Nikki, remember that while the numbers are important tools to help you make the best treatment decisions for yourself, they are JUST NUMBERS. Consider that...
* the recognition of her2 is relatively new and as a result I don't know that there are any definitive statistics yet
* those statistics don't incorporate the effects of herceptin, which is the first drug to specifically target this type of cell
* like femara seemed to improve on tamoxifan, something will come out that will improve on herceptin
* a 30% increase, although very scary, does not mean +30. As an example, if someone has a 20% chance and something increases that by 30%, the new rate is 26%, not 56%.
* if the rate of recurrence is estimated to be 26%, that means that the rate of no recurrence is 74%.
* and last but not least, so many new and exciting drugs and discoveries are coming out every day, at a faster pace than ever before.

Nikki, you sound scared and sad and you have every right to be. Once you get through that, enjoy and know that there are all of these wonderful people and resources that are looking to help you and others find "the cure".

sorry Nikki, I put your name in "your name" rather than mine!

eric

And if you do get a recurrence, there is always Herceptin which has a 70% chance of putting you into remission.