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Re: HER2 learning more is it a bad thing?
Everyone reacts a bit differently to diagnosis and the idea of having breast cancer. I certainly don't personally know you but I think you and I may share one other characteristic that is subtle in its influence on us. The other factor that you and I share is that breast cancer has been rather common in our families, and thus we simply are more accustomed to it to some degree.
In addition, having been diagnosed earlier than many, we are accurate in our perceptions about having much less risk than many others.
I freely admit that I was and am chemophobic. Yet I forced myself to "do time". Why?
Because I was less well-informed at that crucial time. To my credit, I did raise the question with my onc at the time of doing the alternative of ovarian ablation through removal of my ovaries, plus tamoxifen (AI's were not available back then to me as a non-mets patient, and of course not as a pre/perimenopausal patient). In hindsight, I would have been better off to have chosen that instead of chemo, BY FAR, in my opinion. I had an onc considered to be at the top of the his profession. He is extremely dedicated to his work. I think his bias and reliance upon the "standard practice" in favor of chemotherapy was poor advice for my situation. It was up to ME, the non-expert, to do more to figure out my situation and to argue with him and the PCP of mine who was only too happy to have someone else make the recommendation for me and deal with it.
It was very spendy for me to deal with treatment. I live in Alaska and all visits for oncs and radiation had to be done in the Lower 48. As a person who has been self-employed (with no one to replace me in my job) it was particularly difficult.
Breast cancer often returns. Economic choices are usually difficult in dealing with it. There are no easy answers to it.
AlaskaAngel
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