New Diagnosis, trying to understand

Hi Daniami30-

We want to welcome you to our community here at BCO, although we're sorry for the circumstances that have brought you here. We know the first days and weeks can be confusing and overwhelming; there's so much information coming your way, and it's a lot to process. We have a forum for our members with IDC, where you might find some more information, and be able to connect with members who have a similar diagnosis: https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/96.

We hope this is helpful, and good luck with the oncologist on Friday. Please let us know how it goes!

The Mods

Hello, Daniami,

Do you have your HER2 results yet? They seem to take a couple of weeks, longer than some other tests. I accessed some of my tests online on a patient portal, and also at medical records, but your doctor should be able to give the results to you. If your HER2 is negative, you are "triple negative" and there is a forum for that here.

Ki67 is considered unreliable by some docs and so some people never get one. I was told, or read (I forget) that it can be thrown off if a tumor is heterogeneous and one part is more proliferative than another. The surgery pathology will clarify.

You may be offered neo-adjuvant chemo ( before surgery),  and if HER 2 is positive you will do chemo plus a drug like Herceptin. I am not sure when they do chemo before surgery versus after, but others can chime in.

Since your ER/PR are relatively low, it seems that the docs may not order an Oncotype test for you, which is used to decide on chemo or not for hormone-positive cancers.

I just wanted to say hi and sorry you are on this forum, but then again, it really is helpful and supportive. Keep us posted!

Take someone with you to write down what the dr tells you. You're going to be getting a lot of information and it's going to be overwhelming. If you have to go by yourself, be sure to write down your questions beforehand and then write down the answers and all the other info. Ask a million questions. If there's something you don't understand then ask for a better explanation.

Please come back and share with us and we'll try to help you make sense of this new bumpy road you find yourself on. We can't do much to even out the bumps but we're here to give you all the support you need.

Best wishes for your appointment

Write down all the qudstions yoi come up with, make a seco d copy to hand to the Dr. If you don't understand his/her answers, keep asking until he/she puts it in words you can understand. Use your smart phone to record the appt - then if you have questions in the future you can review the exact words spoken. Not just what you (or a friend) might have written down which might not be exactly what the Dr said.

What other tests are being run? What is your family history? Is neoadjuvan . Help being recommended? So many questions. It is good that you will be seeing a Chemo Dr before being rushed into surgery. If you are at a Can er Family, your info should be presented to the Cancer Board for recommendations.