Her 2 positive

[Emma76]

Thanks debs,
Will be thinking of you on Monday, I'm going back to work as well!
Lots of love Emma xx

[Debs-]

Thanks for your advice Emma :-D. Good tip bout flu vac and nice your little girl enjoys nursery so much,helps you loads. Will be in touch again soon,just get this op out the way first !! Love to you x

[Emma76]

Oh debs im so sorry you have been through a hard time with your sister, i think if you have young children it does put a different spin on things, especially with picking up infection and things. One piece of advice i can give you is make sure they have a flu vac. My little one had one anyway before my diagnosis, i asked if my older child could have one and it is not an injection, it is a nasal spray dead easy!
Also nursery my little girl is going 3 full days a week and loves it luckily! Call on any offers of help, any one offers take it!

Emma xxxx

[Debs-]

p.s/ I too had no routine mammograms,had felt a slight thickening so went and got it checked as 12mths ago my older sister had just lost her battle with Breast cancer. I thought it would just be an age thing. Interested to see how your coping with chemo and children ,im worried about that too .X

[Debs-]

Hey Emma,ive just not long turned 40yrs. I have a 2yr old,14yr old and then a 24yr old...lol. Mad gaps ay? All boys :-).  Thankyou for your well wishes for my op. I wonder why some have op 1st and chemo 2nd then vice versa!!! Xx

[Emma76]

All the best with your surgery debs xxxxx

[Emma76]

Hi debs

My tumour is 3cm I felt it myself as I'm only 37 so no picking up on mammograms for me!  Do you mind me asking how old are you? You mentioned a 2 year old, I have an 11 year old and a 3 year old. Both girls driving me mad today!  With regards to chemo I actually feel a bit better mentally since I started having it I just want   to beat this! I'm prepared to take whatever it is they give me in order to do this,and I think herceptin is such a lifesaver! Lots of love Emma xx

[Gellybean999]

I am having chemo first too. Cycle 3 next monday, unfortunately i have become nuetropenic both times so no going out, restricted diet and no shopping!

[anne71]

Hi, I got diagnosed in Oct, (grade 3 breast cancer ) and had a lumpectomy in Nov along with removal of 3 lymph nodes,one of those showed cancer cells .
I've just had my 3rd lot of chemo(TCH) and herceptin on tues but although I'm a bit more tired I don't feel as bad as after the first time as the oncologist gave me extra meds to combat the side effects 🙂
One of the tips I tried this time due to my veins 'tissuing' was to drink lots of water(I prefer fizzy) a few days before treatment to 'plump' up the veins, I also switched to decaf Nescafé and I was relieved to find that this time my veins behaved for the cannula.....I hate needles !lol
Good luck xx

[Debs-]

All the Best with your chemo Emma, can i ask how big your tumour is? I hve one over 3cm then one bout 4mm and then lots of other small specs. They all started in my breast at same time. My op is monday :-/. Mostly worried bout having to leave my 2yr old than i am the op its self. Also its easy at times to pretend i have not got cancer(block it out).But once treatment starts that changes that i guess!!! All the best Ladies x

[Guest user]

Thanks Emma,

More scared of this chemo treatment then i was of surgery. 

How many cycles are you going to have before you have surgery? 

Like my friend who is also in our her2+ gang we're all on this rollercoaster together we will ride it together! 

Lots of love Mandy x x x 

[Emma76]

Hi Mandy,
Thank you for that lovely message, I'm so glad your surgery went well. When they told me I would have to have chemo I was a bit shocked too, I'm doing mine the other way around - chemo first then surgery I had my first one last week, I think for us her2 gang they like to combine the herceptin with the chemo, also it's mopping up all those stray cancer cells.

Good luck with the chemo it can be quite tough but it is a doable thing, will be thinking of you next Monday
Lots of love Emma xx

[Guest user]

Hi Emma 

I too was given this result on Monday, I had invasive ductal breast cancer, stage 2, had lumpectomy & snb with 2 nodes removed on the 30th Dec, i have my pre-assessment this Friday, & start chemo next Monday!

