New dx
Hi. I’m Lynn. I was just diagnosed with breast cancer. I am a nurse and used to work with breast cancer surgeons so I am somewhat familiar with the process. It is different being on the other side of the situation. I’m going for my appointments w surgeon, oncologist and radiologist on 4/11 but got a message today that they would like to move me up. I’ll talk to them tomorrow and see when they can get me in. It’s still very surreal.
I got my marker results and unfortunately it’s Her2 positive. Has anyone undergone treatment for this?
Hi there. I had her2+ and er+/pr+. Happy to talk to you about it anytime. I was diagnosed in Feb 2022 and have had super successful treatment and am cancer free now. Let me know if you’d like to chat.
- @iamasurvivor Thank you. I’m waiting to read the full path report. All the nurse navigator told me was that it is Her2 positive so i don’t know about my hormone receptors yet. Because of this they said I don’t need to meet with the surgeon or radiologist as soon as they thought but they moved my appointment with the oncologist up to this coming Monday.
can I ask what your treatment plan was? What med did you take and did you have chemo and:or surgery?
@lms7663 Hi again. Obviously everyone’s treatment plan can vary but I had invasive ductal carcinoma 2.2cm and I also had some DCIS tissue next to the tumor. My treatment plan consisted of 6 rounds of chemotherapy 3 weeks apart (taxotere and carboplatin), then a lumpectomy, then 3 weeks of radiation, and one year of targeted therapy (3 weeks apart) with Herceptin and perjeta. This was based on the size of my tumor, my stage 1B, and nothing in my lymph nodes when biopsied during surgery. I know hearing that you have her2+ cancer is alarming, please be comforted in knowing that the drug Herceptin was developed directly to combat HER2+ cancer and has an incredible success rate for treatment! I’m living proof!
@iamasurvivor Thank you for that info. Yes, I hear wonderful things about the targeted medications. I have a smaller tumor -1 cm, but I’m am stage 2 and have a nuclear grade 3 with no known lymph node involvement at this point.
I am an RN and worked for breast cancer surgeons but we dealt with the biopsy and lumpectomy or mastectomy treatment process, not the medication or chemotherapy part of the treatment. I’ll find out more Monday. Are there any questions I might want to ask the oncologist at KU?
I was also at KU med with Dr O’Dea and she was fantastic. Ask them if they’ll be doing a breast MRI. I was able to get better measurements with the MRI than on a mammogram. Also the size of tumor can dictate whether chemo or surgery is done first. KU med walked me through the process extremely well so you’re in good hands. I’m sure they’ll offer this but I’d do genetic testing as well. Let me know if any other questions. Good luck and reach out if you need anything!
Thanks so much for the information. I will be seeing Dr Kahn at KU who I understand is the director of the cancer center there in Westwood. Did you ever cross paths with him? I should get good information at my appointment on Monday.