Need answers

Hi Sweetie,

Im sorry to hear about your mom

I know that being er/pr- means that your mom doesnt have the option to use hormonal treatments to fight recurrence...but I dont have very much knowledge about the HER2+, but there will be lots of ladies reply that will know about it and the Hercptin that seems to go along with it...

Im thinking since she was node positive that they will be discussing chemos with you all, but now that the receptors have been discovered to be negative the hormonal decisions wont have to be discussed so try not to worry about that side of things as they dont apply to your mom...you also will get the stage and grade of the tumor that was removed....the stage is determined by size and number of nodes positive, the grade is the cells that make up the tumor and how slowly/quickly they were growing which will give the aggressiveness of the cancer.

There is one thing that I want to point out to you that I had happend.....the surgeon is NOT the one to discuss treatment with!!! He will give you the stage and grade, and very well might give his opinion on what treatment should be.....my surgeon did and he was way off on the treatment, so until you see the oncologist try not to get too scared by any treatment stuff the surgeon may tell you.....

If at any time you have more questions (which you will), post here and you will get loads of answers and even better yet......you will get more support from these ladies than you would dream possible....we would also welcome your mom, sister, dad into our groups as well so NEVER be afraid to come here......

Hugs

Jule

Hi Cheryl, as I posted to your sis, Im sorry about your mom.....

Your very welcome, I hope whatever little bits of info I can give you will be helpful..

You both are wonderful daughters to be researching things and trying to take the bull by the horns.....it is much better to go in knowing but becareful that you dont over search something until you now for sure that it will apply to mom.....it can cause the fear and stress to triple!!!!!!!

You and your family are in the scariest time right now because the not knowing the hardest....facing the unknown is extremely stressful!!!!!! Once you have a game plan in place for treatment and such you all will start to feel a little better....I promise....this can be a long road and at times its going to seem like there is no end in sight, but there is!!!!

Hugs

Jule

Cheryl...what a wonderful attitude you have!!!!!!!!

My family is the same....if it affects one of us, it affects us all and heaven help the intruder!!!!!!!

Im very happy to hear that your sis is cancer free now....

Im not sure there is much more info that you will get right now...once the rest of the tests are back you will get whalloped with more info and research than you want I suspect...when I was dx'd I spent hour after hour on the net......mistake!!!!! I scared myself silly!!!! My first recommendation to anyone is try to only research the parts that you know for sure apply.....I also think it helps alot to take it one step at a time as it sinks in a little better...

I hope you and your sis continue to come here.....not just for the board here but this site has a tremendous amount of references/research information as well...

Hugs

Jule

Come back whenever you'd like.....there is always someone hanging around....

You girls hug each other for me.....and I will keep you all in my thoughts...

Hugs

Jule

As other's have mentioned, the oncologist is who will lay out options for the chemo.  Unless it is a very small tumor (under 1 cm), chemo is probably given since she is hormone receptor negative.

There has been so much research on breast cancer that if you read anything more than a few months old, there is probably a new study that contradicts it.  Assuming that the final pathology confirms that she is hormone receptor negative and Her2+, latest research is indicating this is a good thing as opposed to being triple positive (hormone receptor and Her2).  Apparently, some studies are indicating that the hormone inhibitor meds block some of the effectiveness of Herceptin.

Herceptin is a targeted drug for Her2+.  You take it for a full year by infusion, so it's like getting chemo, but without a lot of the bad side effects.  Depending on the chemo treatment, your mother may do a portion of the chemo first and then start herceptin.  Or, she may be on herceptin with the chemo from the beginning.  Some oncologist like to start herceptin as a weekly infusion and then switch to every three  weeks whereas others start with every three weeks. 

One of the other posters mentioned adriamycin.  I would strongly encourage you to discuss with the oncologist what the treatment options are in addition to adriamycin.  Research is indicating that Herceptin and adriamycin have more long-term side effects than Herceptin with other chemo regimens.  However, when you hear the whole story as it applies to your mother's specific situation, the benefit from adriamycin may be worth the risk. 

Most doctors are willing to give you time to think about the recommendations, do some research and then get back to them.  A few weeks here and there don't seem to make much difference in the outcome, so don't allow your family to be rushed into a decision until you feel completely comfortable with it.  The amount of information is overwhelming and it takes time to digest it all.

Best of luck to your mother and your family.  I have my last round of chemo the beginning of May and have found it to be very doable.  Minor side effects here and there, but nothing like I imagined/worried it would be.  I will be on Herceptin until January, but I hear it's very easy as a stand along infusion.

Thanks Cathy. Again all good things to know about before the appt. We (Mom, Sister and I) Like to be prepared. The more we understand about what they are saying the better it is to hear it all. We will take notes so if our Mom misses anything we can go back over it. We will keep you all updated.

Thanks

Cheryl

Hi Sisters:

Greetings from another ER-/PR-/Her2+ breast cancer sister. Your mom is blessed to have you two to help her out at this time.

Please be prepared for the word "Unfavorable" on your mom's path report. I was devastated to read my path report. My prognosis is listed as unfavorable for my ER- and PR- status. Not what you want to see! So prepare yourself and your mom. A few months later, I am much encouraged by the fairly recently introduction of Herceptin and Tykerb, and even today a new article is on this site's home page about a new vaccine for Her2+.

I had a mastectomy on 3/19 (after a lumpectomy and re-excision failed to get clean margins), began chemo (Taxol/Carpoplatin/Herceptin) last Tuesday with minimal side effects, and feel optimistic about my future.

Best wishes to you and your mom. This is a great place for support and advice. 

Sue 

Thanks so much for all of the feed back.



Sue, I am glad to hear that your feeling much better. We will definately post once we know more from the dr tomorrow.



Debbie, I am glad that this has helped you out as well. This Is such a process. There is so much info that it's hard to absorb it all. That is why we are going to go step by step and research what we know. It's easy to get caught up in the wrong place with the info if your not sure about all of the things you need to know.



I think having alittle more info from the surgeon will be a good starting point. The Oncologist appt is on Monday. My sister and I will be attending both appts. so we can take notes and get all of the info incase we need to look back as a referrence.Thanks for the support and positive posts.

I have the same markers.

I did 4 cycles of FAC, then 4 of taxotere/Herceptin then completed the year of Herceptin. I was diagnosed Sept/05 and am still quite well...back to full swing of life.

Some onc are using TCH for 6 cycles instead of the traditional AC, T.

I hope your Mom sails through her treatments and you continue to support her, shell need your encouragement.