I am scare, please help ..

Hey Hope,

Most important is to keep calm (as much as possible) and have faith. I was diagnosed with IDC beginning 2015 with PR+ ER+ and HER2- . Being PR+ & ER+ means that hormonal therapies and targetted therapies can be used. In my case, the score for PR and ER are quite low (currently 3/8 and 4/8). Nevertheless I've been on hormonal therapy since the surgery. So far it helped limiting the mets to my skin (breast and abdomen). But I had to change therapies several times, and this will probably be true in the future too. Cancer cells are performing mutations, which means that treatments need to be adapted. As my oncolog would say, even when it is not possible to totally get rid of cancer, it is possible to live with it. And that's what I'm doing.

As such I don't think there's a link between the scores PR/ER and the agressivity of cancer. Although I read somewhere that HER2+ are more agressive.

You surely need to be positive : A lot of women I know are in remission, or even got rid of cancer.

I send you lots of love and strength

Hope99,

I know this is scary and this generally sucks. My wife and I had our world rocked upside down by the diagnosis in August and every day since has alternated between fear/sadness and relief/comfort. Happier moments have been few and far between. We also have children.

Receptor status may change. It did for my wife, more negatively I’d say. But it just depends. Cancer tumors are heterogenous and so it’s hard to classify them.

Grade 3 is aggressive. It’s a well differentiated, rapidly dividing cancer so that is always a tough thing to swallow. We had the same diagnosis. On a brighter note, chemo was built for aggressive cancers so it’s likely yours will respond well to treatment. That’s the main upside of high grade cancers. Treatment options are built to fight them. So it’s possible you could be NED sooner than you think.

Positive receptor status has its pluses and minuses. Pluses include horomone treatments and minuses include it attaches to hormones. Her2 negative has generally been considered a positive diagnosis but triple negative is not. It’s pretty mixed.

The doctors will check for symptoms to see if it’s spread to determine staging. They will look at your chest wall, other breast, etc. when they run more scans. Very few cancers are stage 4 de novo so you have good odds on your side. It is in your nodes but hopefully it hasn’t spread past the auxiliary and that’s quite possible. You’ll learn more soon and the waiting is the hardest part. Quoting Tom petty here, RIP.

We think about spread all the time. Chemo is designed to kill cancer cells around your whole body. So it’s very much a total body treatment plan and that’s partly why it’s such a tough treatment. It’s very likely if it has spread, chemo can kill those damn cells.

It’s ok to be scared, ok to cry, ok to feel hopeless. Just don’t let it overwhelm and dominate you. As I said, your odds of beating this are absolutely on your side so you will very likely be fine. Try to stay positive even though I know it’s easier said than done but do your best. Lean on friends and family. That’s why they are there. Kiss your kids a lot. Seems to work for us .

Best of luck. PM me if you have other questions. Try to have a good thanksgiving. Sorry for what you’re going through. It just fkn sucks.

Hello Hope,

I know there are indeed 2 ways of calculating hormone receptors, under which one in %. Where I'm treated, they only handle the other methodology, and I'm not sure whether we can simply proceed with calculation to perform an evaluation in %. But indeed, the higher the figure on /8 , the better response on hormone therapies.

As far as grade / stage are concerned, there is a difference.

The stage determines the way of "dispersion" of the cancerous cells (the lowest the best). I'm currently in stage IIIC as I have metastases in my skin (some indeed consider this as stage IV, however, as they are limited to breast and abdomen, we can consider this IIIC according to my doctor).

Grade defines how agressive the cells are : the lowest they are, the more "calm" (slow) they are. I just learned today, by discussing with my doctor, that although the first biopsy mentionned grade II, the biopsy done after surgery (which is more accurate that the first biopsies) showed grade III (which I couldn't find back in the reports I received).

If this can reassure you, between the first biopsy (I needed 2 as the 1st one was negative) and the chemo, more than a month passed. I had planned holidays, and doctors all said it was better to enjoy these weeks abroad, than jump into treatment. They were right : our mental strength is the most important thing in this battle. So, don't worry if you didn't start immediately treatments.

