Path report in

rrogers34

I had my surgery Dec 9th (lumpectomy). The surgery went well and my lymph nodes were clear. Was really hoping not to have to go through Chemo. The tumor was 1.5 cm and Er and PR +. They were suprised that I was HER2 positive. y cancer is stage 1. The margins were focal which means there is microscopic DCIS lobular in the margins? I have my first appointment with the Medical oncologist on the 28th and surgery to put my port in on January 7th. They are saying 4 months of Chemo with Herceptin for a year then radiation. Then I have to go on the medication used if you are post menopausal. Currently I still have regular perisods. I have faith, however I am still pretty nervous. Any words of wisdom?

Hope everything is going well and praying for each of you.

CR1954

rrogers....
I am not ER/PR+, but am HER-2+. I just finished a year of Herceptin and that was easy. There are few, if any side effects, and you should get through that part just fine.

We will all be here to cheer you on and help you to get through the chemo.

I found the rads to be easier than chemo, but keep in mind that the fatigue that you will inevitably feel, is cumulative. The more rads I had (6 wks.) the more tired I became.

Hugs & prayers for you...

CR

Kat11

I also had lumpectomy. I am
I also had lumpectomy. I am also her2 pos ER & PR Pos, and doing herceptin. I had to do 4 rounds of ac the 12 rounds taxol with herceptin am continuing herceptin for a total of 52 rounds. First week of Jan I start Radiation for 6 weeks and will also start the drug tamoxifen. Having the port put in was not bad at all. You won't feel a thing. Its not a picnic, but it is all doable. Make sure they give you meds for nausea. I recomend the drug Emend and sofran. This work very well for me. I never got sick, did not feel well all the time, but still doable. Talk to your onc about you still having your uterus and being her2 pos or being put on Tamoxifin. I survived all the chemo. Lost my hair day 14 after starting, lost eye lashes and brows about 2 months ago now. Like I said i am still on herceptin and can't tell you about Rads yet. You will have your ups and downs but stay positive as much as you can and this will help you through, as well as your friends here on csn site.Good luck to you. Hope this helped you a bit.

Sharon40

Lumpectomy Dec. 11th
I had my surgery on Dec. 11th (lumpectomy). I actually did my Chemo first due to a large tumor that we were trying to shrink. It did work, but not entirely. My path report wasn't so good. I am going back on Jan. 6th for a 2nd lumpectomy - called re-excision where we are going to try to get the rest of the tumor. Chemo was doable as someone else commented. It wasn't fun or easy, but it was "doable." Hair loss was just the worst, but you will get passed that in your own time. I always tried to treat myself after each treatment (mostly just a quiet afternoon all to myself) for making it through one more!! I worked (teach school) and that kept me busy. I would take a few days after each treatment, but then right back into the routine. It helped the time pass by, and I was surrounded by friends. I hope your 4 months fly by and soon this will all be history!!

jbug

Some good news!
Know you are nervous, but some good news in the negative nodes! I didn't require chemo, but am 10 sessions into my 30 radiation treatments. So far so good, a bit like a sun burn. No issues w/fatigue yet, but am told to expect in the next week or two. Will start tamoxifen when I finish radiation.

Don't have any big words of wisdom...there are lots of ladies that will be here for you as you travel the bc trail.

God Bless...Julie

Jadie

CR1954 said:

rrogers....
I am not ER/PR+, but am HER-2+. I just finished a year of Herceptin and that was easy. There are few, if any side effects, and you should get through that part just fine.

We will all be here to cheer you on and help you to get through the chemo.

I found the rads to be easier than chemo, but keep in mind that the fatigue that you will inevitably feel, is cumulative. The more rads I had (6 wks.) the more tired I became.

Hugs & prayers for you...

CR

CR
Have you been MIA?

