Pathology result post mastectomy

Hi EDC77, sorry to hear of your diagnosis. I was triple positive (ER, PR and HER2 positive). I had IDC at 22mm grade 3 and it had spread to lymph nodes. I had chemo to mop up any rogue cells that might have broken away from my original tumour and radiotherapy to target treat all the area where the tumour and lymph nodes were. I am still having Phesgo for HER2 and am on tamoxifen too. I think it can be difficult to know what to do. They may do an onco test to see if you would benefit from chemo. Whilst it can be hard it is doable. It is your choice if you want to do chemo or not. I decided I wanted to through everything at mine as I wanted to do everything possible to help prevent any reoccurrence. It’s difficult to compare my diagnosis as my tumour was much larger and had spread. 
I’m sure there will be others along shortly who had tumours similar sizes to you who can let you know what they did and why and I hope this will help you with your decision. You are welcome to click on my name and read my journey through the treatments I had. 
Wishing you all the best for whichever route you choose.

Hugs from cuffcake x x x x x 

Thanks so much for replying I wish you all the best xx

Hi there, I had a 19mm tumour, with high grade dcis close to the margins. Some dcis was 'uncalcified' and didn't show up in scans which was found only after lumpectomy. They put me on 4 rounds of chemotherapy with herceptin (I was ER, PR and HER2 receptive). Ive been on Zoladex which stops my ovaries working so Im experiencing induced menopause (hot flashes, hip pain) and hoping to go onto biphosphomates to protect my bones from the lack of estrogen). This is supposed to prevent a recurrence due to the cancer being estrogen receptive. The herceptin is supposed to be very effective for Her2 positive cancer. 

Although it was early stage, they advised to do everything possible to prevent a recurrence. I was shocked at having to go through chemo just for a small tumour which did not spread to lymph nodes, but I did do it anyway. The effects of chemo were not as harmful as I had thought they would be (kept most of my hair, only felt tired for a few days after each session). The oncologist told me I could only have herceptin with chemo, and not by itself. 

I am now advised to have a double mastectomy due to CHEK2 gene mutation (higher risk for new breast cancer developing). And because of the undetected DCIS, they say its possible there might be more hiding in the ducts. 

They mentioned radiotherapy on the breast site as well after surgery. It all seems a lot to go through, but there is worry of returning cancer, so you have to do your best to make the right decisions for you. 

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply :) sounds like you’ve had quite a lot to deal with so far and more to come, I wish you all the best with your treatment. I’ve been advised I don’t need the chemo and herceptin unless I desperately wanted it, apparently it’s unlikely to make a difference with my particular prognosis. So I’m happy to go forward and try to move on.

Best wishes xx