I'm sure we'll be fine :-)

Hope99, what type Doctor are you going to see next? When is your next appointment about this?

You have every right to feel bad, to feel scared, to feel angry, to feel everything you feel. You have had a very bad shock. A breast cancer diagnosis is always devastating. Remember, the Close Ones in your Life -- those who love you -- are also afraid and feeling helpless. They are suffering that way because of the severe stress that you are suffering. They wish you did not have to feel so bad, and they feel helpless to help you feel better. We all know those fears that come with a breast cancer diagnosis.

No, being upset about it is not going to kill you. But keeping hopeful -- and remembering that there is always cause for hope and happiness -- makes for a smoother ride, much better times, and it is also comforting to the Close Others.

Dear, when you have your treatment planned, you will feel much better, much less anxious.

Please keep us up on your news, about your appointments, treatment plans, all that.

(((Hugs)))

Hope, it is so normal to feel scared and freaked out when you have the bad news and you don't yet have a treatment plan in place. I was diagnosed in July with IDC ER & PR+, HER- as well. And I have lymph node positive for cancer too. Docs holding off on Stage (it's either IIB or IIIA). Being in my lymph nodes was the scariest for me because of what it means about cancer cells having access to the lymph system and blood stream. Definitely scary stuff. I think we're conditioned from movies, TVs, novels, etc. about the drama of the death threat yet there are far more positive outcomes than negative because of how much better targeted treatment is based on all of the factors that are understood now - better than even 5 or 10 years ago. The survival rates are really encouraging and I hope you can find that information to help balance the totally understandable fear you (and we all) feel.

It does get more manageable! And it's still a hard road. My doctors agreed that I should have chemo before surgery, so I started chemo in the middle of October - I was diagnosed in July. I specifically asked if it was okay for the delay. Some was on their part and by September I wanted to travel east to see my son first. But I started to feel the tumor grow and was more painful, but they were certain that it hadn't and was fine. I started chemo in the middle of October and the good news is that after even one full round of chemo, the tumor started to shrink, and after 2 rounds, it feels SO much different! I can only hope that the chemo is doing as good a job with any renegade cancer cells that might have taken a ride through my bloodstream. They are undetectable when they are just single cells moving through the body but no growing and multiplying, so MRIs and CT scans and bone scans won't find anything on other parts of the body. Thankfully, nothing was detectable. I know that the chemo is going after the tumor and ALL those other cells I don't know about - and yet it's still scary to think one little cell might survive and do its worst after chemo. But that's just fear speaking, creating only one possible made up future that I don't need to worry about. Stress is not good for this healing process, so find ways to relieve your anxiety. I hate taking medications, but been okay for the time being with Ativan - sparingly and as needed. I also take a natural supplement (mix in water) Natural Calm (magnesium citrate), good for magnesium intake, over time has definitely helped with anxiety, and mega helpful during chemo because a slightly larger dose also helps with the side effects of constipation. (you don't need to know more about that right now, but there's plenty of advice available in these forums for each step of the way!)

It's good you found this support forum - it's full of hope. So many women before us are living healthy lives and are on the other side of this nightmare. I found a group that started chemo the same month I started and it has helped me SO much to be able to help each other through our common experience all happening at relatively the same time. I recommend when you know when you're starting chemo to join that month's forum (or start it if no one has started it yet.)

Wishing you all the best. You are not alone! One of my October forum sisters is managing this with a couple of young kids. Hard but doable. Learn to say yes to the help that people around you offer you - that was really hard for me to do. But it helps them and definitely you!

Hope, I don't know the answer to that question. A CT scan only highlights areas of concern; it is a biopsy that can tell you if the lymph node is involved. Then the doctor can tell you which treatment plan she recommends.

I'm so sorry about the waiting. I know that is hard. Do try to stay busy with things you enjoy as much as you can until you see a medical expert. We are sending good thoughts your way.

Hi Hope99. Those tests you are having next week will help about their planning for your treatment. If there are found any concerns as to your heart or other organ functions, they will take those into account in planning your treatment. Chemotherapy can be individually tailored by selection of the medicine/s and combinations thereof to be used, taking into account other health concerns.

