Morning everyone hope you are all ok, just wanted to check everyone is aware to whom it applies that we are entitled to a five year prescription exemption card. I didn’t know this until someone told me the other day. Every little helps. xx
Kirsty- mine is almost 5cm and felt huge before treatment started (still don’t know how I did didnt feel it sooner)- I keep seeing if it’s getting smaller and I’m only at Day 6! ?I’m totally the same as you though!!
Ruth/Chaffinch… I’m going to try and exercise and walk over the next few days. I was such a gym bunny before now and iv barely moved recently which is not helping!!
I’m ER negative and HER2 positive and I keep reading all sorts of worrying things about that combo ?xx
Ah what are we like ? lol it must be natural to keep checking. We are very similar then sam with age, size and diagnosis. Its mad as I think all combinations sound awful online!
If you manage to pick up your exercise again it will be great both mentally and physically. I didnt do any the week i was diagnosed as was so upset but forced myself the followong week and it has made me feel so good to get back to it all since. Good for the mind lol xx
Also crazy how they can come out of nowhere so bloody big! X
I know! I was someone who thought they checked themselves and couldn’t believe then lump when I did find it. I have been told it’s low grade … which seems to go against HER2 receptor cancer…(according to google anyway!?) … I keep wondering if they told me that by mistake! Mind in serious overdrive!!
Presume you are having surgery post chemo too Kirsty? Xx
My understanding is that HER2+ Tumours are very fast growing so don’t beat yourself up for not noticing it. Mine was only 2.2cm but I found it myself after watching a documentary that prompted me to check
Hi Sam just back from a 10 minute walk - almost the first time I have left the bedroom or sofa in 4 days. Even the sense of achievement is good without the benefit of the fresh air and being nice to yourself and feeling that it is the next step towards recovery on this cycle. Last cycle I managed a small jog in about 10 days time so I have set that as my small target for this cycle too. Each achievement at a time ??? I have also found listening to encouraging podcasts when I start to get up to longer walks later in the cycle helps me to feel more human too and think about other things in life.
I am back tucked up under the covers now though ??
It is really hard not to think about what might be when you have google sitting there waiting to scare the pants off you. But do ask your doc for more info if it will help - I am triple negative and waiting for my BRCA status to come back but have tried really hard to tuck that away as something to deal with when the time comes. It is hard but as Chaffinch says sometimes you just look at what is in front of you and deal with one thing at a time. I know your onc would tell you that the drugs for Her+ cancers are really really good alongside normal chemo. Keep your chin up and we are all here to listen and share 
??
Yes Sam, the plan for me is a masectomy after chemo, then will be radio after that. The Her2 bit must be why they got so big so fast then. Mine is grade 2 apparently so not the highest grade but not the lowest either x
Sounds very similar to mine then Kirsty. He said Grade 1 or 2… but everything I was reading was telling me that is MUST be grade 3! I should really learn to just listen to the specialist and not google!
I’m going to head out for a walk in a bit Ruth! Already just getting up and getting dressed/ready has made me feel better in myself! Felt like I was doing so well in between diagnosis and then starting chemo last week… and it’s all gone backwards! Need to shake it off now and get back to how I was!! Damn these horrible crappy side effects!!! Xx
Yeah, they told me the Her2 element of the cancer is aggresive & fast growing but then the grading of 1,2 & 3 is a separate thing and grades how abnormal the cells look compared to a normal cell/how fast they grow, the the Her2 bit is aggresive but then the grade 2 bit balances it back down a little. Enjoy your walk 
x
Hi Sam & Kirsty, I read both of your diagnosis and is similar to mine in that it is ER+ & HER+. Initially I was told mine was grade 2 then after lumpectomy it was grade 3 and the tumour was 3-4 cm when orginally they thought about 2cm. Although before op they knew it was ER+ & HER+.
Just curious as to why they decide on either lumpectomy or masectomy. I was only advised a lumpectomy was required but got to have another op after chemo as they did not get clear margins. Is the masectomy due to the tumour size? xx
Hey Rabbit… initially I went into my diagnosis saying I wanted a full mastectomy- however only a lumpectomy has really been advised to me. I have been told that there is no evidence to suggest that the prognosis differs from a full mastectomy to a lumpectomy with radio. I should point out that his may be different if there is a genetic abnormality. At the moment I only know that I am HER2 + but I am ER - I am still waiting on gene results so my guess is that could influence the decision between lumpectomy and mastectomy. Funnily enough I did post this question in the surgery forum yesterday!!
