Friday, October 10th — Five Days Post Chemo

Overall, Erin is feeling good. Headache, fatigue, but no other symptoms at the moment, which we are grateful for. We’re waiting for more severe side effects to hit.

We watched one lady on YouTube with breast cancer say during chemo, “You kinda just go about life as normal if you can.” And so we are.

A few things we are hoping for:

• The cancer responds to the chemo and HER2 therapy quickly and completely.
• Complete pCR (pathological complete response), meaning after our six chemo treatments, there is no tumor left at all.
• SAVE THE HAIR. It seems silly to pray for hair, but this would allow her to continue “normal life” without looking like she is on chemo.

Here is a further science rant and update if you’d like to keep reading, educating yourself — but I’d probably stop here for most of y’all. :)

Some breast cancers are inherited through what is called the BRCA gene. Erin’s testing just came back. Negative. Which is a sigh of relief. It means it’s not passed down to our kids, and her siblings won’t have to do any additional testing. It also means this is highly treatable.

Warning, lots of scientific jargon ahead. We knew nothing about this thirty short days ago. So any questions, we’d be happy to answer.

According to our research:

Here’s what the negative MyRisk/BRCA test means in context:

• No inherited mutation (BRCA1, BRCA2, etc.).
• Her cancer is sporadic, not genetic.
• So she’s not predisposed to future breast or ovarian cancers beyond normal population risk.
• Family members don’t need special genetic testing unless guidelines change.

Treatment:

• Chemo, HER2-targeted therapy, surgery, and hormone therapy stay the same.
• BRCA-driven treatments like PARP inhibitors (olaparib, talazoparib) are not relevant—but she also doesn’t need them because her prognosis is already excellent.

Prognosis:

• BRCA mutations can make cancers more aggressive or increase new-cancer risk.
• Without a mutation, her odds of full cure with standard TCHP + HER2 therapy are as high as 90–95%.

✅ Bottom line:

This result is good news. It means her cancer is treatable, not inherited, and her standard therapy gives her one of the highest success rates in all of breast oncology.

HER2-positive breast cancer used to be one of the most aggressive subtypes — but modern therapy has turned it into one of the most curable forms, especially when it’s node-negative and triple-positive like hers.

Here’s why her outlook is so strong:

1. Targeted drugs (trastuzumab + pertuzumab)
   

   These are precision antibodies that attack the HER2 receptor directly. They cut recurrence risk by over 50% compared to chemo alone. In many cases, they completely eradicate tumor cells before surgery (pathologic complete response).

2. High chemosensitivity
   

   HER2+ grade 3, high Ki-67 cancers are fast-growing — and chemo kills dividing cells. That combination often leads to dramatic shrinkage, sometimes total disappearance after 2–3 cycles.

3. Long-term control with hormone therapy
   

   Because hers is also ER+/PR+, hormone blockers protect her from late recurrence years after treatment.

4. Survival data
   

   In trials combining modern chemo + trastuzumab + pertuzumab:
   

   5-year disease-free survival: ~93–96%
   

   10-year overall survival: >90% for node-negative cases.
   

   Those are among the best numbers in breast oncology — similar to early-stage hormone-only cancers but achieved in a biologically stronger, faster-responding subtype.

✅ In short:

What used to be a high-risk cancer is now one of the most curable when treated with today’s dual HER2 blockade plus hormone therapy.

And if you are super interested in the science and medical jargon, here is an overview:

Diagnosis:

Left breast invasive ductal carcinoma, grade 3, 2.4–2.6 cm, ER 90%, PR 90%, HER2 3+, Ki-67 50–60% → triple-positive, high-grade, highly chemosensitive tumor.

Staging:

Clinical: cT2 (>2 cm ≤5 cm), cN0 (no nodes on imaging), cM0 (no metastasis on CT) → Stage IIA.

Genetics: MyRisk panel negative for BRCA and other hereditary mutations → sporadic case.

Prognosis: Excellent (>90% 10-year survival with standard therapy).

Current plan:

Regimen: TCHP (docetaxel + carboplatin + trastuzumab + pertuzumab) × 6 cycles q3 weeks → then trastuzumab ± pertuzumab to complete 1 year.

Goal: Pathologic complete response (~50% chance given biology).

Post-chemo: surgery (lumpectomy or nipple-sparing DMX based on response) ± radiation if breast is preserved.

Long-term: endocrine therapy (tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitor 5–10 yrs) for ER+/PR+ component.

Monitoring: Echocardiogram every