Waiting for a Decision

Tuesday was my post-op meeting with my oncologist to review what to do next with my treatment. Unfortunately my pathology results hadn't arrived with them through the post, so until I arrived with my copy they'd not been seen - although they had received a letter from the surgeon.

There is some debate as to where to go with my treatment next. For certain I will be having Herceptin and radiotherapy - including on my neck - as the lymph nodes there are the next place the cancer could go. The debate remains around whether to go for more chemo - the gut feeling of my oncologist is to have some more, but that's not the opinion of the oncologist I saw in Essex.

We had a long chat with the oncologist about where to go next - the problem is that in many ways I'm a borderline case, so it's difficult to make a decision. The oncologist is naturally concerned that I've only really had 3 chemotherapy treatments that were effective, and he would rather over treat and reduce the risk of recurrence. I'm obviously concerned about having a further chemo unnecessarily, especially given some of the side effects I'm still suffering with - my feet are still totally numb, and there is a serious risk of this worsening with more treatment.

Given that I'm borederline and the problems with the numbness, the oncologist is going to canvass some further opinions from his colleagues to decide how best to proceed. I'll obviously go with the recomendation - it's difficult to underestimate how little I want to have more chemo treatment but I'm not going to gamble my life on it.

I'll be back to the hospital next Tuesday to hear what will be happening next. In the meantime I'm hoping for the best, but planning for the worst.