We've all heard it before. Don't look up your medical problems, symptoms, issues on the internet. With a couple keystrokes, you'll be convinced you are dying of some horrible disease. Okay, maybe this is a bit extreme, but we've all had a little of this experience.
When I first was diagnosed with breast cancer, I made sure to tread very lightly in terms of researching breast cancer. I joined a couple support groups on Facebook, but I got a little overwhelmed at first so I backed off reading too much. I slowly learned more about my type of breast cancer... there's more types than I realized.
After I learned about my type of BC, I did a little research on treatment. This proved to be very helpful because when my oncologist told us what treatment he was recommending, it was exactly what I expected it to be. Even when I talked to UCSF on the phone about getting a second opinion, they said they didn't want to see me until after surgery because my type of cancer had such a "standard" treatment for chemo. That's good, I guess.
The "lighter" chemo that comes after the 4 harsh rounds and surgery will still happen every 3 weeks. Originally, the doctors told me that I'd have to do these 2 meds for a year total (they are also included in with the harsh chemo) which would be about 12-14 rounds. Now there's new research coming out that I may be able to do it for 6 months rather than a year, and have the exact same success rate of getting rid of and/or keeping the BC from coming back. The oncologist is the one that told me about this.
I've done a little research and I'm planning to ask UCSF about it. The research has been done by doctors NOT the drug companies. This is promising and encouraging to me. Why would I want to do rounds of chemo, albeit lighter type, for any longer than I have to?! One of of the potential side effects of these two meds is damage to the heart. I'd like to keep my heart healthy, thankyouverymuch! So if I can use less of it, still kill the BC and keep my heart healthy, I'll take that option!
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