“This sucks”
Hi. This is a place I never thought I’d be posting in but thank you for allowing a safe space for me to just pour it out. I am 54 yrs and am now one week post op (partial mastectomy and nipple remova...
Forum Discussion
Hi @Jenmcd
I hope the post op meeting went well. My heart goes out to you for such an unwelcome and hectic start to your 2024. Congrats you have done well to jump on this forum - I am relatively new and stand in awe of how supportive, wise and informative so many of the contributors are.
I hope the post op meeting went well. My heart goes out to you for such an unwelcome and hectic start to your 2024. Congrats you have done well to jump on this forum - I am relatively new and stand in awe of how supportive, wise and informative so many of the contributors are.
I am HER2+ too although my breast cancer type is invasive lobular cancer which (unusually) showed up as a 3 cm-ish lump. I gather the drug most often used to treat HER2+ is one of the differentiators - it’s called Herceptin. Apparently it is very effective and targeted at eliminating HER2+ cancer (based on trials).
I did not have surgery at first. Instead I had targeted chemo and immunotherapy (including Herceptin and another targeted drug called Perjeta) - 6 doses. During this period of 4 1/2 months my tumour shrank, but not completely. I had a lumpectomy, then 15 sessions of radiotherapy. I am now finishing 11 rounds of chemo and targeted immunotherapy. If there hadn’t been cancer cells present in my surgery pathology samples then the regime would have been 11 rounds of Herceptin only. Happily I am nearly finished this part of my treatment. It’s been about 14 months in total and an incredible experience.
@afr@Afraser said - treatments get better and more focused - and that’s a point I thought about a lot, especially with HER2+ and Herceptin: so many women advocated, agitated and participated in trials and this made my experience so much more manageable and easier.
This forum is incredibly useful because of the diverse responses to treatment and how they impact us - I stayed engaged on a very part time basis with my work.
I hope this outline is helpful and I am happy to chat further about my HER2+ treatment if you have any burning questions. I hope your treating team meetings go well and am sending you lots of warm wishes.