I think you are correct in saying, that they don’t do the Oncotype test for HER2+, I was told it wouldn’t be done if I was and when I was confirmed as HER2+, they said they would not apply for it. However, unbeknown to me, they changed their minds, I think because the lymph node only had 2.5mm of cancer and if it had be 0.5mm less, they wouldn’t have considered me node positive, in which case, I would not have had chemotherapy. I think they were just suspicious, as my original cancer, like yours, was so tiny, 5mm and they had not expected it to be in the lymph nodes. I expect they couldn’t agree if chemotherapy was needed or not, so decided to get the Oncotype test to be the deciding factor. Usually if you are HER2+ you have chemotherapy as far as I know, but the tiny cancer size threw them a bit. It’s good that you know that the biopsy can change from the original diagnosis, so that it is not a shock. I had read on this forum about it happening, so like you say, I was not totally shocked when they found the original IDC, which had not been picked up. I personally am really happy ( well, relieved ) to be having the chemotherapy, because of all the information they have now gathered and I feel it will be the safest thing to do. I have bought a wig (!) and polybalm, to hopefully keep my nails and lots of other things, people on this forum have suggested. It really is the most amazing forum, full of lovely, helpful, people. I will keep everything crossed for you and your final results.
Thanks for your reply. I am sure the chemo will be done sooner than you think. My mum had breast cancer 10 years ago when she was 52 and she always tells me like many ladies here that it is more doable then we think and there are so many good tips! I have been told initially that I am signed up for a trial to deescalate chemo and give me Phesgo + hormonal therapy but then the trial lead said we need to wait amd see post surgery as they want 6mm and above idc to do that. Then the NICE guidelines say for 5 mm and clear nodes they sometimes do not give herceptin and chemo ( and I would love the herceptine) but then everything can be changed once they slice me up jext Thursday. In my mind I said yes to full treatment, if I have a surprise great if I don’t I will not be disappointed but let’s see if they do oncotype. There are as many treatments as our cases I think!
I think you are right, so many different treatment options. Good luck with surgery. I was terrified of the surgery, never had an operation before, but it was absolutely fine, I walked into theatre, had a laugh with the anaesthetist and then back in the ward in the blink of an eye and no pain! I didn’t need any pain medication other than a couple of Ibuprofen the next day. The second operation, the SLNB was just a bit more sore as I developed a seroma and split the stitches and a bit of cording, but nothing much to stop me doing much. I had to be stopped from dog walks from the first few days, which I missed. So I think you will sail through surgery and lovely that your Mum can support you, having been there herself. I will think of you next Thursday.
Hello ladies, well, lots of change for me this week. Pac call week early due to bank holiday, breast surgeon meeting for MRI results and surgery decision. In a nutshell, I won’t have my last chemo next week, haemoglobin is low, neuropathy in foot, so I’m done!! Surgeon is happy with it as my tumour has shrunk and I will have my lumpectomy 8th September. Can’t quite believe it! Very glad chemo is over also very worried about surgery. I know it has to be done but it’s the thought of it, and its not long! Hope all of you have the best bank holiday you can x
@sassy3 The 8th September will soon come round, but n the meantime try and have a bit of recovery time and look after yourself. Very best with the surgery.
@hasnae87 so sorry you’re still having a difficult time, really hope things start to resolve soon, I can only imagine if you go back to surgery that would feel something of a backwards step. You so need some quiet recovery time for your body. I hope the other stresses in your life aren’t pulling you down too much. If you’re managing even a short walk you are doing incredibly well.
Hi everyone.
I don’t know where else to reach out but really struggling with how down I feel. I saw a friend recently who made a comment that once I’m done with treatment that I have to live life as I’m likely to have a shorter life span than others and to be honest it’s left me feeling. Are people writing me off already?
I’m told to stay positive and to have a laugh but I’m not sure I’ll ever laugh again. I feel robbed of my summer with my children and now I worry what person I’ll be this time next year after all of the treatments and hormone therapies I’ll be on. What kind of person my husband and kids will be left with. Sorry to share but feel like I’m crumbling.
I’m so sorry @cass2 - it’s totally s**t & sometimes I’m left breathless by what those around us say. I actually had a friend messsage me saying "none of us know how long we’ve got left’ which left me reeling & another the night before my surgery messaged about how idyllic her Airbnb was in the mountains. 
I can only conclude that they just don’t realise/understand & I think that there’s such a narrative around cancer on social media and films, movies, books etc that i find people just parroting it.
I’m crumbling too, it feels relentless.
Do you have any plans this weekend? X
@cass2 We all get these moments in one form or other and I have to stop and wonder, before I get too cross with others, did I come out with some of these unhelpful things before I came from this perspective!! Any chance of a bit of archery this weekend? ‘In the moment’ might shift some of the darker thoughts.
