What was the treatment plan recommended to you? Why did you decide to go for neoadjuvant therapy?
My oncologist recommended that I go for chemotherapy first before surgery. She explained that doing so will help to kill the cancer cells in the body and shrink the tumour so that the area to be removed during surgery will be smaller. Having cancer was a shock, and everything was new to me, so I took the oncologist’s recommendation because it sounded logical.
Can you describe your experience with neoadjuvant therapy?
I had two regimens of chemotherapy before surgery. Throughout the treatment, the doctor would regularly measure the tumour to see if it has shrunk. The result showed that my tumour shrunk – from 1.9 cm to 0.5cm – before surgery. Even the two lymph nodes that were affected became cancer-free. About three weeks after I finished chemotherapy, I went for surgery to remove the tumour and four lymph nodes.
In what ways has the treatment helped you?
After completing the treatment, the pathology report showed that I had achieved a pathological complete response (pCR). So, the neoadjuvant therapy recommended by my oncologist was effective. Both my oncologist and breast surgeon were pleased with the result. It also helped with the post-operation recovery. Because the area removed was smaller, I did not feel much pain and did not need to take painkillers after surgery. Also, there is not much distortion to my breast, so this was an unexpected blessing.
