Stage 2 Sisters Club
Comments
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InnaB - regarding the article, I thought the same thing. It's a little nerve-wracking to deviate from conventional thought, but that's what I'm doing.
The most interesting part of the article is that it flat-out states that the risk will always be there. So the take-away should be to adopt some healthy changes and stick with them. Might be advisable to make small steps towards healthy lifestyle habits so that they stick and you don't burn out. My goal is to work on these habits long enough that they become automatic -like brushing my teeth and wearing a seatbelt - so that I am not deciding daily what to eat, how to exercise, counting fiber and servings of vegetables, etc.
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GoKale4320: Thanks for saying that about watching silly stuff and feeling emotional during chemo. I feel fragile. I am trying to keep myself safe, emotionally. Nice to know that's others feel, too.
I'm usually brave and tough, but this is a whole new challenge psychologically, for sure....0 -
I was hoping someone could provide some insight. I have stage 1b invasive ductile cariconma my tumor size was 1.4. I had a lumpectomy and three nodes removed. One node was positive and as a result my doctor provided two options for chemo. ACT or TC. ACT is more aggressive and longer with potential blood and heart risks. I am concerned about the side effects. I need to let her know my decision on Monday. She recommends ACT because of the one node positive. After researching risks, I am choosing TC. I will follow up with radiation and hormone therapy my Oncotype score was 28. Any thoughts about the two chemo options would be appreciated.
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Molly, how old are you and what grade is your tumor?
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I had one positive node and went with Dose dense ACT because my oncologist thought it will provide more long term insurance in terms of recurrence. I am 45 years old.
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Most hospitals have a tumor review board that could look at your case and give a recommendation. As much as you don't want overtreatment; you sure don't want to under treat this either and have to deal with it again later.
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I am 63 and the tumor was Grade 2.
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Hi Molly, I am Stage IIB, and had 2 grade 2 tumors with IDC. I had a positive sentinel node. I was given both the ACT and TC option and I chose the TC. I am 55, and have a family history of heart disease, including my dad passing from heart failure, plus I have had hypertension for 20+ years, and a heart murmur. After weighing the odds and the relative recurrence percentages, I opted to go with the TC. My MO said she had "no reservations" with my making that choice - she was very much on the fence as well. I did always have the follow up plan of 30+ radiation treatments, and we are looking at 10 years of post-rads therapy with tamoxifen and then an AI. I have very high HR and PR receptors. It is a very personal call, but for me the risk of heart issues in my particular case was strong (and 1 week post chemo I had a cardiac/atrial fibrillation episode which resulted in a diagnosis of a previously undiagnosed cardiac condition), so I am very comfortable with my choice. But my age and knowing the long-term plan certainly helped me make that call as well. I have several women in my Chemo March 2018 group all of whom are on the TC regimen, and many of them are significantly younger, but again they are in multi-step therapy plans.
Wishing you the best whatever plan you choose - it is a hard decision but once you make it, go forward knowing you weighed the options and don't second guess - be confident that you made the choice that is right for you.
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do you think the most survivors are grade 2 or less? I can't find grade 3 survivors as much as grade 2 or 1 . really I think too much about my grade 3 and high ki67. less story
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Thank you. I have decided to go with TC.
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Glad you made the decision. Figuring out what to do is THE hardest part!
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http://www.predict.nhs.uk/predict_v2.1/tool
I checked this UK calculator, it's modern and including the factors such as ki67 to predict the overall survival and hpw many patients were death due to breast cancer. the problem is that they not include AI hormone therapy, no radiotherapy, no PR% . and as I know. the research shows the benefits of AI compare to tamoxifen after menopause, the radiotherapy decrease the recurrence rate so that increase the survival rate and PR+ is a little bit better than negative. so may it increase your percentage + this date were follow-up from 1999. so letsbe positive and say the breast cancer treatments become better so also this factor stand with us in this fighting.
you can take the average of USA & UK calculators to understand how many years left
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Hi. I' m new to this. I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer, one node positive. I am blessed and so very thankful. My family has been an amazing support to me. I thank God for all and everything. God bless us all much love to all my Sisters.
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Welcome ILoveDuctTape! You found a wonderful, supportive group here. FYI, I had grade 2 1.2 CM IDC with two positive nodes and extensive LVI but my MO and my second opinion recommended against chemo due to an oncotype dx of 13. Did they do an oncotype on you?