Sher43009

I'm also ER, PR and HER2 +
I'm also ER, PR and HER2 + also called triple +. My tumor size was 2+cm and I have both DCIS and IDC with clear lymph nodes. Went through 4 rounds of A/C but only 1 round of Taxol. I'm now on Herceptin every 3 weeks until Oct. 2010 and through 18 of 35 radiation treatments, then start Tamoxifen. Best advise I can give is to listen to your body. It will tell you what it needs. Get a lot of fluids and rest. Make sure you get numbing cream to put on your port area before treatments. I was told to put it on 1 hour before but found 1 1/2-2 hours before works better. The treatments affect each of us differently so if something doesn't feel right call your doctor even if you think it's nothing. Be careful what websites you go on....there's a lot of wrong information out there. The ASC and NCCN (National Comprehensive Cancer Network) put out a book "Breast Cancer Treatment Guidelines for Patients" that is very good in the explainations of treatments. You can view it on this website.

Good luck and keep up posted.

rrogers34

Jadie said:

CR
Have you been MIA?

MIA? Computer problems
My computer is awful and It can be very frustrating to ty to get online. My father has been in the hosp, came home yesterday, today Christmas he has been all day in bed. He has only part of one lung and has liver issues due to a blood transfusion many years ago. Really worried about him. I have family in and more to come. Hoping I handle Chemo as bravely as everyone else. Hoping all is having a blessed Christmas.

DianeBC

jbug said:

Some good news!
Know you are nervous, but some good news in the negative nodes! I didn't require chemo, but am 10 sessions into my 30 radiation treatments. So far so good, a bit like a sun burn. No issues w/fatigue yet, but am told to expect in the next week or two. Will start tamoxifen when I finish radiation.

Don't have any big words of wisdom...there are lots of ladies that will be here for you as you travel the bc trail.

God Bless...Julie

Congrats on your nodes being
Congrats on your nodes being clear!

rrogers34

Sher43009 said:

I'm also ER, PR and HER2 +
I'm also ER, PR and HER2 + also called triple +. My tumor size was 2+cm and I have both DCIS and IDC with clear lymph nodes. Went through 4 rounds of A/C but only 1 round of Taxol. I'm now on Herceptin every 3 weeks until Oct. 2010 and through 18 of 35 radiation treatments, then start Tamoxifen. Best advise I can give is to listen to your body. It will tell you what it needs. Get a lot of fluids and rest. Make sure you get numbing cream to put on your port area before treatments. I was told to put it on 1 hour before but found 1 1/2-2 hours before works better. The treatments affect each of us differently so if something doesn't feel right call your doctor even if you think it's nothing. Be careful what websites you go on....there's a lot of wrong information out there. The ASC and NCCN (National Comprehensive Cancer Network) put out a book "Breast Cancer Treatment Guidelines for Patients" that is very good in the explainations of treatments. You can view it on this website.

Good luck and keep up posted.

What kind of reaction did you have?

Megan M

CR1954 said:

rrogers....
I am not ER/PR+, but am HER-2+. I just finished a year of Herceptin and that was easy. There are few, if any side effects, and you should get through that part just fine.

We will all be here to cheer you on and help you to get through the chemo.

I found the rads to be easier than chemo, but keep in mind that the fatigue that you will inevitably feel, is cumulative. The more rads I had (6 wks.) the more tired I became.

Hugs & prayers for you...

CR

That is such good news to
That is such good news to have clear nodes! Good luck with your treatment!

Megan

terri805

chemo?
I am new here and I was dx with insiti ductal carcinoma and I had a lumpectomy last week. The path report said I was er+ and pr+, stage 2. Somehow I thought that I was told that chemo was not necessary for this dx just radiation. Did you have the same thing as me? I go to see the oncologist jan 4th. Does anyone know about this type of dx? My margins were clear but one side was closer than my surgeon wanted so I will be going in for more surgery to have a wider margin.Hope everything goes well for you rrogers34.

pattimc

terri805 said:

chemo?
I am new here and I was dx with insiti ductal carcinoma and I had a lumpectomy last week. The path report said I was er+ and pr+, stage 2. Somehow I thought that I was told that chemo was not necessary for this dx just radiation. Did you have the same thing as me? I go to see the oncologist jan 4th. Does anyone know about this type of dx? My margins were clear but one side was closer than my surgeon wanted so I will be going in for more surgery to have a wider margin.Hope everything goes well for you rrogers34.

