Im 38 I have been diagnosed with stage 2/3 T4B stage is inbtween 2 and 3 as the tumoris near to the skin tumor size 20mm. I have 1 Lymph node postive. I’m grade 2 and hormone positive her2 negative.
I’ve had my Ct and Mri scans and it’s not spread. They have said they recommend chemotherapy and whatever I’d need a mastectomy and Lymph node removal maybe a few more then the postive 1. Hormone therapy tablets for 5 years.
They said they won’t do any treatment I that I don’t want. I have said I dint want chemotherapy and I asked it Hormone therapy could be used to shrink it before surgery and they dint recommend.
They said if I wanted surgery to have it soon if I choose not to have chemotherapy but they think it would be easy if I have chemotherapy first.
Has anyone had the same as me and what treatment did you have?
I’m sorry you find yourself here you’ll be having to make a lot of choices quickly and glad you’ve found the breast cancer now forum. I can’t comment on your treatment plan I was a tnbc so it was always chemo for me. Chemo is different for everyone, some sail through some have a few wobbles, think of it as doing the grand national and leaping over the fences. The chemo threads on here if you look you will see everyone gets each other through with kindness and care. Everything is your choice and your treatments are tailored specifically to you there is the number on here where you can speak to one of the breast cancer now nurses too. For your operation, get front button short sleeve pyjamas, flip flops, dressing gown, senokot and anosol ( the operation meds can block you up) and baby wipes, hand cream and lip balm. I’m sure others will pop on with their own experience and tips and tricks too we got you as much or as little as you need. Shi xx
Hey sorry you find yourself here but welcome to the group, you will get alot of amazing advice on here. I’m 34 and had a grade 3 hormone positive/her2 negative IDC removed last year. Like you I was pretty scared about chemo, like I’m sure most are so I posted on here for some “positive” chemo stories from ladies that have been through it and those stories honestly helped me so much!! Would you like me to tag you in it? It is absolutely your body and your choice on what treatments you have but if might make you see chemo in abit of a different light.
Mine was stage 1 with no lymph involvement so I had a lumpectomy in December, have an appointment this Thursday to go through treatment plan but going off the oncotype test result think it will be chemo, then radiotherapy and hormone therapy of some kind!!
@springflower1
There is no one more scared than me about having chemo. I start tomorrow. I had a mastectomy 5th Nov and full node removal as 2 out of all of them were positive. I was grade 1 and thought id avoid it. All my cancer has been removed this is a mop up followed by radiation and further treatment. I spent all of December on diazapam. I cried all the time kept my eyes closed.
But here I am with chemo at 8.45am in the morning.
Everything is your choice. I was going to turn it down.
You will find your path and as aleady said so much support on here. Join the month your starting. I have engaged with some wonderful amazing woman who have helped me through. You will too
Hello @springflower1 sorry you find yourself here with us and in this position.
Have they told you why you need a full mastectomy and not just a lumpectomy?
I was diagnosed with 2 ER positive HER2 negative tumours. One was 24mm and the other was 9mm. I was lucky with how they were placed and my surgeon managed to take them both out together so I’m only asking about the mastectomy because 20mm seems relatively small still. Also for our age, im 39, they usually advise hormone treatment for atleast 10 years, I’m suprised they’ve told you only 5.
I never thought to research into whether the hormone therapy would shrink the tumour. What I feared more than what they found was it coming back. So for me I went with what my doctor advised. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and then hormone therapy. The whole lot.
Like you and many others the thought of chemo is extremely worrying for me. My health has always been so important, to the point I had major health anxiety. And I know that chemo will make me poorly but breast cancer is much worse. I really wish I was confident enough that I could beat this without chemotherapy but I don’t want to worry in years time that I didn’t do enough.
It’s really sh*t. And I’m so sorry you have to make these decisions.
Maybe you could give the breast cancer now helpline a call and they could give you more information.
Big hugs
*edit Also just to say that if your cancer is HER2 negative the general plan is surgery before chemotherapy. If yours was HER2 positive that’s when you would have chemotherapy before surgery. I would definitely ask them to clarify the details again.
Hi @springflower1 like everyone else, so sorry to hear about this. My cancer isn’t the same as yours so I won’t bore you with it but you specifically asked about chemo. I definitely think it depends on what regime they put you on. I’m on weekly Paclitaxel for 12 weeks. I’ve only had 1 (last Friday, so next one this Friday) but I’ve been really quite well. Nothing like what I feared. One night of shit sleep (that’s the steroids they give you) but no nausea, sickness, fatigue etc. I know my hair will fall out soon but that’s not a big deal (for me anyway) and it’ll grow back. I was much more concerned about nausea and being wiped out but so far none of that has happened. It seems from the various threads that most people on EC/three weekly have much worse side effects for the first week or so then improve. I also think it might depend on individual constitution- I’m a very fit and active person (I’m 56) and I think that helped me through both my mastectomy and now the chemo. I’m not counting my chickens as I know the chemo effects could be cumulative and I might get worse. But I wanted you to know that for me the effect has been much milder than I feared
Hi Springflower1, so sorry you find yourself here, lots of awful difficult decisions to make. I had very similar to you but slightly worse. HR + Her2- 25mm tumour R breast, all lymph nodes removed - 7 cancerous which makes me high risk.
Had operation on Dec 18 2024 also plumped for a double breast reduction as I had large breasts, so took the opportunity of a boob job while I could.
As you say they don’t force you into any treatment just advise and after much deliberation, I decided to take their advice.
Surgery, 3 sessions of 3 weekly EC followed by 12 weekly sessions of paclitaxel. I also had the cold cap to try and save my hair.
Followed by 15 daily sessions of radiotherapy
Now on Letrezole for 10 years and unfortunately I’m one of the few who is offered Abemaciclib, horrid drug and I really struggled with my decision with this. It’s quite a new drug, very expensive and only offered under certain circumstances. I’m on it for 2 years. I think I’m struggling more with the drugs than I did with the treatment.
Chemo and radio symptoms are very individual. I have to say, I’m really glad I had it, it wasn’t as bad as I thought, my bloods stayed fairly normal, yes I was very worn out all the time, lost about 70% of my hair but nothing compared to what some people go through. My advice would be to try it, if it’s too bad you can always decline at a later date but you may be surprised and sail through. I think a lot of things are worse while you’re worrying about them than when you’re actually experiencing them. You just sort of get on with it and before you know it you’re looking back.
You’re such a young age to be going through this, I’m really sorry. But on a positive note, they’ve caught it early, and it’s not spread which is a massive positive. Good luck with whatever you decide, keep us posted and try to stay positive.
.