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Molly, do you remember your ER and PR percentage ??
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Welcome, ILoveDuctTape. There's got to be a good story behind your screen name!
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- Hi, I Love Duct Tape. Sorry we're meeting you under these conditions.
0 - Hi, I Love Duct Tape. Sorry we're meeting you under these conditions.
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hello I love duct tape. I love your screen name. You will find this is a good thread to use for sharing. This is a safe place to share your concerns. We are all there for one another. Based on your above post you seem to have a wonderful supportive family.
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Nas, I was nearly 100% on both.
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Molly, I had a beginning of LVI and isolated tumor cells in only one node, but my MO said that if result of the Oncotype test will be low, she will override it and recommend chemo anyway. I am also nearly 100% ER/ PR positive. Interesting to hear different MO’s point of views..
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Having a really emotional night. Can’t stay out of my head and find myself petrified of my diagnosis and what the future holds. I’m a positive person by nature so this is hard for me to be stuck in this place. I guess I’m just venting. Thank you
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cccmc2 : I think you're sharing and giving words to what we all go through, and what we each manage to various degrees. We have to go forward with hope but no guarantees. Easier said than done. You have a ton of people right here who are going through it with you, so we are all an empathetic and caring support group for each other, and I hear you, and I get it. Warm support to you.
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thank you so much
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cccmc2, try not to think about it. I know it’s hard to do, but we must do it. Some days I can do it better the others. Chemo adds to the depression, I am sure. I am trying expressive writing, and it helps me. Once everything is out on paper, it’s out of my head. Stay strong, you are not alone in this fight
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Thank you
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new study related to recurrence
http://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/JCO.2017.76.4258
Overall, 42.0% were categorized as low risk, 31.3% as intermediate risk, and 26.7% as high risk for late distant recurrence (Table 2). Those categorized as low risk had a mean 5- to 10-year distant recurrence risk of 2.5% (95% CI, 1.8% to 3.4%), as compared with 7.7% (95% CI, 6.3% to 9.5%) for intermediate-risk and 20.3% (95% CI, 17.2% to 24.0%) for high-risk groups (Fig 2).
Those at intermediate or high risk had a 3.42-fold (95% CI, 2.37- to 4.95-fold) or 9.43-fold (95% CI, 6.71- to 13.25-fold), respectively, higher risk of late distant recurrence than the low-risk group. Notably only two of 133 patients with one to three positive nodes and categorized as low risk had a distant recurrence between years 5 and 10 (Table 2). Virtually all patients with ≥ four positive nodes were categorized as high risk.
Approximately one fifth of patients with two or three positive nodes had risk categorized as low or intermediate, whereas 42.9% with one positive node were categorize as high risk. Only 57.7% of node-negative patients were categorized as low risk.
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Hi Hope, thanks for sharing. I think it's important to note that this study focused on post-menopausal, ER positive/HER2 negative women, and was designed to look at prognostic factors to help determine whether extended hormonal therapy (beyond 5 years) should be considered. There are already studies which show an increased benefit for a total of 7 to 10 years hormone therapy. Most of the patients in this study did the 5 year route. My own situation is where we are looking at proactively going 10 years with a combination of hormonal therapies, although I would be in the intermediate risk group. Realizing that there are so many considerations with hormonal therapy, starting with the side effects, this is really a very personal decision. But knowing that the option to continue therapy for a longer period is becoming more of a standard is nice to know, and certainly something that that those of us who are ER postive HER2 negative should review with our teams when the time to make those decisions rolls around.
Wishing everyone a great day!
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Hi Wildcolonialgirl , I'm 49 years, my period was stopped after my second round of chemo (before 6 month from now). my doctor told me that I will dealing with you as pre-menopause because your period was regular when we diagnosed your cancer, that's why he told me to take tamoxifen 4 months and Lupron 3.75 mg for 5 years, one injection a month. then I will switch to AI after finish the tamoxifen. so I don't know what is my situation: pre or post menopause!? hope I will be post menopause. who knows!
about study, also I don't find anything related to radiotherapy. only chemo as shown. so I think the radiotherapy will increase our chances to avoid local or distances recurrence as a result.
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hi Hope! I agree - the radiotherapy is also an important part of our treatment. I have done 23 sessions and have 9 more to go. Looking forward to finishing up!
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