I am trying to find out what treatment others have had, when they have had the same dx as me
I am 34 i had right mastectomy on 17/01/08 and full node clearance,IDC
tumor was 40mm going into chest wall with 1mm clearance no lymph node affected.Grade 2 tumor i am her 2 +( is this good or bad)but not sure what er and pr status is exactly BC nurse thinks er + but was not down on file yet, surgeon thinks i will have chemo, rads, herceptin then tamoxifen. but she says up to oncologist, they will decide(going on 8/02/08) she said normally only get chemo and rads if grade 3 but with my age and size of tumor they may push for all treatment. i am really worried as i want as much treatment as possible to give me best chance of this nasty creature not returning as i want to see my lovely kids grow up (9 and 6 years). has anyone had similar and what treatment did you get.
Hi Mandy,
Ive not got the same dx I am grade 2 1.8cm er+ 100% and pr+ 80% ductal invasive but when I was tested for HER2 (I was negative) they said if I was HER2 + it would mean I had to have chemo as they wouldnt give me herceptin without having chemo first.
The er+/pr+ is hormones oestrogen and progesterone. If they are talking tamoxifen it usually means you are er+
I have had WLE and sentinal node operation nodes clear and am having 19 sessons of rads, 5 years of tamoxifen and 2 years of zoladex to shut down my overies no chemo as not HER2+.
I dont know if thats any help or not but . Good luck with everything. Love Shonagh xx
Thanks it does help, everything is so confusing i always forget loads of thing to ask or never the right questions even though i take a list. i think it definate i am having rads as they said not to have recon till later on as the skin is affected and will have to use own body fat and not implants.
Glad it was of some use. They have told me the same about any re-building, they have said as I have lost a cup size already the rads may reduce it further so to wait until rads over before deciding where to go from there.
I’m 39 by the way and a grade 2 with clear nodes at our age makes the prognosis good to start with. After surgery and without any treatment my percentages are in the 90’s and even more with the rads, tamoxifen and zoladex so I’m sure yours will be even higher with the chemo and herceptin.
I will be thinking of you on the 8th. Waiting for your treatment programme can be almost as bad as waiting for the dx. You sound like you are ready to throw everything at it and sound like a determind BC Babe to me. Take care Hun.
Love luck and Hugs Shonagh xx
I’m older than you (46) - I had right mastectomy In Nov last year with full node clearance. IDC, tumour was 30mm, with 5/11 nodes affected, Stage 2 Grade 3 and I am HER2+. Being HER2 positive means that the tumour is more aggressive, so I guess no it’s not good (those are my BN’s words not mine!) - however, the use of herceptin (in the majority of cases) puts HER2 people on a reasonably level playing field with HER2 - . I am er & pr negative.
I have 2 kids, one aged 21 and one aged 9. Like you, I waned hem to do as much as they could to ensure that I was still around to see them grow up. Apart from the node involvement we are pretty similar.
My treatment regime is 4 x chemo (FEC), followed by 20 sessions of radiotherapy, followed by 4 chemo (Taxotere), followed by a year of Herceptin.
The Cancer Research website has an excellent section which explains the factors which are taken into account when planning your treatment. There is a link to the site on the front page of this website under Information - Other websites.
Good luck with your meeting on the 8th - let us know how you get on
I’m a bit late to this but wanted to say I have some similarities to you although everyone is slightly different. Don’t be afraid to write down your qus and take them in at your next visit.
I was 35 at dx, had a 30mm tumour which was “within 1mm of the chest wall” (according to path report), Grade 2 and no lymph nodes affected. I had mastectomy then chemo (4 x Epi then Xeloda tablets but similar to what you’re having done), currently nearly finished chemo (it’s not as bad as you think it will be), then 3 weeks rads. No herceptin as I’m HER- but then 5 yrs hormone therapy. I’m strongly ER and PR+ as well.
I hope it helps to know there’s lots of us in the same boat. I did ask about % survival etc and it was 93% chance of being here in 10 yrs if I have all the treatment. I think that’s pretty good - no-one is 100% after all. Also, the chemo made a 5% difference to that figure. I have two lovely little boys, aged 4 and 7 who keep me smiling. I was glad to have everything thrown at it for their sakes as well as mine.