was diagnoised dec 7

rainne88

hi im rainne. i was diagnoised on dec 7 of 2020 with stage 1a right breast cancer. they said the tumor was 1.1 cm-.1. 3 cm. i had a lumpectery and the tumor was 09 mm.and im er+pr-and hers2+.have to go back in this tues for a reension to check margins.

Anonymous

sorry to hear about your diagnosis Rainne.

But glad you found your way here.

Plenty to learn and lots of supoort.

Good luck with them checking your margins.

Let's hope they are clear.

Astrid.

rainne88

ty so much astrid ive been toldit about 30 minutes thats it . caught it early but because her2 i have chemo radiation starting on feb 8

ElaineTherese

Hi Rainne!

Yes, we HER2+ gals end up with chemo. What regimen are you doing? For small tumors, there's the possibility of Taxol (+ Herceptin, of course). I did Taxol; it was tiring but doable. It did give me diarrhea, but nothing I couldn't manage with Imodium.

LivinLife

Just want to welcome you rainne! Sorry you need to be hear though... This truly is a great site for info and support. If you haven't already check out the forums/threads related to HER2+ and related treatments (and any others you relate to...) Best with re-incision!

Salamandra

Welcome and glad you found your way here!

rainne88

i will be on taxol and ogilvri which is the same drug as herecprin but under a different name anything else i should know the chemo .i know ill lose hair. will only be on chemo for 12 weeks.

ElaineTherese

Sounds about right, rainne. Usually, they give you Benedryl before the Taxol to help prevent allergic reactions. If Benedryl makes you sleepy, you might want to bring a buddy to help you get home. Also, they often prescribe steroids before the infusion, which can make it difficult to sleep for a few nights. My oncologist prescribed a limited number of sleeping pills so I could sleep on steroid days.

Your first infusion will take the longest because they will want to make sure that you're not having a bad reaction to the Taxol. So, they run the drip slowly. Bring items to make yourself comfortable or to entertain yourself.

One side effect of Taxol is peripheral neuropathy. I got a little neuropathy in my fingertips, but nothing serious. Talk to your MO about any side effects so he/she can give you advice about how to address them.

One side effect of drugs like Herceptin and Ogivri is that they can reduce the ejection fraction of your heart. You should have a heart scan before chemo to provide a baseline, and subsequent heart scans afterwards. Also, if you feel shortness of breath, you need to let your MO know.

One thing that I didn't know until I got cancer --- chemo doesn't just make the hair on your head fall out, but you lose hair all over your body. Post-chemo, my leg hair never grew back, and my eyelashes are still sparse.

((Hugs))