34 and recently diagnosed with L breast IDC Stage IIA grade 3

Welcome DKissinger,

I know how unsettling it is to be diagnosed with BC and you are at the beginning of this adventure. I also was Her2positive and am finishing up with my Herceptin Perjeta treatments at the end of this month. The good news is that when you are done with the first 8 rounds of chemo, the Herceptin and Perjeta are easy as far as side effects. I did not have any and didn't even need any pre-meds prior, during or after infusions. The doctor will need to monitor your heart while on it. I'm assuming your first 8 rounds of chemo will be AC/T. There is a thread dedicated to chemo which you may want to join. They usually have one for whatever month you start. If it hasn't been started yet, you could always start the thread. That will be a safe place to share any concerns, side effects, etc....with people going through it at the same time. I can tell you that I was able to go through those treatments rather easily. I was not able to work because of my job (teacher of young students) and also because my white blood cell count was inconsistent (up high and/or drop way down) even on the Nuelastra. That was a good thing though because I was very fatigued and wouldn't have been able to be very effective at my job. The Taxol was easier for me. It didn't make me feel as nauseous. It did make my bones feel a little more achy but that was easy compared to the queasy feeling I had on the AC. The key is to stay on top of the meds they give you for nausea before you even feel the queasy feeling and it is much more easy to contain. You will learn all kinds of tricks etc...if you visit past threads about chemo. Feel free to ask any questions. I know this seems overwhelming but things do get easier.

I wish you luck!

I am so sorry you get to join us. Its a club that no one should have to join. I was diagnosed in June 2017 at 29 years old with stage 2 breast cancer. Mine was weakly er positive, pr and her2 negative so I never had herceptin/perjecta. I had AC/T. I also didn't freeze my eggs. Part of me wishes that I did though. The only real reason why I didn't was because it meant delaying chemo by at least 3 weeks, and I was scared that my tumor was going to grow during that time. My dr did give me Zoladex injections once a month while getting chemo to help protect my ovaries though. He told me that it shuts down your ovaries and kinda sheilds them from the harmful effects of chemo. I am 6 1/2 months out from chemo, and I wont know for awhile if my fertility is okay or not. My husband and I don't have any kids but would like to someday. As for the surgery, I was going to do a double mastectomy to reduce my risk of recurrence, but chemo shrunk my 3 cm tumor to nothing so I had a lumpectomy and radiation.

DKissinger, I also have been diagnosed with IDC, 2cm Grade 3. I am 48 years old. My surgeon recommended surgery and no treatment plan until after the final staging. May I ask why do you need chemo before surgery? I am trying get as much info on how deal with this

Hi DKissinger,

Thank you for your response. You have 2.3 cm tumor but the affected tissue is 13 cm? I don't have this info on my biopsy, is this a special testing done by your Oncologist? I don't have Oncologist yet.

Good luck to you too, we can fight this !

Sending hugs and well wishes as you begin this journey. I started radiation two weeks ago. So far so good. I have found that once the aches and pains of surgery subside life feels a tad more normal.

Best wishes!