Do you know someone who has refused surgery contrary to doctor's advice?

Shrinkage from large to small does not mean from large to nothing! The chemo has shrunk the tumor to a manageable size and now surgery can remove it completely.

I just finished my chemo and I'm beginning to feel good. My tumor is 94% smaller (or more) than it was at diagnosis. I'm feeling good! However, I want the tumor to be completely GONE from my body. I know that if it isn't removed, then it will regrow.

Get the surgery. It will most likely save your life.

1

Don't do it. Follow your doctor's advice. These protocols and plans have been tested and refined over generations of patients, and are there to provide the best possible care with the least damage.

Tumors have 3 types of cells, active cancer cells, inactive cancer cells, and benign cells. The chemo only works on the active cells. After each round, most of the active cells are killed, so some inactive cells turn on, and the chemo hits them. This goes on until there is a point of diminishing returns, where the cumulative toxic effect to the patient is worse than the benefit for continued chemo. At this point, even with a clear PET scan, you may still have a few cancer cells left. The ones that did not get killed by the chemo. So if they start to divide, you will end up with a new mass that is now resistant to the chemo you already had, so they have to put you on something that is probably nastier and less effective.

Get the surgery. My oncologist told me of a patient who had a clear post chemo PET and skipped radiation. The tumor came back, and they needed to go to another treatment option. It made her overall treatment far worse, even though she had the short term gain of skipping radiation.

Yes I do and unfortunately they are no longer with us.

I had cancer and felt good even though I had a 5cm tumour in my breast. There is no evidence of disease at the moment and I feel great but I know that there is still the chance that that pesky little thing could still be in there lurking around.

Don't take chances, do what the people in the know suggest.

I know of several people who "felt good" (or at least, good enough) with cancer until a few weeks before they died.

Get the surgery if you prize your life - that is how I would look at your situation.

Good Luck

That was the choice that Steven Jobs made -- and it eventually killed him. He ignored his doctor's advice to have surgery and opted instead for alternative treatments. He eventually had the surgery anyway months later, but it was too late by then to save him.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2011/10/2...