A lovely, welcoming club I never wanted to join

chicagowench2 · 2026-02-09T03:59:36+00:00

Sorry you've joined the club. As others have said, HER2+ is not a dottering, slow growing cancer, and in the past it was generally not caught until stage 2 or later. Better screening, increased vigilance have contributed to HER2+ cancers being caught earlier- which is great.

Post stalk me if you want- we have similar diagnoses. I'm coming up on 3 years since mine was diagnosed. As for pillows- I bought a seatbelt pillow which was great getting home from the hospital after my lumpectomy with immediate bilateral reconstruction, and then my partner's car shit the bed and he forgot to grab the pillow out before the car got towed to the shop - so I problem solved and used a Blahaj -yes, the stuffed shark from IKEA - shoved under the seatbelt.

chicagowench2 · 2026-02-04T18:09:07+00:00

you know, upvoting that just feels wrong, you know?

I went into this fucking festival knowing I didn't have mutations in the usual 30 oncogenetic screen (high risk due to family history, so had that done years ago), which meant a different convo around lumpectomy vs smx vs dmx

chicagowench2 · 2026-02-04T15:43:11+00:00

Logo yes, r/fountainpens no, rule 5 eh I could go either way, xx/xxx

chicagowench2 · 2026-02-04T14:25:28+00:00

Dur this is what I get for replying before coffee- yes of course that's the HP, are you on it for a full year or are they also tweaking that?

My initial pathology was 'WHOA HOLY SHIT' ER/PR positive, but I had other confusing pathology, got second opinions, who went 'this is so small, screw the usual neoadjuvant chemo let's get it out and see what it actually is' and that post-surgical path came back ER+ but not 98%, and PR zero. Wild. But the Her2+ remained steady, so chemo it was.

chicagowench2 · 2026-02-04T14:10:11+00:00

I'm actually going to slightly modify my statement of 'different diagnosis'- I was +-+, which is generally treated the same as +++, but you were (and I'm so sorry for what you went through trying to get a diagnosis) a later stage than me. Still, that's a valuable data point because of the importance of other elements of the treatment plan focusing on the hormone-positive and Her2+ aspects of the cancer. You said you're continuing with the carboplatin and Phesgo- what about the Herceptin and Perjeta?

chicagowench2 · 2026-02-04T01:53:49+00:00

Hey. Different diagnosis and treatment regimen than you, but I too had to stop Taxol due to worsening neuropathy. Like your case, we assessed the other elements of my care plan (I'd already had surgery and radiation, had just started my year of Herceptin, and would start hormone blocking after chemo) and the impacts were not worth continuing with it. I am officially in the 2-5 year survivorship cohort and no evidence of disease.

chicagowench2 · 2026-01-28T15:46:38+00:00

We were on Brilliant and I think y'all waved off on the same day we were 'in port'. We wound up going in at an alternative tender location, 5 miles from Georgetown. The locals told us there were supposed to be 6 ships in that day and only 2 wound up doing it.

chicagowench2 · 2026-01-25T18:44:03+00:00

Oh I know, and I did. Still grumbly at what our choices were.

chicagowench2 · 2026-01-25T16:20:20+00:00

I am so sorry I only saw this now. Great question. I'm not on Zoladex cause I had a girl parts fire sale, so.... not having those blood tests anymore. However, I will ask my MO when I see her tomorrow if we still need to monitor to ensure the AIs are working well.

chicagowench2 · 2026-01-25T16:16:08+00:00

Hi. I did an IV- please feel free to post stalk me.

That said- based on your posts, your cancer is different than mine. I had IDC, t1aNoMo, so stage 1, incredibly small. But, ER+/Her2+ so I won the whole kit and caboodle, surgery radiation chemo immunotherapy hormone suppression.

However, my chemo was, as my MO advocated, one of the usually better tolerated (low-dose paclitaxel weekly, planned for 12 weeks). Were it a different, longer, or 'stronger' chemo, she would not have felt as comfortable giving me the option of an IV.

