Scarlett Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 My 43 year old sister was just diagnosed with breast cancer. She is stage one and they caught it early. I have high hopes she will be fine. So now I have 2 first-degree female relatives (my mom was diagnosed 9 years ago--doing well) diagnosed with breast cancer which makes my risk 5 times greater than normal. Sigh. Here is the thing though. My sister and I share a father. We were not raised together and only saw each other one time in childhood---she found me 4 years ago and we have really bonded. If we had not reconnected I would have never known my risk is 5 times greater than average. That is weird. And makes me think about all of these 'averages' out there in risk factoring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariannNOVA Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: My sister was diagnosed at age 46 and she was stage 1. It is six years later and she is fine.:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 :grouphug: Best wishes for your sister. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlylocks Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 My 43 year old sister was just diagnosed with breast cancer. She is stage one and they caught it early. I have high hopes she will be fine. So now I have 2 first-degree female relatives (my mom was diagnosed 9 years ago--doing well) diagnosed with breast cancer which makes my risk 5 times greater than normal. Sigh. Here is the thing though. My sister and I share a father. We were not raised together and only saw each other one time in childhood---she found me 4 years ago and we have really bonded. If we had not reconnected I would have never known my risk is 5 times greater than average. That is weird. And makes me think about all of these 'averages' out there in risk factoring. :grouphug: -- I know this is news is "new" and you're still processing what it means. (My Mom and my sister are both breast cancer survivors...) I'm sure you have a million thoughts flying through your head...but did anyone mention genetic testing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovinmomma Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 :grouphug: and prayers for you and your sister. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 :grouphug: -- I know this is news is "new" and you're still processing what it means. (My Mom and my sister are both breast cancer survivors...) I'm sure you have a million thoughts flying through your head...but did anyone mention genetic testing? Yes. My sister had it done and it was negative. Which is great news. Get this.....She is stage one, it is not in the lymph nodes, she is premenapausal, and it is estrogen positive (all 'good' things)...BUT the lump was 1.3 cm and so therefore they wanted her to do chemo, radiation, and an estrogen blocker for 5 years. She said no to the chemo. They argued with her. 'what concerns you about chemo?' Ummmm.....the fact that it is poison! Anyway, once she refused the chemo they said, 'oh there is this test we can do that will assess your specific risk of your specific cancer returning. 0-18 is low risk, 19-32 is medium and over 32 is high risk of returning. Guess what she found out hers was? 2. A number she would have never known if she had not refused chemo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlylocks Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Yes. My sister had it done and it was negative. Which is great news. Get this.....She is stage one, it is not in the lymph nodes, she is premenapausal, and it is estrogen positive (all 'good' things)...BUT the lump was 1.3 cm and so therefore they wanted her to do chemo, radiation, and an estrogen blocker for 5 years. She said no to the chemo. They argued with her. 'what concerns you about chemo?' Ummmm.....the fact that it is poison! Anyway, once she refused the chemo they said, 'oh there is this test we can do that will assess your specific risk of your specific cancer returning. 0-18 is low risk, 19-32 is medium and over 32 is high risk of returning. Guess what she found out hers was? 2. A number she would have never known if she had not refused chemo. That is great news about the genetic testing!! I'm so happy that she stood her ground regarding the treatment...not many people know they can refuse anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle in AL Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Please be careful with promoting refusal of treatment, I'm a cancer nurse and the worst cases I see are those who are young and diagnosed late or refused treatment. I have seen things that can truly cause post traumatic stress disorder. I can not tell you how horrible it is. Cancer is a horrible disease and when found in a young adult is particulary difficult to fight, probably due to genetic factors that we have yet to discover. Promoting refusal of treatment without medical knowledge can be very dangerous (this isn't meant for the original poster I don't think she was promoting this with her sister). :grouphug: this is hard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justLisa Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Yes. My sister had it done and it was negative. Which is great news. Get this.....She is stage one, it is not in the lymph nodes, she is premenapausal, and it is estrogen positive (all 'good' things)...BUT the lump was 1.3 cm and so therefore they wanted her to do chemo, radiation, and an estrogen blocker for 5 years. She said no to the chemo. They argued with her. 'what concerns you about chemo?' Ummmm.....the fact that it is poison! Anyway, once she refused the chemo they said, 'oh there is this test we can do that will assess your specific risk of your specific cancer returning. 0-18 is low risk, 19-32 is medium and over 32 is high risk of returning. Guess what she found out hers was? 2. A number she would have never known if she had not refused chemo. Wow. That is good news though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 Please be careful with promoting refusal of treatment, I'm a cancer nurse and the worst cases I see are those who are young and diagnosed late or refused treatment. I have seen things that can truly cause post traumatic stress disorder. I can not tell you how horrible it is. Cancer is a horrible disease and when found in a young adult is particulary difficult to fight, probably due to genetic factors that we have yet to discover. Promoting refusal of treatment without medical knowledge can be very dangerous (this isn't meant for the original poster I don't think she was promoting this with her sister). :grouphug: this is hard! No I am not and have not promoted her refusing treatment. I do however support her right to decide which treatment she will accept. I know, particularly with breast cancer which they have dealt with so much and have had good success, that there is a formula they go by. If you have ABC they recommend XYZ. The one thing she had that made them recommend chemo was that her lump was over 1 cm. But it was only 1.3 Also they told her that doing chemo increased her chances of survival by 6%. To her that was not enough to go through chemo. My mom was stage 3a. It was in her lymph nodes and hers was 2.5 cm. She did chemo and I am glad she did. It probably saved her life. However, I know it also did a lot of damage to her body. It aged her skin and made her bones weaker. As with many things whether to accept chemo is a risk/benefit question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Good for her. Once they realized they were not making money off of her they went to Plan B. She can also check into alternative prevention methods. Many people on this board have mentioned the "Iodine" book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfunnybunch Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: My dear friend just finished treatment for stage 1 breast cancer. She is doing very well and the risk of the cancer returning is very small. She said that one of the worst things about going through treatment was the overwhelming number of choices and decisions and and amount of information. Prayers for your sister. Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yarrow Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 (edited) . Edited September 15, 2012 by Karen in NE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigs Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 (edited) The test was not even offered until she refused chemo. She was in the oncologist's office for 3 hours that day....they tried to talk her into chemo and when she would not be swayed THEN they suggested the test. I suppose if the size of the lump/tumor had been less than 1 cm they may have recommended the test to see if she should have chemo. I don't know. I just feel like not all the information is given to patients. I see my doctor next week for a check up and I am going to tell him about this latest development with my sister. I intend to ask him about the thermography. Edited September 13, 2012 by Scarlett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 :grouphug: to you and your sister. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 :grouphug: to you and your sister. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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