HER2+ ER- and PR- / I don't want Chemo

Oh JulC66 -

I know what you are saying.  I am going through chemo now (#4 this Thursday) and the one person I know who did chemo got an infection and died.  I got on this site and many women responded with their own personal experiences and made me feel better.  My own doctor told me that my chances would be very poor if I did NOT do chemo.  I do not know very much about your situation but I hope you can come to a decision that you feel good about.  My doctor also researched many statistics for me to read about chemo and infection etc.  I have 4 children and I am going to do 6 treatments hopefully to allow me to be here as they grow.  This is just my experience...

Hugs to you,

Ang

Jul66 ~ Most of us REALLY don't want chemo, and most of us have memories of people in our past who didn't do well with it.  But the good news is, chemo has changed considerably since you were 12.  Breast cancer now has a whole, new "third generation" of chemo drugs, as well as extremely effective anti-nauseal drugs and white blood cell building drugs.  My onc has been in practice for 30+ years, and he told me that 20 years ago, if he had 35 patients, 25 of them would end up hospitalized while doing chemo.  Today, it's very seldom even one does.

Believe me, we all know how scary the thought of chemo is, but with your stats, Herceptin can make a huge difference, and Herceptin isn't given without chemo.

So sorry you have a need to be here, but I hope the many of us who have done chemo -- especially the Her+ gals (which I'm not) -- can assure you it's very do-able for the large majority of us.     Deanna

Chemo is a whole different ball game than it was years ago. Doses are very specifically measured to your weight, the anti-nausea medication is much improved etc. I SURELY did NOT want to have chemo either... who does? But, for sure, I know that I never, ever want to do this again; and chemo increased the odds that I won't have to. Good Luck. FIGHT LIKE A GIRL!

Her2+ cancers used to have grim statistics until herceptin came about.  Without  the chemo and herceptin, your risk of recurrence is about 25%.  That's 1 in 4!  With chemo and herceptin your risk goes below 10% chance of recuurence.  Herceptin is usually not given without chemo.  I don't know if that means "never" or if it is just not the standard practice.  Herceptin and chemo have a synergistic effect, meaning that they make each other work better when given together. 

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JulC66,

I worked pretty close to  full time while doing chemo, walked everyday, cleaned my house and did all my own shopping. The day of chemo and the couple days after chemo were my worst days and all I remember is feeling tired and foggy headed. I had some nasty heartburn, nothing that acid reducer pills couldn't handle. Chemo wasn't as bad as I had anticipated, it is very do-able. Don't you want to do everything you can do to prevent recurrance?

I was really scared and very vain (didn't want to lose my hair). I wrestled with the decision to do chemo (my onc told me he wanted me to really sweat that decision). I never wanted to look back and say I didn't do everything I could to prevent  recurrance.

Please sweat this decision, do everything you can to beat this beast!

Look around this site, it will give you hope, confidence and alot of valuable information.

 Best Wishes to you.

I also had HER + breast cancer. I had to take one year of Herceptin and six rounds of chemo. I just got my port out last week. Cancer was in one lymph node, but even after all this, the Doctor says I still have a 35% chance of the cancer returning. I will tell you what I have learned from experience. You will get drugs to keep you from throwing up. I never threw up. About the third day after I received Chemo, I did feel sickish, and lie in bed for about three days. The thing you want to do is PREVENT yourself from getting germs. I learned that I should not go anywhere for 10 days after each chemo, which was the prime time to catch germs. Any little virus or germ could put you in the hospital. That is what you need to avoid- stay away from people with germs or viruses. I hope this helps. I wish I would have been told this before I started chemo.

I agree with everyone that has already posted.  My onc when I pressed her provided me with some stats regarding being alive.  I know everyone's cancer is different due to Grade etc. but this is what I was told.  without chemo and herceptin there was a 78% chance I would be DEAD in 10 years.  With chemo and herceptin it dropped to 39% for me.  Statistically that is a significant drop and I never looked back.  the meds now for nausea and the ability to finetune the chemo for each individual is so much better than it was.  Go for it so you can continue to live joyously. I still enjoyed myself during chemo; I just tried to avoid germs.

I talked to my 67 year old 'just hercetin' friend last night. She is also very strongly ER & PR POSITIVE, so could go on Armidex as part of her treatment plan. She said if that had not been the case, and/or if she had been younger, she would have had to do chemo for sure.  

Here's an article showing that chemo with Herceptin is highly effective for women with even very small Her2+ tumors (node-negative) - that's tumors less than .5 cm. Your tumor is much larger so it is extremely important to start on Herceptin asap.

Trastuzumab May Benefit Patients with Very Small & Low-Grade Breast Tumors

In my case - since my tumor was "only" .9cm and Grade 1 (well-differentiated) and I had a mastectomy, my onc put me on a "light" chemo called Navelbine - every two weeks for 4 months, given with Herceptin which continued for a year. I didn't lose my hair (although it got thinner) and I was never nauseous (although I would get diarrhea the night after my infusion). Also it didn't cause any heart damage the way A/C can. It was an unusual regime, but I had 3 oncologists agree with this plan.

Don't assume you will die from chemo - it's very unlikely. However, the chances of dying from your breast cancer if it turns to mets is very high.........get a second or third oncological opinion - ask them about Navelbine with Herceptin - and try to stay calm! May God's angels watch over you!