Double Negative Breast Cancer and Femara

arbojenn said:

I am "double negative, too."
Hi, Ladydi!
I also am er+, pr-, her-. My doctor started me on Femara three months before surgery to see how I responded. As mine was a recurrence on a reconstructed breast, a lot of the tumors were visible as well as palpable. I am pleased to say that within a month, I SAW the tumors start disappearing. I am a Femara fan forever!

I did experience some hot flashes, bone pain, and insomnia, but those are now diminishing. (Three months now: just had my surgery three weeks ago.) I encourage you to give Femara a try as your doctor suggested and stick with it for at least three months. Ask him/her if it is a good idea to let the Arimidex get out of your system before you try it so you can be sure you are attributing any problems you have to the Femara and not residual Arimedix. And be careful of the research you find on the Internet: most of it is outdated or the experiments were poorly run. An oncologist you trust is the best source for the latest research updates. (I am lucky: I have a brother who directs ovarian cancer research and as such keeps up on the breast cancer updates. Our "configuration" has proven to be very responsive to the AIs.) I wish Femara had been more widely used when I had my original cancer: I might not have had the recurrence.

Hang in there!

thanks to all
who have provided more information regarding ER+, PR-, and Her2-. I also have this configuration. The more information that we share with on another, the better questions we can ask of our docs. I'm happy to learn from arbojenn that Femara worked well for her. I finish up chemo in 2 weeks (whheeww!) and will be on to the next stage of systemic treatment, so any and all information related to the effectiveness of hormone therapy for patients in this group is greatly appreciated.

BTW, I bought a copy of LadyDi's poetry book--- very good--- makes a good gift for our Sisters in Pink.

Jane

Angie2U said:

Hi Jane! Congrats on being
Hi Jane! Congrats on being almost done with chemo. Where did you buy a copy of her poetry book, or, can you say on here?

Angie

I wrote too soon. I just went to LadyDi's blog site and the addy was there.

blog site? here on CSN?
I will definetely check this out. I love poetry and will definitely want a copy of your book Di. I am also double neg. but I am neg for ER and Pr but pos. for Herceptin. There are sooo many different kinds of cancer and I know it feels good to talk to ones with the same kind as you (scary or not) I hope you find all the answers you need here. Sometimes we are just telling the truth and not trying to scare anyone. (we are scared enough ourselves!) I know I left out a few very scary things dealing with my rads and chemo and even the needle biopsy! but if we can't tell each other our fears and ask our questions, then where can we? Please post and let us know how you are.
love, Jackie

rjjj said:

blog site? here on CSN?
I will definetely check this out. I love poetry and will definitely want a copy of your book Di. I am also double neg. but I am neg for ER and Pr but pos. for Herceptin. There are sooo many different kinds of cancer and I know it feels good to talk to ones with the same kind as you (scary or not) I hope you find all the answers you need here. Sometimes we are just telling the truth and not trying to scare anyone. (we are scared enough ourselves!) I know I left out a few very scary things dealing with my rads and chemo and even the needle biopsy! but if we can't tell each other our fears and ask our questions, then where can we? Please post and let us know how you are.
love, Jackie

Jackie, LadyDi's blog is on
Jackie, LadyDi's blog is on her about me page. That is where the info about her poetry book is posted.

Angie

Angie2U said:

Jackie, LadyDi's blog is on
Jackie, LadyDi's blog is on her about me page. That is where the info about her poetry book is posted.

Angie

I checked out her blog and
I checked out her blog and the information is on there for anyone that wants to know. Good luck again LadyDi!

♠♣ Susie ♠♣</font

Moopy23 said:

Please Think of Your Audience
Ladydi1,

As someone who was diagnosed with hormone and Her2/Nu negative breast cancer (that so-called "worst overall" group), I am upset by your post. It just confirms my decision to leave this board.

Out of context passages from clinical publications do not help anyone. My advice is to take the full article to your oncologist and question him or her.

Lisa H.

Hoping that LadyDi sees the
Hoping that LadyDi sees the posting from arbojenn!

Lex♥

Moopy23 said:

Please Think of Your Audience
Ladydi1,

As someone who was diagnosed with hormone and Her2/Nu negative breast cancer (that so-called "worst overall" group), I am upset by your post. It just confirms my decision to leave this board.

Out of context passages from clinical publications do not help anyone. My advice is to take the full article to your oncologist and question him or her.

Lisa H.

Are you leaving Moopy?
Are you leaving Moopy? Why?

Lex♥

Moopy23 said:

Please Think of Your Audience
Ladydi1,

As someone who was diagnosed with hormone and Her2/Nu negative breast cancer (that so-called "worst overall" group), I am upset by your post. It just confirms my decision to leave this board.

Out of context passages from clinical publications do not help anyone. My advice is to take the full article to your oncologist and question him or her.

Lisa H.

LadyDi, please stay!
LadyDi, please do not leave the board as a result of someone being insensitive. Your presence on this site is very welcomed and much appreciated as you can tell by the responses that you got on your posting here. I pray that all is well with you!

Kylez ♥

arbojenn said:

I am "double negative, too."
Hi, Ladydi!
I also am er+, pr-, her-. My doctor started me on Femara three months before surgery to see how I responded. As mine was a recurrence on a reconstructed breast, a lot of the tumors were visible as well as palpable. I am pleased to say that within a month, I SAW the tumors start disappearing. I am a Femara fan forever!

I did experience some hot flashes, bone pain, and insomnia, but those are now diminishing. (Three months now: just had my surgery three weeks ago.) I encourage you to give Femara a try as your doctor suggested and stick with it for at least three months. Ask him/her if it is a good idea to let the Arimidex get out of your system before you try it so you can be sure you are attributing any problems you have to the Femara and not residual Arimedix. And be careful of the research you find on the Internet: most of it is outdated or the experiments were poorly run. An oncologist you trust is the best source for the latest research updates. (I am lucky: I have a brother who directs ovarian cancer research and as such keeps up on the breast cancer updates. Our "configuration" has proven to be very responsive to the AIs.) I wish Femara had been more widely used when I had my original cancer: I might not have had the recurrence.

Hang in there!

I also am ER positive PR and
I also am ER positive PR and HER negative. My oncologist gave me Arimidex to try. He did offer me Femara, but I said I'd try Arimidex first. I'll try them after my hernia surgery in 2 weeks. My risk factor goes down to 13% with the hormone therapy. I opted out on the Chemo since he said it would only change the percentages by 2 or 3% MAYBE. so that convinced me to go without chemo.