My mom had an in-situ mass removed and we're reluctant for her to do radiation therapy. Thoughts?
My 87 year old mother who has excellent health had 1.77 in-situ mass removed, no lymph gland involvement. Her children want to avoid radiation therapy because of side affects. We want her to live to 115 but have her energy and health. Any thoughts?
Expert Answer
The most important point is to discuss these ideas with your mother to see what her priorities and goals of care are. For many people, the balance between quality of life with length of life is important to think about and discuss. As people age, their health and energy deteriorate slowly or quickly, depending on the person.
Each person has different ideas on how to use the rest of his or her life. It is important to discuss this with your mother.
The answer to your question depends on the type of cancer it is but with no lymph node involvement, the need for radiation is less likely with some types of cancer. The side effects of radiation depend on what is radiated but for many sites of radiation, the major side effect is fatigue that will improve with rest and time.
My main suggestion though is to discuss your mother’s wishes with her. That is also a good time to ask about whether your mother would want to live on a breathing machine or to have resuscitation attempted on her if she were close to death.