Anybody else ER+/PR+/HER2+++ BRCA 2 +?

[Gail]

Hi Loren

I'm triple positive and I'm waiting on my BRCA testing to come back. I've completed 4 rounds of AC and I'm due for round 5 of my 12 taxol rounds tomorrow. Herceptin is occurring every 3 weeks now til April next year.

I'm Aussie so things may be different here. It's expensive to be tested for BRCA so it's taken a few months for me to qualify. Regardless of the BRCA results it won't effect my current chemo program but it will change my treatment plan in that I will have a double mastectomy and ovaries removed if I am positive which means I won't do the radio that is currently scheduled for July.

I've decided to treat my chemo brain the same as when I was pregnant. I'm just going to be dumb for a while but it will all pass. For me it helps to remember just how terrified I was in the first few weeks after diagnosis. For me nothing has been worse than the whole "not knowing". Now I have a program of treatment that I have to follow. It has a start, a midpoint and a finishing point and I just have to get through it. Can you tell I project manage ha ha.

I'm actually finding the taxol a lot worse than everyone said. It's supposed to be a breeze compared to AC but I'm not finding that. I have it on a Friday, get my dex rash Saturday then start feeling terrible Sunday night. This starts to clear on Tuesday and I feel OK for Wednesday and Thursday and then start again.

I try to arrange lunches with friends on Wednesday and Thursday to give me something to look forward to and then just hide on my bad days. Just have to get through.

Good luck. Don't stress too much about the chemo brain. Everyone in my family just takes me mickey out of me cause I'm so dumb. Best to laugh it off. It won't last forever and you will be able to laugh about it when you look back.

Cheers

Gail

[Lnmum]

I didn't know that I had the BRCA 2 mutation until I was nearly half way through my chemo treatment. I was going to have to pay out of pocket if it came back negative.
I was 50 at time of diagnosis. My mom's mother's sister died from ovarian/breast cancer in her early fifties and her mom's father died from colon cancer. My mom's dad's dad had breast cancer. Don't know any other history on mom's side. Mom died at 54. My father has two brothers who had prostate cancer. One died after a 20 year battle. The other one is alive and well (I hope). My dad at 63, with no cancer to my knowledge. No women had breast cancer on dad's side.
How did you determine your need for genetic testing?