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sent home from 1st chemo tretment

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Posted 7/9/2011 8:56 PM (GMT 0)

hello, nice to met you all.  I am so confused.  I was diagnosed with Stage1 breast cancer, had a bilateral mastectomy with no node involvement, & recommended chemo treatment for 3 months.  Well, after many tears about everything, I show up for the 1st chemo treatment ...& got sent home!  Dr. said my liver function # wasn't right, & that I probably had a fatty liver.  He explained a fatty liver could not rid the body of the chemotherapy.  Mind you, I have had my liver function checked for the past 17 yrs. due to medication I take, & never had a problem.  I had major surgeries in April & May, & no liver function problems then, either.  Now I am scheduled for tests to see if the cancer has spread to the liver & bones.  All this from stage 1 cancer?  And if I end up with a fatty liver, how will it magically improve to receive chemo next week?  Has anyone else ever heard of anything like this before?  Thanks       

Posted 7/9/2011 11:28 PM (GMT 0)
Did you really need the chemo? Did you have a type that requires it?

I had a small tumor, oncotype 7, didn't need chemo, shouldn't have even had radiation from studies I have read since then. I wish I hadn't as rads made my life miserable. I didn't tolerate any of the aromatase inhibitors or tamoxifen, so I get nothing, except once a year blood test.

What are they telling you to have instead?
Posted 7/13/2011 10:53 PM (GMT 0)
How did they stage your cancer to begin with? It is not uncommon to do liver, bone, and lung scans to determine staging. Not all liver function tests actually measure liver function... some measure inflammation. So the tests you may have had due to a med you were taking may not be the same tests that you oncologist would run. Does that make sense? If you do have a fatty liver, I don't think they have to avoid chemo altogether. They may just need to treat the fatty liver disease so that chemo doesn't do more damage to the liver.

Your oncologist sounds like he has your long term health interests placed first in his treatment plan. If your staging at 1 is correct, postponing chemo to get your liver in better health is probably not going to impact your outcome significantly.

Alcie's input is quite valid, as well. Not all stage 1 brca patients decide to have chemo, although most oncs recommend it as standard of care. You didn't mention how old you are or what other health issues you have (since you have been on medication for 17 years).

I hope this helps. Take care, and let us know how things go.

BEV
Posted 7/14/2011 10:33 PM (GMT 0)
turn  relax, you only have stage 1 breast cancer, that is terrific, does stage 1 mean your lymph nodes weren't involved right or were they and how big was your tumor.  anyway, make sure you ask for a bone scan and a mri just from experience, my cancer may have came back to my spine and i did have a bone scan and it was clear when i was first diagnosed, but never an mri.  i would of liked to know if my mri showed something a year and a half ago.  also along your healing, please if you have any suspicious pain at all, get it checked out.  i let mine go for about 3 months and now i don't know what it is.  i will find out tomorrow when i get my pet scan.  good luck to your liver, i will pray for you

 

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