Here at HealthTalk Interactive, you're preaching to the converted. We believe in that, in patients taking responsibility, and actually just this week I was writing on our website about fighting complacency , how people often think the person in the white coat knows everything. And yet you're the one potentially living with an illness and the consequences of it, if something isn't decided in the best way. In your case, what happened was rather than having the opportunity to have only a small lumpectomy and no further treatment, you went on and needed four cycles of chemotherapy. Right, and there are side effects, I know.
People often have nausea and fatigue.
It was very difficult. I used everything I could get my hands on. I really looked into what my options were, even to the point of considering alternative treatment instead of doing the chemotherapy because I wanted to make sure that I was going to make the right decision. Ultimately, for me, the chemotherapy felt like it was the best thing to get myself well, so that I wasn't looking over my shoulder wondering if it was going to come back. Basically, in addition to chemotherapy, I did regular acupuncture, which helped tremendously with the nausea.