Newly diagnosed

Hi Kylie, & welcome to a great place to get support & information. Hopefully, as you've found this site, you've also ordered your "My Journey" package. It's also well worth having, as it has lots of useful information, & you can dip in & out of it at your own pace. 

Ther is information on the BCNA website about HER2 & hormone receptor status. My understanding is with HER2 positive, you'll be treated with herceptin, I think it's 12 months. If you are hormone receptor positive then your cancer feeds off oestrogen & progesterone, so you get hormone suppression medication for 5-10 years after active treatment is over. (I'm hormone receptor positive, so know mere about that)

I, too, started my treatment with chemo, 6 cycles, each one 3 weeks apart. Everyone reacts differently. Talk to the oncologist about whether to think about an implanted device (portacath) for your chemo. They will assess & advise. I have one, but I knew from the start that I had very difficult veins to access, so it made chemo much less traumatic for me.

Heartburn is one side effect from some chemo. I have heard of someone using fruit tingles to help that. I tried it recently, & they do work. They also work quite well to disguise the taste in your mouth that you can get with chemo.

Take everything one day, one appointment at a time, and don't think too far ahead in your treatment. Keep coming back here with questions. It is overwhelming in the early days.

Take care, Lyn