We will all change physically and mentally with going through this rubbish but who’s to say whether that’s better or worse? Certainly not others! I’ve got the 'meaning well but spout rubbish ’ people well distanced for now, we need the friends/ family that take us as we are and I’m guessing your kids will do just that, they’re probably better at it than adults!
Hi @cass2
Unfortunately people can be very clumsy with their comments. Whilst going through chemo etc a colleague of my husband’s asked what my prognosis was. I could have poked him in the eye.
Perhaps because of what has happened to you, your friend is thinking about their own mortality and has realised that we need to make the most of everyday as growing old is not a given. Sometimes people don’t know what to say and the most unhelpful words come out. They don’t appreciate the impact. It’s okay to withdraw from those people who don’t lift you. Having chemo is a valid excuse.
Like you I am triple positive. I am grateful that I was diagnosed at a time when we have all the treatments available to us. I now marvel that my 56 year old body has got me through the TCHP, double mastectomy and reconstruction (I had ‘it’ in both breasts). I have had a pathological complete response to treatment in both breasts which to me felt like a miracle. Next week will be my 10th of the total of 18 Trastuzumab. I’ll be over half way through. The Letrozole has so far been okay. I’ve been on it for a month. In September I will start Zolendronic acid infusions. I’m hopeful the side-effects will be tolerable.
I am still living day to day. I don’t yet feel able to plan too far ahead. The only things on my calendar in the coming months are the cancer related appointments and reminders to give the dog his worming and flea treatment! I am sure that my mindset will shift in time as I regain confidence in my body and health. I was somewhat disappointed that it had let me down but I’ve forgiven it! I remind myself however, that I am still in the thick of ‘it,’ as are you. We will get through it as those before us on this thread have.
I catch a glance of myself in the mirror or reflections in shop windows and I don’t recognise who I see. I look different and I feel different about my lot but I’m okay with it. Who wouldn’t be changed by what we’ve been through. We bear the physical scars and carry with us the emotional baggage that comes with a cancer diagnosis. It is okay to feel as we do.
I think you need to get your bow out and shoot a few arrows! Perhaps change the target to something else. Write some words on it that you would make you feel good if you pierced them with the arrow tip! Could be cathartic 
x
Sending you a big virtual hug — please know you are not alone in this. I think for people who haven’t gone through it, it’s hard to truly understand what we’ve been through. Sometimes I remind myself that it doesn’t really matter if others can’t fully understand; in time, you learn who you can lean on during this difficult journey, and who you might need to step back from a little during your wobbly moments. Try not to take people’s words too seriously — even those who love us deeply can sometimes say unnecessary or frightening things, and it’s best not to let that weigh on you.
I’m going into theatre tomorrow for my second operation — a right axillary clearance — and I’m also feeling quite fragile at the moment, wondering what comes next. I’m praying for the best results and a clear, smooth treatment plan ahead. For now, I guess all we can do is take it one step at a time, one day at a time — and remember to treat ourselves to something nice along the way.
Good luck @jan30 hope it goes well for you
I am feeling worn out today. Had Alendronic acid tablet toda which is weekly and got 2 Phesgo to go. I am having a week off work so think my bodu has just relaxed as treatment startrd nearly a year ago for the 2nd time. Did others feel like this when just got 2 Phesgo left?
Thank you! xx
Will be thinking of you tomorrow and hoping it’s just the one lymph node. Xx
Such wise words. I need to introduce myself properly on this thread:Hello, as usual I am doing things around the wrong way 
I have replied to a couple of recent posts, but I hadn’t officially said ‘Hello’ to everyone on this forum. I have found the strength to carry on as normally as possible, since my diagnosis, due to reading all the wonderful, positive posts on here. I love how everyone supports each other and tries to help with any questions, however small and insignificant ( but huge and important to the person asking the question). So I am 60 ( February), I had a recall from a routine mammogram in April. After biopsies etc, it was found that I had high grade DCIS. I had surgery on 1st May ( WLE) or lumpectomy. I was told I would likely have 5 days of radiation therapy, but had to wait for pathology results. Pathology results showed a 3.5mm ( which I was later told, was actually 5mm ??) IDC ‘hiding’ in amongst the DCIS. I was told that a SLNB was standard, cautionary procedure, but unlikely to show up anything. Again, wrong. I had 2 lymph nodes removed and one had a 2.5mm cancer, just tipping me into macro territory. I was then told 2 weeks later, that I was HER2+ . I was told that they would not now get an Oncotype score done. Five weeks later, I saw on my NHS app, that the Oncotype score ( ? so it had been requested after all ), was high and therefore I was being reffered to Oncology. So I saw the Oncologist last week, he suggested a CT scan, as only 2 nodes had been removed, but that I would start Chemo therapy on 1st September ( EC x 3 cycles, Paclitaxel x 12 weekly sessions, together with Phesgo injections, every 3 weeks for one year). I have now had the heart echo scan, all good. I am awaiting the results of the CT scan, done on Thursday and I have been told the results will be back before 1st September. I have requested a Picc line and I am awaiting an appointment, but it will probably now be after the first EC round. So that’s me. A September chemotherapy starter and HER2+. I already appreciate all the posts that everyone has contributed and I feel so much happier going through this journey, with your combined knowledge and I may well have to call upon you all at some point, with questions etc, so I thank you all in advance
