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Been told I may need Kadcyla when others had radiotherapy

Sugar-Plum
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I am just about to have a lumpectomy & partial node removal after chemotherapy. There appears to be nothing in my nodes now and my tumour has had an extremely good response & my surgeon says it appears to have shrunk to nothing from examining me & ultrasound. I have had my chemotherapy with the NHS and my surgery is private as my insurance came through. I was oestrogen positive & HER2 positive, and I have 2 Magiseeds marking my tumour & my node, which means my MRI scan is obscured. 
The NHS oncology have said that I may need to go on Kadcyla after surgery, whereas other people I talk to, who seem to be in the same situation as me are being offered radiotherapy, which is what I assumed would be the case for me. 
My cancer has not spread anywhere else so I'm unsure why they are pushing this treatment. Anyone else had a similar experience? 
Sugar Plum

  • It's great to hear your treatment has been so successful Sugar-Plum. It must have been so lovely to receive this news although I'm sorry about the uncertainty you have over the possible follow up treatment.

    Hopefully some of our members who have been in this position will share their experiences and advice with you soon but if you haven't done so already, do try and discuss this further with your oncology team as they are the only ones who can explain why Kadcyla has been recommended instead of radiotherapy.

    Our team of cancer nurses will be happy to help in any way they can as well so if you'd like to talk this through with them, you can give them a call on 0808 800 4040, Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m.

    We're thinking of you Sugar Plum and hope you're able to get the answers you're seeking soon.

    Kind regards,

    Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

  • Offline

    Hi

    My chemo had a good response but there was still a little residual disease left when they did my operation. This meant I needed to have Kadcyla as a precaution. I also had radiotherapy to my chest and armpit.

    X 

  • Offline in reply to Harker1

    Thank you for replying. How did you find the side effects? I'm worried about having more chemo after 7 cycles. 

  • Offline in reply to Sugar-Plum

    Much milder than my first 7 rounds. I just have some fatigue and a little bit of neuropathy but nothing major. I am back to work now and managing fine. I was down to have 14 Herceptin anyway so it's not changed things all that much x

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