The Chemo didn't work!!

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Hi everyone 

l’m not sure what I’m trying to gain by talking about this on here but I need to talk with people who will have an understanding of how I feel.

I have had neoadujvant chemotherapy. 6 sessions in total, 3 FEC and 3 docetax. I am Her2+ and have so far had 7 of the 18 injections. I had a MX right breast at the beginning of Feb and I have just started my rads.  What I am struggling with is that I have had my results from my surgery and they have concluded that the chemotherapy had not worked!! I am utterly devastated and shocked by this news, because the MRI that I had after cycle 3 said there was slight shrinkage and then the final MRI, before surgery,  showed there was even more shrinkage. My surgeon after examining me before surgery said that he could not feel the tumour any more! 

I am so scared now that the cancer will come back, even though I did not have any lymph node involvement! They did 2 biopsies on one of my lymph nodes and even though they came back negative, they still decided to take it out because they didn’t like the look of it on the MRI. I now feel like I was stripped of all my defences, they found the cancer and instead of cutting it out of me straight away, they took out a good lymph node that had obviously been working really hard and then stripped me of my immune system. I therefore lay there for six months having chemo with no defence at all against the tumour that was still in my body! I feel like it may have spread everywhere now.

 I’m finding it hard to think positively, please help. 

Thanks

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Oh Nat,you must be so fed up.Its obvious you had some response to the chemo or your tumour wouldn’t have shrunk ,I think they call it a partial response .Hopefully the chemo will have kept the ******* in check and halted its ability to spread even if it didn’t get rid of it completely .The Herceptin is a powerful drug too ,so hopefully the combination of the 2 will have given you a good chance of kicking it into touch .Did you get a chance to ask the medics about this ?Jill

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Hi Jill
Yes I did and they had no come back, they knew what I was saying to them was the truth, that I had no defences! I was always in two minds about having chemo before surgery, I never really felt happy about it.
I hope you’re right about the herceptin, I know that it is very effective on fighting Her2 cancer. I am trying to stay focused and positive, but it’s very hard.
Thanks for your message Jill x

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May be worth ringing the helpline or posting your concerns in the "Ask the nurses " section ,see if they can give you any reassurance .On the node front remember you have several layers there to catch the cells ,one node gone doesn’t mean you have lost all your protection in that respect .I can totally understand why you are so fed up and anxious but there is still a very good chance that all your treatment combined will have dealt with it .There are a few ladies on the site who still had cancer cells found after chemo and surgery so you aren’t the only one by any means .