Declining chemotherapy

After radiotherapy, I was very weak. My oncologist recommended chemo even though the tumour came back as not responsive to chemotherapy. When I asked why, I was told that they still have better results even when the tumour is not chemo-sensitive.

Strange … what was the point of biopsy if all patients are then treated the same?!?

I thought about it and decided to decline it despite the pressure from my oncologist. It wasn’t an easy decision but I’m not regreting it.

I was constantly tired and slept a lot. One month after finishing the radiotherapy, I travelled to Prague to be with my parents. It was nice to change the scenery. I would still have zoom calls with the oncologist but didn’t find them very helpful.

If you want to read about my emergency shunt and how that took place, do let me know.

3 thoughts on “Declining chemotherapy”

My husband was also wiped out after radiotherapy and chemotherapy was delayed due to low platelets. His tumour is also one that is less likely to benefit from chemotherapy and the oncologist asked him to think about wether he wanted the chemotherapy as it would only add 6-8 weeks to his life. He opted to go for it as we felt that in the current circumstances (pandemic and lockdown) it could make the difference between seeing people freely or not before the end. 3 rounds of TMZ have made any difference and the next option is Lomoustine which we will be thinking very carefully about and may decide that quality of life is better than extra time.

LikeLike