We've brought up all the potential side effects with all the doctors I have seen. The only one who said I didn't need chemo didn't list side effectsc as a deciding factor, he simply thought radiation was enough - my margins are negative, there is no extracapsular spread, and the nodes involved had less than 3mm worth of cancer, tumor was fully resected. Those who thought I absolutely needed chemo cited PNI, the fact that it was a multi-sattelite tumor, and that margins were close, and to them it seemed like I had enough high risk factors to be aggressive.
And then there were those who said I may not need chemo, and that the side effects may not be worth it, but they weren't 100% in either camp, but it seemed that since I was young and could take chemo better than a 70-yr old, it's a good enough reason to be as aggressive as possible.

Clear as mud.

Thankfully, I have reproduced enough - I have three kids, so my girly parts don't need to function at full capacity. But other side effects are very serious and potentially life-altering, and that obvioulsy a huge concern.

I am not taking it lightly, I have agonized over whether to do chemo for weeks, and frankly experiences of people in this forum terrified me beyond anything I have read and heard so far. But strong chemo opinion is out there, and therefore the fact that a very experienced doctor think that I have a high risk of recurrence and worse if I don't do it, and it is nearly impossible for me to dismiss it.

Not easy at all.