Your Doctors' treatment recommendations will be aimed at giving you your best prospects for survival.

Chemotherapy saves people. It saves lives. It extends lives. It is much more tolerable than the typical experience of decades ago. Now they have remedies and more remedies for most any side effects that may come with Chemotherapy.

I expect that before much longer, you will be on an anti-hormonal treatment, as I am. My anti-hormonal treatment has been easy, just a pill every day, and I have had no serious side effects. I hope yours will be just as easy for you.

Age 49 is young. You can do it -- you can do whatever it takes. Get psyched-up, not psyched-out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqe6dmMAAO0

We cannot know about your lymph node unless and until it has had biopsy evaluation by a Pathology Lab. If it is diseased, that does not necessarily mean that the cancer has gone elsewhere in your body. It would mean only that that node is diseased. My understanding is that those blood tests can be used to help monitor progress from treatment -- but that changes about the disease state may take long times -- weeks -- to be indicated by changes in those test readings. If those tests have been ordered for you, your Oncologist can explain their helpfulness, significance, and their limitations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXd5Xk_EKpU

Hi Hope, please talk to your doctor about your biopsy questions. I know mine contained a lot of scary words I did not understand and my doctor explained it just meant a malignant tumor was found which I knew. Also, when I was panickng about my stage and grade my BC stated very matter of fact, "Don't obsess with stage or grade, it is how you respond to treatment that counts." I was 49 when diagnosed in the Spring. That is still considered relatively young in the BC world. Even with my auto-immune issues, treatment was very doable. Hang in there...the beginning is the worst. As others have stated, once you get a plan set, you will feel more in control and less afraid. We are all here to support you.

It isn't uncommon at all to detect cancer in the lymph nodes. The sentinel node is the mostly likely but others could have cancer too. It tends to be more favorable if no nodes have cancer but there is no guarantee that cancer has escaped the breast in either case.

Try not to get ahead of yourself. I would ask for something to help your anxiety while you wait. Once you have surgery and start treatment things will get better. Unfortunately, doctors won't know about your particular chances of metastasis and outcome. The survival statistics are high and medications are improving.

Let us know, we are here and have been through it. It will get better.

Multicentric means the cancerous tumor found to be in more than one quadrant of the breast. For example one found at 2:30 (like a clock) and another at 6:00.

Hope99,

I am very sorry you find yourself here. Being afraid is very normal. As far as crying too much...I’m not sure anyone can say how many tears are too many. We all handle stress differently. No one has the right to tell you how to feel. I can promise you that having moments of despair will not kill you.

You are doing some very positive things, like joining these forums and making your list of questions. You have some good ones so far. Take your list to your oncology appointment and make sure you ask them. Ask your doctor if you can record your conversation or bring someone to take notes for you.

My doctor does not do tumor marker tests. He feels they can give a lot of false positives or show elevation for no reason after treatment. Lots of doctors do. It seems to really depend on the patient whether they are helpful. Wish I could answer your specific biopsy report questions, but I can’t.

I can say I was 47 at diagnosis. I’m still here 3 years later. It was not in my lymph nodes according to my pathology report from surgery. It was in my chest wall, so I did chemo before surgery to get a chance at clear margins. I am wondering if the measurements you are stating regarding your nodes are the measurement for the whole node and it is suspicious for cancer. I am not a doctor so I really have no idea. Maybe write that on your list of questions.

Hormone status, in my opinion, has pros and cons for each scenario. For me it becomes “the devil you know.” You will find out what you are dealing with and you will have a plan.

I would tell my doctor that I am very sad and anxious and ask for medicine to calm my nerves and to help me sleep. Can you do that at your next appointment?

You are doing lots of tests and scans right now so instead of seeing that time as wasted, maybe see it as putting pieces of thepuzzle together.

I, like someone else who posted, had a trip planned and had to wait for certain appointments and they told me to go and enjoy, if I could. Glad I did that.

Be very kind to yourself. Try to do something you enjoy. Be with your kids.

Keep us posted.