Terri805
Your dx sounds very similar to mine. I also had to have an additional surgery to get wider margins. At that time they also did the sentinel lymph node biopsy which showed I had 1/4 nodes positive for cancer. I was also stage 2 (because of the ln involvement)and had 4 rounds of chemo and 33 radiation treatments. How did the docs determine you were stage 2? Did you have a sentinel lymph node biopsy? Your doc can tell you if you need chemo or not. Mine said that with lymph nodes positive for "C" that I needed to do it. I wanted to do everything I could to get it out of me!!

Good luck!

rrogers34

terri805 said:

chemo?
I am new here and I was dx with insiti ductal carcinoma and I had a lumpectomy last week. The path report said I was er+ and pr+, stage 2. Somehow I thought that I was told that chemo was not necessary for this dx just radiation. Did you have the same thing as me? I go to see the oncologist jan 4th. Does anyone know about this type of dx? My margins were clear but one side was closer than my surgeon wanted so I will be going in for more surgery to have a wider margin.Hope everything goes well for you rrogers34.

Not the same
My cancer is Ductal Invasive stage 1 grade 2. I am er+ and pr+, I am her2 positive as well. That part was not known until after my surgery. My lymph nodes were clear. As I understand it Ductal Cancer in Situ means it is not as agressive. I understand all of the fears and being OVERWHELMED with medical information, tests, for me my biggest fear is Chemo and it's side effects. The women on this board are wonderful and will help us through. I hope to be able to do the same, while i am going through treatment as well as when I am done. Hang in there!

rrogers34

terri805 said:

chemo?
I am new here and I was dx with insiti ductal carcinoma and I had a lumpectomy last week. The path report said I was er+ and pr+, stage 2. Somehow I thought that I was told that chemo was not necessary for this dx just radiation. Did you have the same thing as me? I go to see the oncologist jan 4th. Does anyone know about this type of dx? My margins were clear but one side was closer than my surgeon wanted so I will be going in for more surgery to have a wider margin.Hope everything goes well for you rrogers34.

Not the same
My cancer is Ductal Invasive stage 1 grade 2. I am er+ and pr+, I am her2 positive as well. That part was not known until after my surgery. My lymph nodes were clear. As I understand it Ductal Cancer in Situ means it is not as agressive. I understand all of the fears and being OVERWHELMED with medical information, tests, for me my biggest fear is Chemo and it's side effects. The women on this board are wonderful and will help us through. I hope to be able to do the same, while i am going through treatment as well as when I am done. Hang in there!

terri805

pattimc said:

Terri805
Your dx sounds very similar to mine. I also had to have an additional surgery to get wider margins. At that time they also did the sentinel lymph node biopsy which showed I had 1/4 nodes positive for cancer. I was also stage 2 (because of the ln involvement)and had 4 rounds of chemo and 33 radiation treatments. How did the docs determine you were stage 2? Did you have a sentinel lymph node biopsy? Your doc can tell you if you need chemo or not. Mine said that with lymph nodes positive for "C" that I needed to do it. I wanted to do everything I could to get it out of me!!

Good luck!

Mistake on stage
Pattimc,

I made a mistake. My surgeon said my stage is 0 and the grade is 2. I believe he read it from the path report This terminology is all new to me and I get it mixed up. I did not have a sentinel node biopsy. The surgery path and biopsy path said that i am er+ and pro+. What is Her? and how do you know if you are positive for it. I did not see anything on the path report about Her. The surgeon said that I will probably have radiation and be given arimidex. I see the oncologist on Monday. I go back to see the surgeon on Jan 20 for followup and to set up surgey date.