My mother

[alpha_x]

Hello, I am not here because of me, but for my mother. In fact I am a 20 year old boy who loves his mother and is very worried about her health.
It was diagnosed to my mother an Invasive ductal carcinoma, grade III, Hormone -, and HER2 +++, with about 1 cm size (uncertain), with microscopic angioinvasion. She will have a modified radical mastectomy tomorow and I am very worried about the results on the lymph nodes, last week she made a lot of exams and no mets were found. I am here because I don't know no one who had the same experience and I need some words of hope.
My mother will have to start treatments after the surgery. Is it rational to hope for a cure? Everything is lost? I am afraid to be too much positive and for the other side I want hope.

[Bev]

Alpha,

Sorry to hear about your Mom. She has a tough road ahead of her. There is every reason for hope. Although she's ER/PR- neg, where tamoxifen and AI Inhibitors won't help her, Herceptin helps over 1/2 HER2+'s. There are plenty of stage IVers who have survived 10 years plus.

You could probably look at the members list in the purple tool bar, search "just for fun" in the tool bar, or look at the profiles of courage from home page to get a read on how stage IIIers are doing.

Keep reading all the studies you can. It will give you confidence in your treatment decisions. It takes quite awhile to become more fluent in the BC stuff. Lots of websites; Artemis, cancerpage.com and here. Keep asking those questions.

Hang in there. No guarantees, but there is so much progress with BC, especially HER2+. Thanks for taking good care of your Mom. Bev

[tousled1]

Alpha,

Sorry to hear about your mother. Welcome to the board but sorry you have to be here. As for a cure for your mother,the answer is no. But don't despair. There are many new drugs available now that weren't five years ago. Your mother, since she is HER2+, will be able to receive Herceptin. Herceptin is a targeted therapy specifically for HER2 breast cancer. In addition to her surgery, she will undoubtedly undergo chemo. Chemo can be rough on the system but she is fortunate to have your support. Any questions, or concerns you have as you find out more about her treatment, don't hesitate to ask questions. After your mother's surgery you will have more information as to lymph node involvement. The surgery itself isn't too bad. Just make sure that she doesn't over do it with use of the arm when she comes home as she will have either 1 or 2 tubes in. The tubes are usually taken out after about a week to 10 days. I had a double mastectomy and was driving a week later. Hang in there. Your mother is fortunate to have such a loving son. Don't hesitate to come back here and ask questions anytime. You may wish to post on the HER2 group forum as more people read there.

[Linda_M]

I know how scary it is for you to have your mom diagnosed with BC. I saw the fear in my own son's eyes when I told him.

You're a wonderful son to search out answers to help your mom out. I have no doubt that you being by her side will help her out tremendously through this long journey. It's true that there are no guarantees but thousands upon thousands of women have gone through this and survived for a very long time.

Try to think positive, it will help not only yourself but your mother as well.

[alpha_x]

It is a Stage 1a, with no lymph node involvement (0 out of 20) with 3 focus "in situ" around a primary tumor of only 10 mm.

[janet/FL]

Alpha
You have every reason to hope that your mother will never have a reoccurance of breast cancer. It was caught early and with the right treatment it should not return. Though of course, no guarentees.
Do keep in touch if you have further thoughts or questions.
Hugs

[caya]

Hello Alpha X,

I felt compelled to write you because I have a 20 year old daughter, as well as another 17 year old daughter. My 20 year old especially was very upbeat about my prognosis and treatment. I am so proud or my girls, how they tended to me after my modified radical on Dec. 18th - I was driving 2 weeks later, and generally have recuperated extremely well.

My BC was found during a breast reduction surgery - a big surprise to me and my family. But luckily is was caught early, like your mother - and I am very hopeful. We have the wonderful drug Herceptin to treat our HER2+ cancer - new studies have been released recently showing great strides in the DFS (disease free survival) rates, epecially in early stagers like me and your mom. When on the internet, alot of the articles and studies were done years ago, before Herceptin and Herceptin trials. Remember this when you read things like Her 2/neu had a "poorer prognosis." Just last week my oncologist, who is top notch in the BC field, told me that I have a better prognosis now because of the Herceptin. Try breastcancer.org and type in Her 2/neu and Herceptin.

I also had no mets, and 16 negative lymph nodes - very important prognostic factors. Wait and see - There is every reason to be hopeful. Be strong for yourself and your mother - You sound like a great kid. My 20 year old daughter is insisting on coming home from university this Thursday (my first chemo day) to support me. Although I told her she did not have to, as I have my husband, younger daughter and my mother here ( as well as other great family and friends), she is going to be here.

Good luck to you and your mom - post here and let us know how things are going.

Caya
ER+/PR+/HER +++
No mets
Modified Radical - 16 negative nodes
1.7 tumor grade 2
starting FEC -T for 6 rounds ( FEC and then T - once every 3 weeks)
Herceptin every 3 weeks for 17 round