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Had 1st appt w/ Oncologist need your thoughtsl
1)
From my biopsy tissue which contained only a 1.2 mm IDC surrounded by DCIS the pathology from the reference lab Phenopath in Seatle concluded HER2+++ on teh IDC. My local hospitals pathology lab concluded er/pr- on the IDC. I know that DCIS presents itself as HER2+++.
My surgery removed a tumor of size 1 cm IDC and My oncologist is having the HER2 and er/pr tests redone since she does not trust the results based on only a 1.2 mm IDC sample - any thoughts? Anyone heard of their status changing. What are my chances I am not HER2+++?
(It burns me that these tests weren't already redone - they will be hearing from me about how they dropped the ball which is causing me more waiting and anxiety. I will be gracious of course even though boiling inside).
2)
If my status stays as er/pr- and HER2+++ and since my tumor was 1 cm and I am node negative my Oncologist says we may have trouble getting insurance to pay for Herceptin since clinical trials were based on women with node positive or tumors > 2 cm. Anyone fought this battle?
She agrees that the European standard of care says chemo+herceptin for my case. How much does herceptin cost? Is it 3k a month? I have fought insurance before and won on things.
Thank you expert ladies for all you have written on this board. I must say that my onc appt went well. I was very knowledgable - did lots of reading on this site. She told me I knew more than most docs! I felt as if I was armed with enough info to be able to judge if she was the right onc for me and I believe she is - 35 yrs experience - wow.
Jennifer
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