Prediction tests?

I think they must be referring to oncotype. Sometimes if a tumour is of a certain grade, or positivity then chemo is offered anyway as the decision is not a borderline one. Another test is Ki-67 status - mine was never assessed. I think you would have been offered chemo as a grade 3 tumour and HER2 positive. Chemo can be tough, but you are already one down, so on your way to the end. If the side effects are too rough you can also ask for a dose reduction. Hopefully you will be feeling much better in a few days and have some more normal days before the next one. Am sorry you are finding it hard.

Thankyou so much for responding, I'm hopeful that I'm gonna start feeling better soon, it's just hard to distract myself from feeling shit and then I feel panicky, but it's nice to know there are others there willing to respond . Xx

Hi - I didn’t get any test but straight to chemo as it wasn’t borderline - grade 2 stage 3 with 21/27 lymph nodes positive.  I don’t know what chemo you are on but I know for me days 5-7 were the really low ones - the steroids had worn off and I felt like I’d literally crashed. Hang on in there - when it starts to lift you’ll feel a difference - the pattern is often similar each time do next time you will be prepared and can think of some treats/lifts to help yourself through it.  I know it’s accumulative but my third round was the worst - probably because I had an infection and was out on antibiotics and the chemo interfered with the healing process.  I didn’t want to go back again at that point but once I was through the door again it never got as bad.  Let’s hope this is your low point and it will get easier. Do feed back to your team how you are feeling.  I also signed up for counselling with a local cancer charity early on - I didn’t feeling  j needed it but there was a waiting list and my oncologist suggested getting on it and if I got to the top of the list and didn’t need it I could always give my place up.  It was good advice as it’s been really helpful - by the time I was offered it I was ready and really keen to sound things out in an environment where I could say what I wanted and not feel any need to be brave.  

I do hope things look up for you in the next few days   

It is like that - and there are things to manage all the side effects that you get from round one. If you feel really sick/ are sick a longer acting antisickness like emend or aprepitant (that work for 5 days) is a gift. I did not get any nausea on these with EC. The steroids cause terrible sleep, so just going with that and sleeping as and when is all you can do, even if you spend the night watching TV!! Good hydration before during and after chemo helps limit side effects a bit. A daily walk, even to the garden gate and back, or up and down the patio, makes a huge difference too. Walk and get out whenever you can, even if that is all you can do all day. I found that limiting my food intake the day before, the day of and day after chemo really limited side effects too. It was an 800 cal diet for 3 days. There is research to support it and I stopped my diet as soon as I was 24 hours after the chemo infusion stopped and had a huge sunday lunch each time. If you call your BCN to tell them now what was hard on cycle one, they will advise you about what can be done differently for the second one so it doesn't feel quite so awful. Hope you are starting to turn a corner now and feel more yourself x

Oncotype DX is a test used on some people who are ER positive but HER negative, so I don’t think it would apply to you. It seems quite usual to recommend chemo for HER positive tumours as I understand the monoclonal antibody they use to treat HER positive tumours works better with chemo. 

Yes I has a grade 3 stage 1...17mm tumor. Dr wasn't sure about chemo so I had my biopsy sent to America for an oncotype DX score.  They said if it came back under 15 I wouldn't need chemo as I'd be low risk of recurrence.  If it came back 17 we'd discuss and it would be my choice as it would be borderline and any higher it is recommended that you have chemo. Mine came back at 36. So high chance of recurrence soi had lumpectomy sentinel node removed and I had 6 rounds of chemo follows by 5 days of intense radiotherapy.  Good luck with your treatment. Xx

Hi deeds can I prick you brains about your score - I have same score grade 2 though - what was reoccurence risk and how much chemo will reduce that . Also what chemo did you do. Really scared and upset at the moment