Talking to my BCN she said they don’t like to perform full mastectomy’s where they don’t feel it would be of any additional benefit… I guess it’s very invasive and if the Tumour can be shrunk through chemo first then this allows them to preserve as much of the breast as possible.
Again… I’m no medical but this was how i interpreted the info given to me as I was initially ‘lop it all off please!’
Why some women have surgery first and others have chemo first…’I dont know though? Possibly due to size? My oncologist doesn’t really like to focus too much on size and stage as he said that’s a very small part of the overall picture…
Did they tell you why surgery first? Xx
Gud eve lady’s …came back home after my very 1st chemo …it starts at 11 and came out at 2 …that was not much scary as I thought before (but the scary part is about some injection to have for 8 consequtive days in tummy and other too many anti sickness meds )such a wonderful nurse seng and Mia both helped me ??and had a coffee and lunch?.I just chatted with other lady too shared her experience as we were sailing on the same boat?..thatsall for today I had my dono abt tmrw I am ok now …thankq all lovely ladies u all give hope to move on ???
Ladies, please, please stop googling, my surgeon and onc told me to speak to them with any questions, you’ll send yourselves into orbit and we are in orbit enough with getting the news we’ve had this year. Anotherthing my wise bc nurse said, everything is treatable, so please hold that thought along this journey, it’s treatable, it’s treatable, it’s treatable. Just take each treatment at a time and hold onto each other and get each other through safe which I know you will. ??
shi xx
Hi Sam, no they didn’t but I guess that is probably due to tumour size I don’t really know. Probably the other thing is different hospital trusts seem to do things differently as well. Where are you in the country? xx
Hi rabbit, my surgeon said that due to the extensive spread across my breast this is why he wants to do a masectomy as the tumor covers so much & I have a lot of calcifications all the way across, so they would rather remove the full thing rather than a lumpectomy.
the reason for the neo adjuvent chemo first is because of size, once they are over a certain size or in a difficult position to operate, they give the chemo prior to surgey to try and shrink it first to make the operation easier & get better margins. This is what the surgeon/oncologist told me anyway. It can also mean if shrinks a lot then can change plan for masectomy to lempectomy, although in my case he said he still feels safet removing it all due to the wide spread in comparison to my breast size
Sangeetha glad it went well and wasnt as scary as expected x
Afternoon Ladies, I’m ER+ & HER+ my tumour was 1.5cm and found on standard mammogram, I couldn’t feel it. I was told it was a stage 3 because of cell changes. I had a lumpectomy and am due to start 12 x weekly taxol for ER+ bit and 3 weekly herceptin for the HER+ Bit of it.
I think treatment varies depending on size as surgeon said that if it was any bigger it would be a much heavier treatment. I count myself lucky that they found it while it was still small enough to be dealt with this way. I also think that different Drs and hospitals can vary in the way that they treat similar diagnoses.
That Dr Google is a git though he just sits there and dares you to have a peek … only to scare us ?less when we do. I try not to but sometimes the temptation is too much ?
Hope Sangeetha and other ladies that started today didn’t find it too scarey. xx
Hi Kirsty, thanks that makes sense. When I was recalled they said it was microcalcifications which are normally benign and only a small % are cancerous. I guess we are just unlucky. Was yours picked up from a mammogram or did you notice the lump? xx
Hi Fiona, have you started your treatment yet? I think they may be changing me to the 12 weekly taxol as I had a reaction to the T and only had the herceptin. xx
No unfortunately I am only 34 so no routine mammograms for me, it start with shooting pains behind my nipple then a large hard unsual area appeared out of nowhere, which got noticably bigger over the course of a few weeks. So then when got referred the ultrasound first picked up small areas of concern then the mammogram showed the rest & full extent, I also read that calcifications are normally benign but occassionaly they are cancerous, looks like we are the unlucky ones and mine are cancerous as well as the main tumour.
Will stop googling now Shi, promise lol x