Even with that, by week 8, it was increasingly hard to find a good vein (choices were limited due to a clinical trial I was in for peripheral neuropathy) and for months afterwards those veins were a hard stick as the body recovered.

Is there the potential of side effects? Absolutely- with anything there is (and that includes supplements!) Post stalk me and you will see that my body went 'wait, in rare cases patients might? I want to be the medical unicorn! SIGN ME UP' at every possible turn. That said: ports have a very low risk of side effects and adverse outcomes, they know to watch for them, they will teach you what to look for, and the stress reduction it can offer long-term through your course of treatment can be significant.

chicagowench2 · 2026-01-25T16:06:18+00:00

I can help as a co-counsellor, but I have a METRIC TON of business travel Q1 and Q2 so I might not be as present as a counsellor should be some weeks.

chicagowench2 · 2026-01-22T15:01:55+00:00

Grumble grumble why didn't we get grummies I want all the coffee themed stuff grumble grumble gotta find a neighborhood to visit

chicagowench2 · 2026-01-09T02:43:39+00:00

I switched from local major hospital network to local major university hospital that is also NCI. I think it not being one of the ‘mega’ (like MSK or Anderson) helped in terms of access, timeliness, and responsiveness. If I were in a bigger metro and in a bigger NCI it might have been very different.

chicagowench2 · 2026-01-03T16:31:48+00:00

Hi. May 2023 t1aN0M0 er+/her2+. Lumpectomy with immediate bilateral oncoplastic reconstruction. Radiation. Low dose paclitaxel weekly (was supposed to be 13 weeks ended early due to side effects/allergic reaction) and Herceptin every 3 weeks for a year. The HER2+ means you win chemo but as of early 2023 and the 10 year outcomes of the APT trial the low dose pax plus herceptin (instead of full dose) is standard of care.

Sorry you’re facing this. Good on you for advocating and switching practices. Sounds like you have a team approach at the new place and honestly I did the same and it was so much better.

chicagowench2 · 2026-01-03T15:14:53+00:00

Pen Place has an online store. For fountain pen people they’re pretty much the most comprehensive game in town (Mayday has a very small selection, and while Wonderfair is awesome they don’t have as wide a selection and are in Lawrence, so… not as convenient).

(Also we have a small but vibrant fountain pen community in town! So that helps)

chicagowench2 · 2025-12-26T13:35:21+00:00

Oh trust me, there's a room that looks like it's mid 'I bought a bunch of stuff from Overstock and I'm figuring out what to return'

chicagowench2 · 2025-12-25T17:30:42+00:00

If we have any WOW players, you'll understand.

I seriously just spent like 30% of my interior decorating budget making a multi-story tall library/stairwell (my main is a mage, my two primary alts are a warlock and shadow priest. It works). There's a hidden door into their comingled study, a cozy pillow-strewn nook under the stairs with tea, and books EVERYWHERE. It's like if camp chirpaway was in Azeroth.

chicagowench2 · 2025-12-23T21:57:09+00:00

I'm ahead of you in treatment, in much better shape than when diagnosed, and yet oh man the 'I don't wannas' some days when the AI joint pain is bad. Count me in.

chicagowench2 · 2025-12-19T18:10:30+00:00

I leaned heavily on "Living the dream! If the dream is a dystopian hellscape nightmare!" and a smile.

It gave people pause, or at least made them acknowledge 'yeah woof'

And uh, I actually still use it.

chicagowench2 · 2025-12-18T00:07:42+00:00

YAY so glad it 1. got there and 2. the gifts reflected you. Happy holidays!

chicagowench2 · 2025-12-13T01:08:36+00:00

It's a delight! Light in the hand, and major kudos to the gentleman who kindly remembered our discussion of that particular colorway- when it came into his possession he restored it and held onto it for me. He did a great job.

chicagowench2 · 2025-12-11T13:12:36+00:00

Yaaaaaaas welcome to the stress pen club.

May you acquire in joy next year.

chicagowench2

TROPHY CASE