BOOBOMETER

Friday, 21 October 2016

"Don't worry, bout a thing.." (HER2 vs Triple negative)

Here's my attempt at explaining why HER2 positive may not be so bad

HER2 status is one of the things tested when you have a breast cancer biopsy and it takes a while for the result, I guess because they have several tests they do and some take a while to cultivate? Mine kept coming back as ambiguous until the final FISH test which was positive. You also get tested for other receptors like oestrogen and progesterone, mine were all positive which means that hormone treatments are options for me and Herceptin is also an option. 

If you test as triple negative it means hormone treatments and herceptin aren't going to be an option.

Getting diagnosed as triple negative or HER2 positive also means you have a more aggressive type of cancer.

The way I'm choosing to look at it is this. I may be unlucky enough to get cancer in the first place and it's scary knowing that it's more aggressive but mine got picked up early, it is invasive but it hasn't spread anywhere else, it isn't in my lymph nodes, the surgeon is confident he got it all and with clear margins. I've had chemo to be absolutely sure there's nothing lurking, I'm being treated with herceptin - the wonder drug. I've finished radiation and started taking Arimidex every day which is a hormone treatment.

So it's kind of like my body is a house and it's under threat of alien invasion but I'm being protected by teams of elite military dudes with the latest high tech equipment and light sabers and round the clock surveillance and Starsky and Hutch are there too and on top of all that Dirty Harry is at the gate saying "Come on punk make my day" and blowing away anyone even approaching the property because he just doesn't like the way they look at him

Whereas someone who's triple negative just has a simple burglar alarm with no back up team to try and stop them getting in.

Either way, you don't want anything to sneak into your house and trash the place.





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