TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP

Hello

I am very new here I found out yesterday that I am HER positive. My doctrine mentioned chemo?? I am IDC stage 1 . Can someone please explain to me what this means and how this effects are survival rate? Thank you trying to stay positive.

Lj0161197- I read through your earlier posts and see that you have an appointment with your oncologist next week. The waiting during this phase is so difficult when you have so many questions. The questions about your specific treatment are best explained by your oncologist but I can see from your previous posts that we have a very similar situation in terms of our age, tumor size and ER+, PR+, HER2+, negative lymph node. I had a lumpectomy followed by chemo of Taxol and Herceptin (currently in this phase). I will begin radiation next month followed by Tamoxifen. You might have a similar treatment plan, or some variation but if you are HER2+, you will most likely be recommended Herceptin and Taxol. If you fill out your profile on this site with your pathology they will recommend articles that are pertinent to your situation.  It would be good to read up on those so you can have all your questions ready for your doctor next week. I look back on the weeks I was waiting for appointments and I recall how difficult that was. Once treatment gets going, it's easier to focus on what you have to do. Uncertainties add to the anxiety. I keep a quote on my desk to keep me in check: " Today is the day to tackle, tomorrow is only what you are imagining it to be". Feel free to private message me if I can be of any support or answer any questions. I wish you and everyone here all the best.

Hi everyone. I was reading through the posts being HER2+ but cancer free I searched everywhere for a way to skip to chemo and just do Hercipitn but everything I read pointed to doing both for the best benefit. By the time I saw MO I had had the cancer removed and PET said no more cancer having said that my MO never mentioned Perjeta. I will be starting TCH tomorrow. To those of you who are new here these ladies are wonderful and full of compassion and information! I am sooooooo glad I found this site!

if I drink anymore I am going to need a boat! I have been hydrating and will continue. Thanks so much for the support!!

GretaGirl -

Good luck tomorrow with your first TCH. Mine went well until days 3-4. Lots of fatigue but no nausea. Crazy fatigue over the weekend so basically slept through it. Much better on day 6 - taste and appetite coming back. NUELASTA joint pain is pretty much gone too. No other problems so far.

I am also on the July Chemo thread which really helps with all the stuff you go through right now. Come join there too if you haven't already.

Let me know how it goes.

I know this is going off topic, but I'm kind in shock and trying to make sense of some recent events. A few weeks ago my husband's cousin (63), died  from infection 10 days following a routine colonoscopy.  Last week a co-worker (55) died at home a few days after a hysterectomy. (internal bleeding). Yikes! Both are potentiality medical malpractice, not determined yet.

After dx I spent so much time thinking about dying. These passings hit home the reality it can come to any of us at anytime. I'm now  feeling lucky to have just survived treatments ( chemo & 2 surgeries). 

This all comes as I'm trying to decide on a possible 3rd sx to fix the appearance of my left diep breast. The right breast looks wonderful, but left one is larger and has a bit of a funky shape. PS said he can do one more sx to try to fix it. While the problem really bothers me and I'd love to have it improved, I'm now really leery about electing another sx. 

Should I just be grateful that I got this far with no complications or should I try one more time to get results I'm happy with?

Love to hear everyone's opinion.

Greta,best wishes to you tomorrow. I find that eating before I go to my taxol herceptin treatment helps. My treatment takes about three hours and I use ice on finger tips and toes to prevent neuropathy. I will be on my seventh treatment next week and doing very well so far on these treatments. They are not near as bad as the ADR treatments. Take care and we'll bet praying for you!

Greta - I taught myself to knit during infusions with You Tubes on my kinndle fire. It passed the time and also relaxed me. So many of he ladies on his site advised me to ask for longer infusion times and to speak to my onco about all the various steroids that can be given to eliminate nausea and other side effects. Five different steroids were recommended and I had received all but "Emend" during my first infusion and was nauseated the next day. With the advice here, I asked for and received Emend and was never nautious after the first time.

I'm not smart enough to play those games!!!! Knit,Purl,Knit,Purl....need I say more????

Debiann, that is a lot of stuff gone very wrong! Weren't they aware they had a fever? Oh man, that's just wrong, but all the papers we sign say there's a chance of problems, up to and including death. I absolutely hate signing those papers, and I have never been given a chance to read them before any procedure, only after, when I am home and coherent, do I read the canary copy. The one time I tried to read it before signing my consent, the doc doing it and his assistant became very uncomfortable very quickly, to the point where I couldn't read, I kept reading the same sentence over and over. But I crossed out and initialed the part about where I wouldn't hold them responsible for injury. I don't recall, but I do think they made me do a new one before proceeding. it was only a biopsy, a year after surgery on this pesky so called re- active node. But he did scrape my rib when he missed. once. he said its like chasing a grain of rice in a bag of jello. I would say, give it a go. Your turn to be happy! and we will all be pulling for you!

I played plants vs zombies, read magazines, watched people. solitaire.

debiann there is risk with every surgery/procedure/treatment. There is risk crossing the street too. Oh wait it it comes. one of my speeches…

What If
Remember the word "if" is in the middle of the word "life" for a reason. As long as you have life you will always have "what ifs". It's your Doctor's job to worry about those "What Ifs"

I am happy to say I will be 4 years NED on July 28th. That was the day of my surgery. 😊😊😊..I'm good for another 6 months...

Hi. Thanks for all the support and well wishes for today. I have been here since 1030 and the herceptin is almost finished. I froze my finger and toe nails right before and during the Taxotere but as soon as it was finished I pulled the ice off! I used homemade ice packs that stayedcold the whole time (hour and fifteen minutes). The idea is stay cold cold correct? Not iced over lol! The Carboplatin was next and that gave me heartburn and gas shortly after it started but better when finished . I did 2 hours of pre meds 2 anti nausea and steroid plus I was on oral steroids yesterday and will be tomorrow too. Tomorrow I take two steroids in the am two in the pm Zofran every8 hours antihistamine for the Nuelasta injection Advil or Aleve and Compazine at bedtime. I stay on antihistamine for 5 days following Neulasta injection. Any of y'all doing this?????

Greta, each round was different for me. I agree that you should keep track of symptoms by "days post-chemo" as well as a rating (1-10) of how they are. Your chemo staff will go over this with you, and it will help them to help you better.

I found that getting a liter of fluids on day #3 and #6 post-chemo really helped me bounce back better. Don't be afraid to ask for it if you feel rough later this week! (Also, if you feel like you need an IV anti-nausea med, they can usually give you that then too.)

I also got a taxotere rash after every chemo. This is pretty common. Go ahead and call your onco at the first sign of a rash. They can call in a 5 day dose of 10-20 mg of Prednisine to knock it out. I suffered way too long with the rash the first chemo. If you see redness or itching, call and report it right away. There's no need to suffer more than necessary.

Gentle hugs

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