TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP
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ashla - Congratulations!!0
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Yes ashla - congrats!!!
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congrats ashla!
praying for a pCR for you!!!!!
i start rads today -
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thanks special k and lago for the reponses TE's and rads
i will have to wait to be healed from rads to do the surgery, and i guess based on what my skin looks like after rads will determine what type of surgery they will do
meeting with the PS next week
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Rozem ,dancetrancer and Omaz
Thanks to all of you!
And for you Rozem....you're a very fortunate lady. Only 20% have complete pathological response! And they have the best longterm prognosis! I know mine is working as it does in93% of women which is good news for all of us.0 -
congrats nmoss!
and congrats ashla!
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achpurple - almost done, wonderful!
ashla - yay!
rozem - good luck with rads, hope it all goes well.
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ashla
i was told by 2 MO's (both of whom specialize in her2 cancers - one a top doc at DF in boston) that the pCR rate for her2's when neo chemo is combined with herceptin is closer to 50% - complete or near complete response (which is just as good) so there is no reason to believe that you won't be part of the 50%. Those are the stats for responders - meaning your tumor has shrunk (which i believe yours has)
i believe the 20% rate you mentioned is for all types of BC - her2 high grade cancers tend to respond better to chemo
thought i would pass this info along..i may be wrong but i remember thinking those were pretty good odds - or maybe thats the number i wanted to hear!
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Rozem
Thanks. My tumor is definitely responding....Don't want to get too far ahead. After that first...
Yes it is breast cancer...it's very hard to ANTICIPATE good news as a matter of course even for a previous Pollyanna!
Btw I sat next to bc hormone pos her2 neg chemo patient who has the same team as I do. Only 40' engaged to be married and she had a nipple sparing bmx by choice prior to chemo. Her decision was a bit more complicated because she wants to have children , harvested eggs. She chose small/medium size boobs so he was able to put the implants in immediately and sid only the first two days post op were painful ..and not horrible. She showed me her boobs and they looked great!0 -
Rozem -- I finished rads in Dec and RO said I'll have to wait a year for reconstruction. I would love to have my breast now, but I'd rather have a healthy breast with no problems. Than a messed up breast with healing issues. Don't rush it and make sure you're ready. Good luck
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ashla - i asked my BS about nipple sparing bmx and he said that they do not do them here (in canada) , the reason is that the nipple has milk ducts attached and cannot be fully removed. If they leave them there is a chance that there might be cancer in them. So i thinkyou would have to do rads anyway because of this, he made it sound like even w rads they don't do them.
i swear my head spins most days thinking about all of this
oandtolivo -thanks - why did you have rads if you had a mastectomy?
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rozem my BS doesn't believe in nipple sparing procedure either. He even asked me if I wanted to know why and I said "well don'tt all the ducts lead to the nipple?" I know others have had great success with this procedure but I agree with my BS. Guess that's why I chose him.0
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Congrats NMOSS. Seems so long ago that you and I began this process...we were just a few weeks apart. Sure wish I could have completed my Herceptin but I'll have to hope and pray that 10 was enough. Guess you'll get deported now. I so want my port out as I'm certain that is the reason the port arm hurts all the time. Oncologist wants me to wait awhile and I don't see her again until May...I'll also be asking her about scans too. I know they are stressing but to me, I think they are important.
This crazy growing like a weed hair is all over the place thanks to the cold caps. My onc says they are getting close to receiving FDA approval so we could see them in most centers in the near future.
Take care everyone!
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Congrats Ashla, and you will think of the right thing to get them, Achpurple.
They don't do nipplesparing here either for the same reason. but I guess the chance is small and people make their own decisions.
To all, much love and small SEs
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I had a nipple sparing BMX - if your surgeon does this procedure they absolutely must do it only for appropriate candidates. I was originally having a lumpectomy, which would have left much more breast tissue and the nipple. I elected the BMX because it is what I preferred and that is the point at which the nipple sparing surgery came up in conversation with my BS. My surgeon will only do them if you meet very specific criteria. If I had been required to have a MX or BMX because of disease factors I would not have had a NS procedure.
