Thank you for taking the time to reply. I need to be tested for Herceptin. Were you negative on the ER and PR? 

How did you find the chemo …. Fatigue, nausea, loss of hair, eyebrows and eyelashes? Does the Oncologist give you any other medication such as painkillers, sickness tablets or steroids, although I don’t know what steroids would do.

If you don’t mind me asking what grade and stage are you. I feel so alone but I know I am not after reading this forum. What surgery are you expecting?

Best wishes 

Hi Sandradee I would just like to say I am sorry that you're going through this, I know what a stressful time it is. I have grade 3, stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma, low grade cells in surrounding tissue and one lymph node affected. I am ER and PR positive as well as HER2 positive. So far I've had three cycles of ER chemo and have been absolutely fine, with minimal side effects. They give you anti sickness meds and steroids for the first few days. I also have to have injections in my stomach, days 4-10 after chemo, which is to boost the white blood cells. My husband does these for me, as I didn't want to do them myself. I did have constipation while taking the meds, but they can give you laxatives if you need them. I've not suffered with any sickness at all so far and my appetite hasn't changed at all. We've even been out to eat several times, with friends. I get more tired during the evening now and usually fall asleep for a couple of hours. I did have to come off hrt, which was my biggest problem,. I was getting hot flushes and night sweats, which was disturbing my sleep. However, my gp has given me tablets without hormones, which have really helped with this. I'm  still able to do all my day to day stuff around the house and go out for a 2 1/2 mile walk most days. I decided not to use the cold cap, as I'm already prone to headaches, so didn't want to put myself through it. I have therefore lost most of my hair, which I did find upsetting at first. Still have my eyebrows and eyelashes at the moment though. I have finished the EC chemo and now moving onto docetaxel for 4 cycles, starting on Tuesday, along with the Herceptin injections. I'm a bit apprehensive about this one, as it is supposedly stronger, with more side effects. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be fine on this one too. Once chemo is over I will be having a mastectomy and reconstruction at the same time. This will be followed by radiotherapy, then hormone blockers for 5-10 years. I'm always here for a chat if you need it, I have found this forum to be really helpful and chat to several lovely people, who are on the same journey as myself. It really does help to chat to others and certainly feels less lonely. I wish you well on your journey moving forward. Xx

Thank you so much for all the information. I wish you well too. 

Just want to correct that the first 3 cycles of chemo were EC not ER.

What does EC and ER mean? Met with Oncologist this afternoon and waiting for results  on whether I am Her pos or neg. I was Neg on the hormone test so I am expecting to be Neg on Herceptin too, or perhaps that does not follow suit. 

Best wishes 

Hi Sandradee, when I said I'd had three cycles of Er chemo, it was a typing error. Just to clarify, my treatment plan is 7 cycles of EC-T chemotherapy. I've already had 3 cycles the EC: E stands for Epirubicin and the C stands for Cyclophosphamide. I am now due to start 4 cycles of the T part of the chemo. As far as I know the T part is one of the taxel chemos. The one I will be having is docetaxel. From what I've read you can be estrogen negative and progesterone negative, but still test HER2 positive. You could probably check this out with your macmillan nurse. Sorry for any confusion in my previous reply, hope it is now a bit clearer. Hope you don't have to wait too long for your results, so that you can find out your treatment plan. Xx

Thank you so much for the clarification. I am hoping to be Her positive as less chemo involved. Negative involves weekly chemotherapy for 12 weeks followed by 4 more sessions once every 3 weeks plus a drug that I can’t remember the name of.

Best wishes 

Keep in touch and let me know how you're doing. Xx

Thank you I will x x