WHY I CHOSE NOT TO HAVE RADIATION TREATMENT FOR BREAST CANCER

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WHY I CHOSE NOT TO HAVE RADIATION TREATMENT FOR BREAST CANCER

 

By RFD Columnist, Marilyn Holasek Lloyd

 

Radiation treatment is considered the standard of care after lumpectomy in

breast cancer. And lumpectomies are recommended most of the time in breast

cancer when the tumor is not too large or diffuse.

 

Fear of radiation is one of the reasons I chose mastectomy for my early-stage

breast cancer. Why was I so afraid? It came from my experiences in nursing

school. Many cancer patients with the purple lines marking the radiation field

died. Of course, radiation treatments are more refined now, 35 years later, but

I could never get over my fear of ionizing radiation. What added to my fear was

the belief that mammograms somehow changed my DNA and RNA and caused my breast

cancer. I figure I had about at least 90 mammograms in 20 years, because they

always took 2 to 3 views of each side of my dense pre-menopausal breasts.

 

Also, I observed what my aunt went through with her very early-stage breast

cancer. She was 65 years old and consented to a lumpectomy and radiation. Her

breast is very distorted in appearance, but besides that, she had a scare six

months later when the surgeon thought he saw something on a follow-up mammogram.

He recommended a biopsy, and I always remembered how her breast didn’t heal for

6 months. She had discomfort and some bleeding and a hole in her chest all that

time. And furthermore, the doctor said that if she needed any more biopsies,

she would need a mastectomy. My aunt solved this problem by not having any more

mammograms for 20 years, because she was not going to consent to any more

biopsies. That whole experience of my aunt was filed away in my neurons, and

when the time came to make my decision about surgery, I know it played a big

part.

 

But what I did not count on was the outcome of my own mastectomy. Having a

mastectomy saved my life, because I had two breast cancers. The surgeon did not

know the second one was there after many mammograms, a sonogram, a CAT scan, and

an ultrasound of the breast. However, he was a very good surgeon, and when the

pathology report came back with that second tumor, it was really close to my

chest wall, and he got the bad stuff within 1mm. And that is a very small

margin. In cancer medicine, doctors like to see a 1 centimeter margin. He

recommended I see a radiation oncologist along with a regular oncologist.

 

Now I was faced with the fear that comes from having had a cancer diagnosis, and

the two other things I greatly feared in medicine the most: Being poisoned with

chemotherapy and having radiation. I started studying. After having two

different consultations with oncologists, I was scheduled to see the radiation

oncologist. My husband, a physician, who went with me to see the oncologists

just couldn’t leave his practice this time, so my daughter went with me. Armed

with my list of questions, I had the consultation. The bottom line was that the

radiation oncologist recommended radiation, because of the close margin.

 

And then I started asking questions. Just how much radiation would I get? The

answer: 1600 rads a day, five days a week for 6 weeks. What was going to

protect my lungs where breast cancer can metastasize? Apparently nothing. And

the biggest question of all came from my reading the Merck Manual. It indicated

to me that there would not be any survival advantage. But by this time, the

radiation oncologist could see where I was going, and she then informed me that

chest wall recurrences were “nasty to treat.” I asked her if someone still

could have a recurrence if they took radiation. The answer was “Yes.” What

would happen if I already had radiation and had a recurrence? I was concerned

because if radiation sites don’t heal, what then happens to the chest wall? No

answer.

 

I asked about other potential side effects, and got the standard answer:

tiredness, reddish skin, and ribs that are fragile and break easily especially

in an automobile accident. What she didn’t tell me about was the higher risk for

lymphedema (the accumulation of lymph in soft tissue and swelling, caused by

inflammation) a condition which can be life-threatening and a life-long problem,

which can greatly affect quality of life.

 

So then I asked the doctor what exactly radiation could do for me. She replied

that it could reduce the risk of a local recurrence by about 30 per cent. I

could tell by the look on her face that she wasn’t expecting these kinds of

questions. I suspected that perhaps most of the time the patient said yes when

she recommended radiation.

 

When listing the pros and cons, the cons won, especially with my deep-seated

fear of radiation in the first place. By the time my daughter got me home, I

had pretty much made my decision. However, I laid it out for my husband, step

by step to get his opinion, and he agreed with me that since there was no

survival advantage, it seemed reasonable to say NO.

 

So the next week I told the regular oncologist that I would not have

chemotherapy and didn’t even call the radiation oncologist back. Well, they

called me, and I told them NO thank you.” They wished me well.

 

Now, I wasn’t going to stop there. That is when my full protocol started with

an alternative medical provider. Also, I did consent to that oophorectomy (a

surgical removal of ovaries) to reduce my risk of recurrence (to the same

percentage as chemotherapy) because I was pre-menopausal. And I did something

special for my chest wall. I took a medication course, and meditated on my

chest wall twice a day for at least 3 months, if not longer. I added

visualization with the help of an expert. Besides my full alternative medical

program, I added an expensive 400mg of Coenzyme Q10 a day, based on a small

study from Denmark that showed complete disappearance of a breast tumor in a few

women. I felt this might be an insurance policy and continued Q10 for 3 to 4

years.

 

Also, it is still invaluable for me not to have had reconstruction, because I

can feel my chest wall daily for any changes. What if they were covered up with

implants?

 

I also became a religious walker, because with each step I felt I was

oxygenating my body, and cancer cells don't like oxygen. And with help from

alternative and complementary medicine professionals, I radically changed every

aspect of my life.

 

I have never second-guessed myself. No matter what happens to me, I will always

believe that I made the right decisions.

 

 

 

 

 

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