Red FISH Blue FISH

 

I don’t have a lot to report. Everything is still in a state of hurry up and wait.. That said, they did do additional, advanced testing to make sure that my type of cancer is HER2-negative. My “FISH” results came back as negative, so my original diagnosis still stands, and I do not have the added complication of  an HER2-positive diagnosis.

I got this description of HER2-negative vs positive on Healthline:

If breast cancer cells don’t have abnormal levels of HER2 proteins, the breast cancer is considered HER2-negative. 

Even if your cancer is HER2-negative, it may still be estrogen-positive or progesterone-positive. Whether or not it’s hormone-positive also affects your treatment options. 

In the United States, HER2-negative cases accounted for 78 percentTrusted Source of new female breast cancer cases between 2014 and 2018. In 7 percent of cases, the HER2 status was unknown. 

HER2- positive breast cancers have abnormally high levels of HER2 proteins. 

This can cause the cells to multiply more quickly. Excessive reproduction can result in a fast-growing breast cancer that’s more likely to spread.

So, mine is ER+ and PR+ but HER2-negative. I will have to have hormone blocking therapies, but not additional medications to address HER2 proteins.

I had some blood work done this morning to see if any of my symptoms have other causes (thyroid levels, etc.). I am still awaiting my testing kit from the genetics lab, but that will be my next step. Other than that, nothing really happens until the MRI on 9//20.

Currently, I’m just trying to cope with the stress, which is intense. My doc gave me a prescription for Xanax, but it seemed to make me *more* jittery, caused sleep disturbances, and caused stomach issues. Now, we’re trying Ativan, but so far I feel more “tranquilized” than “medicated”, so I’m not sure that’s going to work for me, either. In the meantime, we’re doing guided meditations, low levels of exercise, and just trying to function as well as possible and get through it.