thx so much, fingers crossed xx
@bellbert Just saying hello and welcome, we don’t mind which way round you do your intro. It seems from the thread that its not uncommon for later investigations to give slightly different information and change the plan, but it can be hard to keep readjusting to the latest. Hope your start to chemo goes ok, just count them down, they will go by. Have your bag of goodies ready:- a bit of easy access food and drink ( especially if you’re starting with a cannula - its hard to open packets with one of those) -things to do to pass the time. You don’t say if you’re cold capping or not. A few items for your home medicine cabinet if there are side effects you think are more likely for you. Mouthwash I found useful to have ready. Suggest you find as many distractions as you can for the coming week, sounds like you’re a ‘carry on’ type but you may need to rest a bit over the weeks. I gave my family the job of finding me distractions and they’ve done a great job - I did 2 caving trips, a park run ( walking) and drove a tank during my paclitaxel, and I’m well into the granny age bracket! I’m now just 3 weekly herceptin so have more freedom, who knows what Ill do next. You take it by the week. All the best.
Hello and thank you for your lovely reply. No, I am not cold capping, I don’t bother with makeup etc, so decided hair could go, versus making the chemo sessions a bit easier. I have bought a wig, it seemed more multi blonde online, but in reality, a bit more reddy blonde, with quite dark brown roots - so quite a change from my grey bob ! I thought why not, it may make me feel a bit younger and perkier Thank you for the tips, i.e mouthwash and easy to open snacks. I was hoping my 33 year old son could stay with me ( he sat with me all day, through both operations - outside the theatre on operation 1!) but alas, there is no room for visitors, so as chemo 1 is on his day off and he is in Kent and I am in Suffolk, my elderly parents are taking me. We have a almost blind, diabetic dog, who needs constant eye drops ( and insulin twice a day) so my husband stays at home with her and the other dog. I will be busy and distracted, we work from home, producing giftware for shops from my artwork and we are now coming into the busiest time, so we have been working all day today ( quite usual 7 days a week). I will let you know how I get on, possibly CT results this week ( lets see how brave I am then, or not ).
Welcome @bellbert
This forum really helps me so much, I somehow feel less lonely going through similar things which became our new norm together. Thanks to everyone whonresponded to me so far. I hope those of you who have procedures soon will have only good news coming in and if you not well I hope a bit of rest or a nice book/TV series/walk will help. I find for me having some sort of walk planned every day helps. I am 41 and I have an 8 years old still on school holodays and surprisingly even if I just found out at the beginning of his holidays we managed to squeeze in some good memories.
I do not know what to do with my work. I teach in adult college and my surgery is on 28th August. I will have a lumoectomy on my 5 mm idc and 1.5 cm dcis. I am thinking of soeaking to my boss and see if I can work from home on sth for her rather than come to the college post surgery and then maybe come back for a few weeks. My worry is nit starting my 6 fully paid months leave too early. Probs my pathology results will be in half September than how long until the oncologist and the treatment? I read somewhere that if radiotherapy then it would be 6 8 weeks post surgery and if chemo then maybe 1 2 weeks after oncologist. Realistically I may start treatment mid October or the start of October? I also on the other hand do not know if I can handle my collegaues asking me questions and carrying on but with that active cancer diagnosis/treatment mind aaaaaaaa x
I just hope my surgery will keep me at my small size/clean nodes and then my oncologist will be willing not to overtreat but then I learnt not planning anything really…
Thank you for your welcome Gosh that is hard, trying to juggle work plans as well as having an 8 year old. You may not be able to drive for a couple of weeks after surgery, so I don’t know if that matters. Pathology results can take from 4 to 11 weeks ( well at my hospital, that was when they were coming in, but holiday season meant the pathologists were also on holiday at times). My first lot of pathology results took 6 weeks and the second lot were 4 weeks, butat the 4 week review with my consultant, the HER2 and ER results were not back and then they had to get the Oncotype score, so time from second operation ( SLNB on its own ) to seeing the Oncology consultant ( out of the 2 available, one had just had a 3 week holiday), was 4.5 weeks, then 2.5 weeks to starting chemotherapy. Hope this may give you a rough idea of timescales. Good luck with the surgery - I was terrified at the thought, but sailed through it