[v-ness]

hi das.

yes, i do appear to be a rare bird having the oncotype done while HER2+ but i did not think the test was simply to determine whether one should have chemo or not. that i was having chemo was a given and i wanted it. perhaps i am mistaken, but i believe that since it is done on a molecular level you also get the benefit of knowing how likely your own personal cancer is to recur. i thought that valuable. perhaps more HER2's should be oncotyped, and maybe cost is yet another one of those factors on why they don't do it. while i was shocked at the 56, i am also glad i have all my information.

you said your tumor itched and i believe mine did too! a friend of mine has a dog who licked her head for 2 months straight after chemo - first time it ever did that. well, damned if she didn't have brain mets. once they were zapped the dog has stopped licking her head. so much we don't know about cancer....

i was not post-menopausal when treatment started last october although i had a partial hysterectomy the january before. chemo plunged me into it. i just had my other ovary out in august because of my mom's ovarian cancer tumor death. too scary for comfort. so now i am post-menopausal BUT my oncologist dismayed me by saying i still have to stay on tamoxifen until april, the full year. since i am pretty much managing the bloody hot flashes with effexor, i am just going along with it. i also get cold flashes, which i never knew existed before. sucks to get old, as my husband used to say.

thanks on the congratulations, it means a lot. in a world without my husband or mom anymore i've found i reach out to a lot wider circle of people than i ever did before for moral support. good luck to you in your treatment, may it go as well as mine. valerie