymph nodes under her arm. Immediately, she had surgery to remove some of those lymph nodes. I guess they took what they thought was reasonable at the time, reasonable given lymphedema in her arm, etc. At the time she was diagnosed, scans showed mets to her lungs and mediastynum/chest wall. Since November 07, she has received chemo every week, and has gotten scanned every 8 weeks. Now scans show spots on lungs and chest wall GONE. But a spot persists under her armpit. So, we asked why not remove it?! They said something like, 1-'It's not really doing any harm, as long as it stays stable' 2-'It gives us a margin by which we can measure the effectiveness of the chemo' (it actually show slight changes from scan to scan but so minimal they still consider it stable) and 3- 'Removing more lymph nodes would be detrimental to the health of her already affected arm' (lymphedema)
So... I would love to hear your comments on all this. I want a second/third opinion as well! I think we'll be looking into that soon.
Another thing Re:#2 above- I guess they feel that there is bc in other parts of her body that just doesn't show up on scans. So, if we remove what we currently see on the scans it would not be any kind of guarantee that it's ALL gone.
OK, and one last thing. She has been on avastin since November 07. Apparently there are significant risks of bleeding due to this drug. So, IF she is to be cleared for any kind of surgery (even something we might consider minor, like dental stuff) she would need to be OFF the avastin for a number of weeks before the surgery could be done.
THANK YOU all for reading, caring, and trying to help. We are trying to be her advocates during this time when she just doesn't have the strength to be her own.
God Bless,
Nanci
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