2nd path opinion AFTER the fact..trt is done?

Chelee

I've had some serious questions about my orignal DX since day one. I don't doubt I had bc...but I have concerns about about my er & pr status. My cancer center used their own *stain* that was NOT FDA approved...I found it in very small print that is almost impossible to read. Makes me wonder how reliable it is? Plus they did NOT get a good core biospy the first time they tried. There were problems so my surgeon only got one little one and it was mentioned in the path report is was a small artifact that was in poor shape. (It was worded different then that...but too lazy to dig it out right now.) lol There are several things that have bothered me now that I am 1 yr and 7 months out...I've learned alot more about this and I know how touchy testing is for Er & Pr. Plus false positives, ect.

Has anyone went through ALL their trt...surgery, chemo, etc...and sent their slides to another hospital AFTER the fact? If so...did they find anything different? Is it worth my time? My gut keeps telling me to do it...not sure if my insurance company would pay for it this far out from trt...but I could probably afford it if need be. Any thoughts on this?

Chelee

LittleFlower

Hi Chelee,
I've had similar thoughts about my er/pr status wanting to know exact percentages etc- just info that wasn't provided for me. I think that sending out your slides is perfectly acceptable. I don't think it's ever too late to make your health a priority. Hard to say if it would change your treatment in any way, but at least you'll be better informed. I think that in the beginning of the whole journey there is so much going on and little time to think, now there is more time to think and more little "what if's" pop up into our heads LOL--- do what your gut instinct says-
you'll be happier for it. Just my gut instinct.
LittleFlower

Anonymous

I agree with Little Flower....go with your gut instinct....I find that it is usually the best way to go...if nothing else comes of it....you will have peace within yourself and that is worth ALOT in this journey...

Hugs
Jule

LizM

Chelee, are you on hormone therapy? If so, it probably doesn't matter if you know the exact percentages only that you are ER/PR positive. If you are not on hormone therapy and think you should be that would be a different story. I had my her2 retested after I completed all of my treatment because I was worried about the IHC 2+ and FISH negative. It came back 2d time as IHC 0 and FISH negative. I had it retested because I didn't want to miss out on taking herceptin if it would provide me benefit. If you are taking hormone therapy you are already getting benefit and having it retested would probably not change your treatment. I have read you may get some benefit from hormone therapy even if you are weakly positive.