Re: Weakly positive Her2
Being weakly positive does not mean that all your cells are weakly positive. What it means is that a small amount of your cells are positive for Her2 but most are not.
Your positive cells are just as positive as someone who is highly positive - that person just has a much higher quantity of positive cells than you.
Without Herceptin in your treatment plan, you might not eradicate that cell line of your tumor. Those few cells might be the ones that survive treatment and return. This is what your doctor is trying to prevent from happening - keeping you from recurring long term.
This is why your onc has you on Herceptin. It is kind of like having a sinus infection. You might have two different bacteria that respond to two different drugs. If your doctor only gives you one drug, you might feel better for awhile because that bacteria died but later, you will get the infection back because the other bacteria, unemcumbered for resources, takes over and you are sick again until the right antibiotic for that bacteria is given.
Hopefully I have explained this ok. Let me know
__________________
Kind regards
Becky
Found lump via BSE
Diagnosed 8/04 at age 45
1.9cm tumor, ER+PR-, Her2 3+(rt side)
2 micromets to sentinel node
Stage 2A
left 3mm DCIS - low grade ER+PR+Her2 neg
lumpectomies 9/7/04
4DD AC followed by 4 DD taxol
Used Leukine instead of Neulasta
35 rads on right side only
4/05 started Tamoxifen
Started Herceptin 4 months after last Taxol due to
trial results and 2005 ASCO meeting & recommendations
Oophorectomy 8/05
Started Arimidex 9/05
Finished Herceptin (16 months) 9/06
Arimidex Only
Prolia every 6 months for osteopenia
NED 18 years!
Said Christopher Robin to Pooh: "You must remember this: You're braver than you believe and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think"
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