Is our prognosis really poor?

Ohio:  I am so with you on "what matters and what doesn't" !!!!  I asked my onc how the hell am I supposed to suspect anything recurring since I had no symptoms in the first place?  Plus extremely dense breasts so nothing even showed up on mammo.  I just have to keep insisting on testing, even though lots of it is ct scans, which alone have way more radiation than x-rays. 

Linda K :  I like your onc's outlook on recurrence.  My surgeon was quite the opposite, saying we can recur 10-15 years out.  I'm trying to keep positive and keep telling myself that no one, not even the docs, know anything for sure. 

May we ALL keep on going !

My docs are clearly most concerned about the first 2-3 years. The way I see it is that if I get over that hump, I have a really good chance of going 10 years before a recurrence, and in 10 years they may well be able to come up with some better treatment of some kind. In other words, I refuse to sweat it. All I can do is enjoy myself and make my time count, however much of it I end up getting. The other thing I am doing is trying to stay healthy otherwise (diet and exercise), because having been through heavy-duty chemo etc, I realize that a big part of surviving cancer is being able to survive the treatment.

I think that if it comes back in 2-3 years it's also shown to be very aggressive, dispite the treatments, so it would be harder to treat than if it comes back later, just a guess.

True, I am happy that I'm triple positive!

I'm her2+ and strongly ER & PR positive too.  Her2, before herceptin, recurred more frequently, earlier, and was more aggressive, but since "herceptin" the prognosis is soooooooooooo  much better, and if it does recur there are more drugs out there that target her2, so in a way it's good because there are targeted therapies that work really well.  And there are several treatments for ER/PR++ too, so we have more options for treatment, should we have a recurrence.

Her2 pos. people means there is an extra protein on the cancer cell, that is not present on Her2 neg.  My oncs say it's better to be Her2neg.  But Herceptin is what they give Her2pos. women, just like Tamoxifen is what the ER/PR positive women get. But let's face it -- as soon as they say one treatment is working, they come out and say it doesn't.  Let's all focus on living the best we can !!! 

It does but in studies people who r her 2 positive and have chemo first with herceptin before surgery have a 50% better chance at having a compete response over her2 neg er positive people .. It's really a crapshoot but I would have loved a complete response when I did my chemo first but they said people with my stats just don't usually have responses like that whereas her positive ad triple negative do.. However they say complete response is better for survicalyet those with better prognosis stats (er positive and her 2 neg) r less likely to have that response.. It's all so confusing and frustrating.. I just want to live!

Shari and Shelly, totally understand the "crap shoot" concept.  Maybe because they are mor aggressive, they are also quick to respond to treatment, also more likely to recur   Living in the moment is so important, and one of the things I have a hard time doing.

Shari, Linda :  So true --finding it hard to as you say live in the moment.  Am glad we can come to this board and let out our worries !