Hormone therapy and ER status

Septmom: My understanding from all my research, reading here, and talking with my doctor is that positive is positive - regardless of whether it's 100% or 1%. The benefit of being ER+ is that you can take medication such as Tamoxifen; if you're ER- there is nothing to take. So there is nothing to "take care of the 20% that's not ER positive" - you simply do nothing. In my case I am barely ER+ (I mean barely, by a smidge) but my doctor suggested (and I tried, twice), Tamoxifen.

Good luck with your treatment - will be thinking of you!

Septmom, don't think of it as some of your bc being ER positive and some not (which it sounds like you might be). Think of it as a percentage of the whole, or the strength of the ER. In other words, whether you're 60% or 70% or 80% or 100%, the fact is that, to one degree or another, estrogen possibly fuels your bc.

You will probably find that your onc will not be able to adequately explain the whole estrogen-progesterone-breast cancer relationship to you, and that's because most docs don't have an indepth understanding of hormones. I finally went to a naturopathic doctor to get a better grasp on what was going on with my hormones, although excessive ER is just one component of bc risk.

Good luck with chemo. Have you joined the November 2013 chemo group here? You'll probably find one in the Chemotherapy section (under All Topics, to the left). Many of us found that core group (one usually starts each month) invaluable support for getting through chemo. (((Hugs))) Deanna

Septmom, you're going to be fine! I know how overwhelming it all is in the beginning, but you will get through treatment and go on with your life.

To answer your question, I have always taken a lot of supplements, but I did add several upon the advice of the integrative specialist at UCLA (who I also waited to see until after I finished chemo & rads), then a brilliant local naturopathic doctor who has since become my and my husband's primary care doc. Some of the things I've added post-bc include iodine (Iodoral), D3 (really important), curcumin, I3C, various mushroom extracts (although I now just try to eat a lot of different mushrooms), as well as stuff specifically RX'd, like a natural thyroid med and other hormones.

As far as foods, I've also cut out milk in favor of almond milk. I've also cut way back on butter (rarely ever use it) and cheese, and try to buy only European made ones now (a tip I got from another BCO member), because their milk isn't as chemical-laden. I do eat a little organic Greek yogurt. I don't eat processed foods, buy as much organic now as I can justify re. cost, and eat mostly a plant-based diet, plus some fish. But it's such an individual thing. I think both genetics and environmental toxins, are big factors for many of us, so we just each have to do the best we can in deciding what feels like a healthy change, as well as not blame ourselves for things we didn't know about in the past.

One question for you... Since you had a lumpectomy, did you have an MRI prior to your surgery? It's something I have a special concern about based on my own experience (detailed on my bio page). Deanna