How was your HER2 BC first found?

[candlegranny]

my mammogram was in sept 2009 and said i was fine.. january 2010 i was stage 3C and alot of lymphe node involvement. how can this happen

[AlaskaAngel]

Even people who work daily with patients who have breast cancer and who themselves have the recommended periodic mammograms are often surprised to find out they have cancer when they are personally diagnosed. When people have routinely had testing done that comes back "all clear" it is awful to find out that the types of testing that is done does not always find the cancer even when sometimes it is there.

Mammograms primarily show a few characteristics, such as variations in calcifications. Some calcification shapes and sizes as well as the density of the calcifications indicate that cancer is more likely than other calcification shapes, sizes and grouping.

Ultrasounds distinguish between fluid-filled areas and solid spaces, with solid spaces being more likely to be cancerous.

That is why often both are done before doing a biopsy to bring out tissue that is then analyzed outside the body for cancer.

These tests are not 100% perfect every time. With mammograms, if the breasts are especially dense, sometimes calcifications are indistinguishable from the dense breast tissue, or "invisible".

In the last decade there has been greater recognition that other types of monitoring may be needed as well for patients who have especially dense breasts.

I personally wonder why there hasn't been more interest in routinely ordering something like a CA 15-3 or CA 27.29 for the patients who have dense breasts, especially for those who are considered to have higher risk factors for breast cancer to begin with. To me that would make a LOT more sense than just relying on an annual mammogram. The CA 15-3 and CA 27.29 is not a perfect test either. But at least they would have one more possible indicator to help in their decision-making process.

AlaskaAngel

[NEDenise]

Hi Everyone,
My surgeon told me that HER2 BC sometimes grows microscopically, along the surface of the ducts, without forming tumors for YEARS! He says that's why many of his patients are not diagnosed until they have advanced disease. The guy is a prominent researcher, as well as a surgeon...he says several cancer centers are researching ways to detect HER2 disease earlier...but didn't have any suggestions for me to pass on to my younger sister. I'm worried she'll end up like me someday. Blindsided by stage 3 disease,

Insurance will not pay for her to have MRIs instead of mammograms, and she was told that genetic testing "would never be approved". But I'm going to pass on the info AlaskaAngel shared about the two blood tests. Thanks!

Stay strong, new friends! Keep praying for that cure!
Denise

[norkdo]

Thank you for sharing this, denise. It is gold. absolute gold.
wow.
wow.
sending it to my sisters.

[norkdo]

candlegranny,
wow. similar to mine but my first mammo was suspicious. i received a letter to get a follow up one. second one "all clear." Ar ar ar. I left off getting a mammo again for over two years then found a big huge round tumor in my right breast when i dieted and examiined my profile in a gym top. "what is making my right breast look like a girl half my age....high and round?" (ask a silly question, get a scary answer!!!!!!) LOL
Question:
do you happen to know, re: elizabeth edwards' quote, where I can read the stages of cancer she went through for her breast and perhaps what kind of breast cancer she had? poor poor woman.