[astrid]

I also have a strong history of BC. MY sister was 37 and my grandmother was 43 when diagnose. Both died of BC. My grandmothers sister also had BC; however she was 70 when DX (still alive at 90). My sister was only 40 and my grandmother was 53 when they died. My sister was stage 1 with no lymph node involvement at initial diagnosis. She died before they were testing for HER2 status. I know she was ER+.

I also was tested for BRCA1&2 and was negative. My sister’s original status scares me. The doctors are quick to give a good prognosis if you are node negative; however a triple + diagnosis is only 15% of all breast cancer cases. I often wonder if the tamoxifen made my sister metastasize or maybe the lack of herceptin. I start tamoxfen this week as there is not another standard treatment for pre menopausal women. My doctor assures me that all the testing done where tamoxifen activates cancer cells are on animals and not human testing. As part of my work benefits, we have a research group that will research published medical journals for information and they could not find anything on tamoxifen activation.



Environmental issue may be the cause of my BC. My mother took DES when she was pregnant with me and my sister.



As far as a clean MAMO, that is definitely NOT my case. My tumor was high on my chest and not really where a MAMO caught it every time but there was a large white are on my mamos for 5 years that was never investigated until it was palatable and then it was IDC. Ihave very dense breasts so the mamos were not easy to read. I will now be more aggressive with my own mamos.



RB, I can say that while I was not overweight and did try to walk daily before I was diagnosed. I did not watch what I ate and yes, I did eat omega 6 and too much sugar, processed foods, white flours etc.