When you are HER2 positive, chemo is recommended. Sometimes done before surgery. Sometimes after, depending on your situation. I was unable to complete my pre surgery chemo(TCHP). Only able to do 3 cycles out of 6, due to toxicities. Then had surgery and radiation. I then did 14 cycles of Kadcyla, which is a targeted chemo and Herceptin mix. I was petrified of this, based on my experience of the previous chemo, but it really was tolerable.

For that chance a cell got away. I know it seems drastic and it will be a risk you will be taking if you don't do chemo but let me tell you, when I was first diagnosed my doctor said 'Very easy cancer to treat' at Stage 1. Once surgery a few months later all margins were clear, 1 out of 4 sentinel nodes was positive, still not such a bleak outcome. At the same time which was not know until a week after surgery was below the breast and 3 other places outside the breast cancer had already metastasized. So you want to kill off any possible stray cells. They don't instantly become cancer. It takes the cancer cells to keep dividing before it actually becomes a cancer and some cells can lay dormant for months and even years so chemo would take care of those cells. In my opinion they should do a PET scan before chemo to check for activity. If a woman has clear margins and negative nodes it might help her make a decision for herself. I mean if I was told I was in the clear and a PET scan showed no activity I would opt out of chemo and just take a drug meant to prevent cancer from growing.

What a tough situation to be in, having to decide between continuing and stopping.

Don’t know yet…I am unsure at this moment if I even want to complete the chemotherapy

Hang in there. I understand how you feel, I felt absolutely awful during my chemo. I was not able to complete due to passing out and it affecting my blood pressure. Do you have to do radiation ?