Is there any truth to this? Diagnosed under 40..

I think the biggest things that determine aggressiveness are grade, the characteristics ( ER positive or negative, HERC positive or negative, etc.), and whether it has spread to the lymph nodes yet. The grade and characteristics will be determined by tests done on the biopsy (and then verified after tumor is removed).

Questions for doctor: what plan does he recommend? how big does he think it is? get all test results from him in writing (or write them down as he is telling you) including ER & PR status, HER2 status, grade, etc.

Things you should do differently: I found some good info many different places, but things that have been shown to decrease chance of recurrence include keeping weight in healthy range, cardiac exercise (30 min moderate exercise 5x week minimum is my goal), eating a diet that is mostly (or heavily) plant based and includes lots of different fruits & veggies, etc.

Melissa-

Sorry you find yourself here. Yes, there’s a lot to learn. And yes, breast cancer in young women is often treated more aggressively. We have longer to give cancer time to come back unfortunately. To put it in perspective though, we all have exactly the same chance of not surviving, it’s just a matter of what we die from and when.

If you’re unsure about your treatment plan, once you have one, get a second opinion, or a third. There are no clear cut answers I’ve found. Both my surgeon and my MO encouraged me to seek a second opinion in Boston because they were on the fence. Even the tumor board couldn’t agree.

Be confident in your team and comfortable with your choices. You are the one who has to live with them. I opted for no chemo even though my MO was pushing for it. You should ask about the Oncotype test. My MO wouldn’t run it, but Dana Farber did. With a score of 14, I opted out.

You could ask about a PET scan. It’s not usually done as standard practice. You should request a dexa scan for bone density if they plan on ovarian suppression, if you still have your ovaries. If you’re concerned about fertility, you should ask those questions sooner rather than later.

You could ask under what circumstances they’d recommend radiation. A mastectomy is no guarantee you won’t need rads. A positive node got me rads.

Once you know the proposed treatment plan, do your research, even if it’s a bit overwhelming at first. You will become versed in breast cancer lingo.

I know it’s really hard not to fixate on the scary numbers you come across. I still have some stuck in my head, and they’re depressing. But I’m here and alive today, so I’d better get on with living! Hopefully you will get to a good place once you’re treatments are over as well.

Good luck to you. ❤️

i was just diagnosed at 39

Missmom79. A minute amount of IDC is a very small amount, probably 2 millimeters or less. That's very tiny (minute). It's still invasive ductal carcinoma, but it looks like they found it very early.

This really is one of the hardest times. It will get better once you have a treatment plan in place.

Best wishes to you as you wait for more answers.

Trish

hello. I am 34 and started taxotere, carbo, herceptin, and Perjeta. I’m stage 3, her 2 positive.

I am newly diagnosed and terrified of this roller coaster I’ve been put on so young

I am also quite concerned about permanent hair loss from the taxotere. Can anyone give me a positive experience or advice about taxotere vs taxol

MelissaAshley, my understanding is that breast cancer in young women often - though not always - behaves differently and responds to treatment differently than the breast cancers often diagnosed in older women. It's important to have the best medical team you can.

After my long odyssey, my one piece of advice to young women is to be treated at an NCI cancer center. If you can't be treated at one for insurance reasons or whatever, at least get a second opinion at one. But preferably do all your treatment at an NCI center. Outcomes are better at those centers overall anyway, and that's even more true for those of us under 40. Best wishes to you.

https://www.cancer.gov/research/nci-role/cancer-centers/find

MelissaAshley, I am currently finishing up neoadjuvant chemo - the PTCH cocktail (Perjeta, taxotere, carboplatin, and herceptin). I’ll have a mastectomy with a sentinel node biopsy. I had one node with “isolated tumor cells” at my initial biopsy, so that will come out for sure. I’m choosing to do a mastectomy rather than a lumpectomy partially so that I can avoid rads (I believe lumpectomies almost always require post surgery rads).

I second the advice to go to an NCI breast center if you can. Also, I found that a lot of big name places do remote second opinions now, even if you don’t live nearby. You send your records and you can get the opinion via electronic consult. I got second and third opinions. In terms of radiation and surgery, both of my second opinions were hugely different than my firsts.

RHopper, I’m on the same regimen and have had great success! Check out cold capping if you’re worried about hair loss. I did Paxman scalp cooling. My insurance (Aetna) even covered it. I stopped doing it after 2 chemos because even though I think it did “work” somewhat, he hair I did lose didn’t fall out evenly and I had weird bald spots that were hard to hide. It was just annoying to me so I quit and shaved my head. But I still haven’t lost all my hair, even after 5 taxoteres. It's sparse stubble for sure but the stuff that hasn't fallen out is still growing, too. So don't lose hope!