HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - First POST: Liver resection, hormones, Her2+++ Lots of Questions

Princesswaffle · 10-22-2010, 12:39 AM

Thank you all so much for replying!

kK1 thank you for the private message, I really look forward to speaking with you.

Flynny, I found out that I had a mass on my liver just by a routine MRI for my breast lump before surgery. The MRI picked up a small portion of my liver which just happened to have the mass. The MRI was just for the breast, but because I am small the radiologist said the pictures just happened to pick up some of the abdominal area. After the mass was found all the doctors felt it was not metastatic cancer and sent me down a pathway of having two more contrast MRIs which were still inconclusive on what the mass was. The doctors felt it was just an adenoma, but they could not guarantee it since the characteristics of the mass did not look metastatic nor did it look like an adenoma. I had my lumpectomy, but my surgical oncologist at the time felt so strongly it was not metastatic she did not feel a liver biopsy was needed and felt i should just start treatment and continue with watching the liver. My husband and I were not happy with the wait and see approach, so we found a liver specialist and a medical oncologist who i love. My new oncologist said that I should start chemo right away based on my pathology and we would run a full PET to see about the liver. If the PET was run to begin with I would not have had to go through the MRIs and the fear of not knowing. The PET showed a high metabolic rate in the liver mass which is when I learned it was metastatic. I still held out for some hope and with the support of my oncologist went and had the liver specialist biopsy the mass. I wanted to do the biopsy to be sure and also to see what the pathology of the liver was.

I have no family history of breast cancer and I am also negative to the braca gene. * *

I hope I was able to answer some of your questions

Would still love to hear from some people who have finished TCH and then managed hormone treatment with surgeries. Did any of you continue with some kind of chemo even if there was NED for a small amount of time after the initial chemo? The idea of tykerb, chemo pill and tomoxifin really seems like so much medication. Well worth taking! But want to hear how people manage the side effects!

Thank you all again!

kK1, were your liver resections done as an open surgery?

10-22-2010, 12:39 AM	#8
Princesswaffle Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 10	Re: First POST: Liver resection, hormones, Her2+++ Lots of Questions Thank you all so much for replying! kK1 thank you for the private message, I really look forward to speaking with you. Flynny, I found out that I had a mass on my liver just by a routine MRI for my breast lump before surgery. The MRI picked up a small portion of my liver which just happened to have the mass. The MRI was just for the breast, but because I am small the radiologist said the pictures just happened to pick up some of the abdominal area. After the mass was found all the doctors felt it was not metastatic cancer and sent me down a pathway of having two more contrast MRIs which were still inconclusive on what the mass was. The doctors felt it was just an adenoma, but they could not guarantee it since the characteristics of the mass did not look metastatic nor did it look like an adenoma. I had my lumpectomy, but my surgical oncologist at the time felt so strongly it was not metastatic she did not feel a liver biopsy was needed and felt i should just start treatment and continue with watching the liver. My husband and I were not happy with the wait and see approach, so we found a liver specialist and a medical oncologist who i love. My new oncologist said that I should start chemo right away based on my pathology and we would run a full PET to see about the liver. If the PET was run to begin with I would not have had to go through the MRIs and the fear of not knowing. The PET showed a high metabolic rate in the liver mass which is when I learned it was metastatic. I still held out for some hope and with the support of my oncologist went and had the liver specialist biopsy the mass. I wanted to do the biopsy to be sure and also to see what the pathology of the liver was. I have no family history of breast cancer and I am also negative to the braca gene. * * I hope I was able to answer some of your questions Would still love to hear from some people who have finished TCH and then managed hormone treatment with surgeries. Did any of you continue with some kind of chemo even if there was NED for a small amount of time after the initial chemo? The idea of tykerb, chemo pill and tomoxifin really seems like so much medication. Well worth taking! But want to hear how people manage the side effects! Thank you all again! kK1, were your liver resections done as an open surgery?