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Hi Vicki,
I imagine this is both sad and quite scary for your friend. The biopsy was likely a needle biopsy in which case they wouldn't have enough sample to give concrete diagnosis. The testing of the estrogen receptive or HER2 status is not usually done until they have the entire tumour to work with - again, they need more sample than the needle biopsy provides ... because 70%+ of all breast cancers are estrogen-receptive they are trying the blocker in the hopes of improving the tumour size and risk while waiting for a surgery date. The three month wait is awful but I don't know that it is at all unusual. Given the size of the tumour, I would think that both chemo and radiation will be given but the state of her health will be a factor. Chemo can be very hard on the immune system and can render the patient highly susceptible to other infections - a real worry for an elderly patient, especially if she lives in a high-traffic home like a residence for elderly people. For this reason, they may consider radiation by itself. I wich your friend and her mother-in-law all the best.