What is your advice? An elderly woman(87) has breast cancer in early stages and is slow growing. Her choices
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 at
4:02 pm
expertless asked:
are to have a lumpectomy with 5 weeks of radiation, or total breast removal and no radiation. The other choice is do nothing which is my choice. The doctor said about 2 years is what he would expect her to live if she does nothing.
are to have a lumpectomy with 5 weeks of radiation, or total breast removal and no radiation. The other choice is do nothing which is my choice. The doctor said about 2 years is what he would expect her to live if she does nothing.
Tagged with: Advice • Cancer Stages • Radiation
Filed under: Breast Cancer
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go to a doctor
Treating cancer is painful,
I say live the rest of your life at peace,
she’s 87! jeez
Do nothing. Most elderly people have some form of cancer or another. It’s just not diagnosed. They usually end up dying from something else.
Well nobody lives forever anyway. I’d say do nothing if you’re allready 87 you’ve overlived you’re life expectancy. but I have seen people in their early 80’s get heart & lung transplants. In my mind its a waste of a good organ when folks are dying waiting to get organs. So I guess in the end its a matter of personal choice.
If he removes the breast then how long does the doctor figure she has? At 87 she likely doesn’t have much more than 2 years left anyway but it really depends on the individual and how much of a life they have.
Hard decision sorry I couldn’t be of more help.
87 that’s up there.
If I was happy with how I lived my life and knew it is my time, then I’d spend the next two years enjoying myself. Yes it’s a sad thing but if you think about at best she’d most likely get 1 maybe 2 years extra being in complete pain if she goes with the radiation.
Just have to know if she is ready to let go.
Critical data is missing. What is the prognosis for longevity with the other two options? What are the burdens and/or benefits of the other two treatment options? What is her overall health like otherwise. . . What are her wishes?
Unable to give an accurate answer since a lot of data is missing.
What does SHE want to do?
It’s her choice. Radiation and chemo are very difficult on a young and healthy person. I would opt for the surgery, but there can be complications at her age with infection etc. too. Still that is her best bet. If she chooses to let the illness do her in it won’t be pleasant. I really don’t know much about the radiation and how sick that might make her. Find out all you can about it all before decided and let it be her decision if she can make it. If it’s up to you, I would still risk the surgery for a cure. If it does her in then at least it’s quicker than the other two options.
IT’s a personal choice however and about quality of life at this stage.
If total breast removal will guarantee say 5 years, I’d go that route. If not, I agree with doing nothing and fill her last two years with love and joy. I’m not liking radiation at such a fragile age. To many days, months, of sickness and she may never really fully recuperate from the trauma to her system. To many medications etc.
Well if it were me and I had to face cancer again at 87, I would feel that it is time for me to take a nice visit to country I have never seen, take all my grandkids to Disneyland, get all my effects in order. My sister-in-laws mother has just gone through chemotherapy for a tumor in her throat (she is 82) and she has not been the same since. It aged her ten years. She is extremely underweight, weak, and losing her memory from all the after treatment medications she is on.
Unless the doctor is going to guarantee that she will live another ten or fifteen wonderful years in perfect condition, tell her to live her life in the fullest and enjoy every last minute and go out with no regrets.
This is a loaded question. I’m very much a patient advocate. If the elderly woman is alert and oriented, she should make her own choice. If she is not, her power of attorney or next of kin would decide for her and they should do whatever she stated she would want done back when she was able to make her wishes known. If she never did say what she would want, and is not able to say now then I would think back to when she had serious health problems. Did she typically want to “leave it alone” and let nature take its course? If so, then you should do nothing. If she wanted to do whatever she could to get well, then treatment should be done. Which treatment would have to be your decision.
I hope that she is able to make her own decisions on this because it will make your life much easier.
I wish her the best.
Everyone says do nothing, but the critical piece of information is whether the cancer would give her pain in those last 2 years, if so then she should opt for breast removal.
Is she able to decide herself?
If she isn’t then maybe whatever life she has left better spend it away from hospitals and surgeries.
Personally, I’d go for the total mastectomy with no other treatment if it was me and if I could decide on my treatment
the doctor can only estimate how much longer she will live. she knows her options, and if she has been here 87 years, she knows by now what she wants to do with the rest of her life. it is her decision, let her make it on her own and respect whatever she decides upon.