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Special K- then I am glad you fit the criteria~! Sooner or later we all figure out what WE need/want. and then we run with it~! much love and small SEs
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I also had nipple sparing done on the R side - which we thought was prophylactic - no signs of cancer on all pre-op mammo's and MRI. Unfortunately they did find a 2 mm focus of DCIS in that breast after MX. I have to say I regret having the nipple spared. It means closer follow up for me than I had wanted (that was why I went for the prophylactic in the first place, so I wouldn't have to worry with follow-up mammo's). Nothing is predictable with the big BC.
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She said they scrape the nipple but I won't do it. If I do bmx, it is only for peace of mind so far if there is such a thing. The statistics are apparently good. But for me It would bother me as much as leaving the whole breast.. I have big boobs and am fine with getting small boobs so I hope I have enough skin to accomo date the implants without too much trouble. Even the skin near the tumor freaks me out because my tumor is near the surface. I hope that skin will be history. The nurse who just got the implants said breast cancer doesn't grow on skin cells. I plan to ask .
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Ashla I had close margins near the skin (and near the chest wall) which is why I had to have radiation post MX. Ask your surgeon how he plans to try to make sure he gets good margins near the skin. A few facilities will x-ray the MX specimen after removal (but before the surgeon closes) to see if they can see any calcifications near the margin - this would mean they go back and take a bit more tissue near the skin before finishing the surgery. However, this is not very common at all (my facility did not do this). It is done more with lumpectomies, not MX's. There may not be any way to prevent the close margin if it is very close to the skin - but it is definitely something I would talk with your surgeon in depth about. I would think if your tumor is discrete they could at least remove the skin that is directly over it. My cancer was mostly DCIS, which you can't see, so they couldn't tell exactly how close it was to the skin and where all it was close b/c it was extensive.
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Special K that makes sense in your case.
dancetracer that makes sense for you too since DCIS means it most likely hasn't spread beyond the duct. I think your nipple will be fine and disease free.
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Thanks Lago - fingers crossed! Love the positive vibes! 0
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Dancetrancer and Kellogg,
It's really the mind same mind game that is making us consider prophylactic MX and BMX in the irst place. My bs says that until he goes in nothing is definite but lumpectomy should have the same longterm survival statistics for me as bmx. He tells his patients not to freak out if it recurs. That's not what kills.0 -
Asha I had to do the MX on the left. Bit tumor small boob=MX.
The right was recommended when I was told I would have to do yearly biopsies. 0 -
Ashla and NMoss Congratulations to you both !!
special K-- prayers to you for a non-eventful scan!!
It is almost 60 degrees in NJ today!!! The last snow we had was @Halloween!!! Global warming or what!!
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Ok, so my Mom freaked out doing the breast MRI. She said it was too claustrophobic (spelling) for her. She is going back tomorrow for the sonogram. She had one done when she had her initial biopsy, but they wanted to do another one after the breast MRI. Is this a big deal? She is also scheduled for a PET scan on Friday, which she was told the machine is more open. At this point, if they can't get a clear picture with the breast MRI, what other tests can be done? Should my Mom be radical and get a BMX?
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Oops, I meant to say ultrasound, not sonogram.
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laolson - I had a breast MRI...my MO wanted it but my BS said he didn't like them and that they showed too many false positives. I had something show up on it and ended up having an ultrasound as a result. So I think if you mom is having an ultrasound it is a better diagnostic tool than an MRI anyway. As far as the PET scan goes, had one of them too! The tube is not very big and she should not have any claustrophobia. I don't remember my head being in the tube at all and I am extremely claustrophobic.
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Scan just cancelled - insurance could not complete auth prior to the need for the facility to order the dose deadline - argghhh! Now I can't do this scan for probably another 6-8 months because results will be obscured by the surgical activity from this Friday!
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Just had my 3 month appointment post treatment. Anastrozole sucks but I am trying to make the most of it. The next time I am to be seen is in 6 months. I haven't been around much just trying to live life here and not think too much of cancer.
I see everyone here is doing well. I do like to check in on occasion and see how everyone is doing. I need to go back and read a few more posts, I think I have missed some pages.
Keep well everyone XXXXX
I finally remembered to ask for my cancer specifics. She said I am ER+ 30% PR+ 30% HER2+++ Stage IIa, T1c, N1a, MO
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Specially, I am so sorry! Damn insurance. Nora, glad to meet you. I love hearing people have lives after this stuff.
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