On the 20th Jan i had my results to say suregery was successful, they were doing HER test & waiting on the results of that test! Came as a huge shock on Monday to be told ive got to have all this chemo, 6 months worth, with the Herceptin drug, & radiotherapy, then tamoxifen! Doesn't seem to sink in or maybe I'm still in shock, as I'd convinced myself that I'd only  need radiotherapy!!! 

Good luck with your surgery, and look after yourself sounds silly to say, but rest as much as poss, i found it hard dealing with visitors, nice to see them but very tiring! Keep in touch, we all walking down the same path together, in my thoughts.

Hugs Mandy x x x 

[Emma76]

Sorry you're having surgery first! Hope it goes ok xxxxx

[Emma76]

Hi Debs,
I have started last Wednesday, I'm having chemo first. Felt a bit sick but nausea tablets have kept it at bay, and struggled with fatigue and bit of back ache, have you started yours yet?
Best wishes Emma xx

[Debs-]

Have you started Chemo yet Emma? x

[Debs-]

Thankyou...Got my pre ops today... Nice to read other her2 pos ladies comments x

[Ruby1]

Good luck Debs & Emma and hope the operations go smoothly for you.  I didn't find the mastectomy operation particularly painful or the recovery difficult.  

Dawn is certainly an amazing woman who has been through so much and is an example of how well Herceptin works for us HER2+ ladies.

xxxx

[Emma76]

Hi Debs,
Sorry to hear that, you are right 20-25 percent. I'm having a mastectomy too, but chemo first.
All the best wishes for your surgery lots of love Emma x

[Debs-]

Hi there Emma, I too have been told im Her2 positive,think only 20% of breast cancer patients are. I had my biopsy's 23rd dec and was told grade2 her2pos on 6th jan 2014..Having mastectomy on 27th!! 

[Emma76]

Thank you Dawn,
You have been through a lot, I'm so glad you are doing ok,
Thank you for leaving me that message it does help to hear stories like yours.

Happy new year Emma xx

[Tracy1967]

I'm not her2 positive but came across this post and wanted to say what an inspiring experience Dawn and Ruby. This should give any lady with her2 hope and piece of mind XXX

[dawnhc]

Hi Emma,

I thought you might like to hear my story. When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer it was too early for her2 diagnosis & herceptin . I think if it had been available I would have been spared a lot of treatment. My first diagnosis was in 1990, then again in 1995/6, then 1997 and again 1999. That added up to a lot of chemos, radiotherapy, surgeries etc. It is nothing short of a miracle that I survived it all I think! But I then had a lot of problems with lymph nodes swelling all around my clavicle, and up my neck, jawline up to my ears. I was diagnosed with extensive bone mets in 2002, went through another couple of chemo treatments which reduced the problem with the lymph nodes but it soon kicked off again.  At the end of 2003 my onc checked out my her2 status from tissue taken from the last surgery in 1999 to find it was positive and I was put on herceptin 10 years ago. The response was amazing, within 10 days all the lymph node swellings went down and couldnt be felt any more. They never returned and I have stayed on herceptin and zometa these 10 years and am still here to tell the tale.

If you are her2 positive and herceptin is the right drug for you who is to say how long it can continue to keep the cancer at bay. I hope for all you ladies who are her2+ that it will stop you even moving to the secondary stage. I am sure if it had been available for me a few years earlier I would have been spared the problems with my bones and pain control that I have now.

Dawn

xx

[Ruby1]

Hi Emma I had breast cancer that was HER2+ and was diagnosed in 2007 and also had lymph node involvement.  I had a year of Herceptin plus 6 lots of chemo. 

Happy New Year and hope this helps.

Ruby xx

[Emma76]

Have many other women been told they are her2 positive? I know herceptin is such a lifesaver now, but it still scares that my type of breast cancer is so aggressive, it would be great to hear from other women with this result. Happy new year everyone!