What to expect after surgery for stage 2 breast cancer?

Question

My partner's mother has just been diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. (She is in her 60s.) She is finding out on Tuesday what treatments she will receive, but has already been told that surgery will definitely be one of them. Can anyone tell me what she can expect in terms of recovery?

I know this is a difficult question to answer, because everyone's experience is individual to them, but would appreciate answers from anyone with personal or close family experience.

Thanks

Answer 1

I have stage 2 breast cancer and had 5 operations in 4 months I ve been lucky but it was a tough road your partners mum should expect an operation then chemo 8 sessions first 4 are ac which are easy then next 4 taxol and thats a horrible one ya feel horrible during it but when it s over you feel on top of the world and appreciate life more my e mail is [e-mail] let me know how she gets on please .best of luck to her she ll be fine hun s x*x

Answer 2

Could be worth investigating the treatment recommended by this doctor in this video link.

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/398.htm...

But most doctors will strongly resist alternative therapies to the big 3 treatments.

Best wishes.

Answer 3

Stage 2 typically involves a lymph node or no nodes but is pretty large. If it is large, she may be looking at mastectomy if surgery is performed first. If it is smaller and nodes are involved, then she might have a lumpectomy with axillary node dissection. When nodes are involved, and with lumpectomy, they like to do radiation, typically after chemo. With Stage 2, again, chemo is going to be likely, since she is still relatively young and can look forward to many years ahead if she is generally in good health.

So ... the typical scenario might be: surgery, recovery for 3-4 weeks, chemo, recovery for 3-4 weeks, then radiation for 6-7 weeks.

I did an alternate protocol: chemo for 4+ months, recovery for 3 weeks, surgery (lumpectomy + AND), recovery for 5 weeks, then radiation for 6+ weeks.

And the recoveries I mention: post-surgery recovery was pretty easy: I went home the same day of surgery, had a visiting nurse for 2 days, and could do whatever I wanted except heavy lifting or reaching overhead. In retrospect, I should have ignored the overhead part, because I had to subsequently overcome some stiffness and weakness due to not using the shoulder quite enough. Post-chemo recovery simply consists of waiting for your blood counts to return to normal, since immune systems and hematocrits are often suppressed under chemo.