I am recently diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, her2 positive and er positive. I have had mastectomy with lymph clearance 1 of 8 showed cancer. Will need chemo and hormone treatment. My sister was diagnosed with beast cancer the week after me and is also having mastectomy, lymph clearance but is her2 negative. We are 50 and 43, as we are being treated at same hospital we are being referred to genetics, even though we are not aware of any breast cancer in immediate family. I am now very concerned there may be something more wrong. Only cancer we are aware of in immediate family is our grandfathers on both sides had colon (bowel) cancer which both died from but this was in their70s . Should I be worried
Hi Sib,
Sorry to hear you and your sister have been diagnosed with Cancer.
I don’t have an answer for you but I was referred to the genetics clinic and received a form in the post to fill out and send back within a certain amount of days. (No pressure) The thing is, Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents are sometimes reluctant to say if they have had treatment for Cancer in the past. Don’t know why? Do they feel ashamed? Couldn’t tell you. All I can say is, it was hard work to squeeze information out of them. I only got information on family members who had died of the disease. So, on paper, it didn’t look like much but I wondered what the genetics department would look for to warrant me having the test in the first place? I did find some family members arguing the gentics theory? I did remind them however that they were not doctors, therefore, couldn’t say either way. I sent off my form about a month ago now, yet to hear, which makes me think I don’t warrant the test? (Don’t be fooled I hear myself say)
I could never answer if you should be worried because most, if not all families have been touched by Cancer somewhere along the line. So like you, I’m wondering, too, if I should be worried?
Let’s hope someone out there can reassure us in some way.