Hi. I’m 33 years old mother of 3. Got diagnosed late Jan with Invasive ductal Carcinoma grade 3 ER+ HER2- had lumpectomy 27mm tumour and SNB(negative). I’m starting chemo in May at Royal Marsden London. I don’t know what to expect. What type of chemo will be offered? Do women with a particular type of BC get offered one over the other? Will I get offered the Red Devil? I’m so scared. I don’t know what to expect.
1 Like
@shahz4169 You poor love, it’s so scary and everyone knows what you are going through. I was diagnosed on November 9th 2023 and started a thread called HER2+ and Need Some Buddies on 27th December. I was welcomed to ‘the club you never wanted to join but which has the best members’. It’s absolutely true. Those women have carried me through and still are and they will do the same for you too. I see what time you posted this so am guessing you were awake in the middle of the night worrying. That thread is still going strong and you really don’t have to be HER2+ to join us. It’s a really supportive thread with some fab tips on there. Please do come across if you would like to.
I am having the Red Devil at the moment. I am at Royal Marsden in Sutton and on my first chemo, I saw the vivid red and asked my nurse if that was indeed the infamous Red Devil. She said “I prefer to call it Ribena!” 
I’ve had three doses of EC so far and have one more to go. It’s doable. Remember that there are things you can do to mitigate all the side effects. I have chemo on a Thursday and find I can work Friday but am pretty whacked out for the weekend. That’s ok, I just don’t book anything in and relax for a lot of it. Then I climb back up again before the next dose.
I feel for you that you have 3 children. Do you have lots of support in place? You must join May 2024 Chemo Starters thread when it gets going as that is also a great means of support and sharing tips. I am in February 2024 Chemo Starters and wouldn’t be without it.
You can do this and you will. But great that you’ve started this thread as nobody should do it alone. This is one fabulous sisterhood (whilst not forgetting the men who are going through this too) and you have done the best thing you could have done by reaching out.
Love and strength to you,
Salbert
x
1 Like
salbert has given you some lovely support and advise. Your chemo will be tailored specifically to you, when you know which type you will be having and your chemo cycle, please let us know everyone will share their experience with you so you know if there is anything you can just reach out here. Do get your teeth checked prior to starting chemo, tell your dentist you are starting chemo, they will get you in get a thermometer so you can keep track of your trusting chemo. Your team should give you a rapid response card, do use it during chemo if anything doesn’t feel right or you’ve a raised temperature. But you might get a uti with no temperature and that will need a call to your team too so you can get antibiotics you might get thrush mouth too, again a call to your team so they can prescribe something if your antisickness meds don’t work ring your team they will tweak till they get right combination for you if needed. Ask about a wig voucher if you don’t cold cap:heart: do get yourself booked on look good feel better through your Macmillan bcn is here for you as are all of us, ask away and do join the may chemo thread or any chemo thread every will reach out 
Shi xx
3 Likes
@shahz4169 And this wonderful lady @Shi has been one of the angels that has helped me and continues to help me through. What great advice. See…we’ve got you. 
2 Likes
Thank you so much for your wonderful message. It was so reassuring and very helpful to know that I’m not alone. I have got amazing support in place. My husband and my mum are absolutely fantastic and are carrying me through this journey. I’m so glad I found this forum, which I’m still getting my head around. I can see how amazing the women on here are and it’s good to know that we all understand what each of us are going through and support each other and give some helpful advice that sometimes health professionals can’t give.
I hope your chemo is going as well as it could and I will pop in to the HER2 thread. I would love to know how you’re doing and if I can offer you any support. Lots of love!!
3 Likes
Thank you so much for the advice, I’ll get that dentist appointment booked in as well!
1 Like
@shahz4169 That’s fantastic. I’m so glad you are joining us and that you have a wonderful husband and your mum. My fabulous nurse at Royal Marsden has been a breast cancer nurse for very many years now and said to me that it is important to remember that the vast majority of breast cancers are now curable. It was great to hear someone say that who definitely knows what she is talking about. If you have had a negative SNB then it’s looking really positive for you. It’s a case of pull the big girl pants up, grit your teeth and get through the horrid chemo bit and you will come out the other side a stronger and shinier Shahz! And remember DON’T GOOGLE!!! XX
1 Like
Hi. Sorry to hear your are scared. I was too.I had 3 grade 2 tumours and 1 grade 3. I asked for the Oncotype test eery determine whether I needed chemo or not and my score came back 5 out of 100 the 1st time then 10/100 on the 2nd test. That’s a very low risk of recurrence. To me that made my decision not to have chemo but have a mastectomy and radiotherapy along with endocrime therapy. You need to have a chat to your Oncologist to determine if you need chemo based on your tumour grade and size. My largest tumour was 44mm. I have 2 children and I feel that the right decision was made for me. All the best xx
3 Likes
Considering you are hormone positive with node negative disease you probably won’t be offered the red devil. I had your exact diagnosis and received four sessions three weeks apart of what we in the states call T/C. It’s taxotere and cytoxan and it wasn’t fun but I survived pretty well and went on to a full recovery. I’m hoping you all have that available now since it is considered an easier chemo regimen. I mean “easier” is relative of course since chemo is never easy but it did go by quick and with icing I had no long term side effects.
2 Likes