[Lien]

Hi DianneS,

I don't know about chemo, because I didn't have any. I do think your onc is being overly symplistic. As far as I know, Grade 3 means that the cells are very different from normal cells. This may mean that they are more likely to spread, but I'm not sure about that. Your onc could be right.

The fact that there is no cancer in the nodes, means that it hasn't spread yet. I've heard about much smaller tumors that had spread, so apparently, yours isn't a really fast spreader.

Do you know if there was any lymph- or vascular invastion? This means that cancer cells got into the vascular or lymphatic system within the breast. That could point to an ability to spread.

You are getting chemo to kill those stray cells, if they have escaped already. So you are taking care of that. Being Her2 positive used to be viewed as prognostically worse, but with Herceptin I think that's no longer the case. With your path report and this treatment you have an excellent chance of not ever seeing your cancer return.

I wish doctors would realize what impact their words can have on a patients' state of mind. They should ask themselves what they want to achieve by saying these things.

Please go back to being happy about your nodal status. I had grade 3 and clean nodes, almost 5 years ago now. I'm NED.