finishing 1 year of Herceptin

[Rupali]

Hi all,
I am rather confused and worried and I know this topic has probably been brought up in the past. I am finishing my 1 year of Herceptin on May 19th. The ASCO is planned for June 2nd to 6th. When I started Herceptin last year I was told by my oncologist that we will see what results get published next year at ASCO and based on that we will see if we need to go for 1 more year of Herceptin based on HERA trial.
I am just worried that what if no Hera Trial results are published at this ASCO. Is it guaranteed that Hera Trial results will be published in ASCO?
What if they are not. In that case will u all push for an extra year or have any of the early stagers done 2 years already.
Second concern was that I used hair removing cream on my right arm yesterday and it sudenly gave me irritation to theskin and the skin became red.. I had to take a tylenol to stop the burningsensation. I called up the doc and she siad its like a sunburn and will take a week to heal. This is my mastectomy arm and I had lymph node removal..
Has anyone of u had a similar experience. I am just worried abt lymphedema..

Regards,
Rupali

[Becky]

Dear Rupali


For your 2 questions,

1. Hera trial results - there is no guarantee about the 2 year results. I am almost in the same boat as you as my last treatment is in mid June. The Hera website says the results will be "in" in April, 2007. There may be early results again but I think this meeting will be the "Lapatinib meeting". Last year was the Herceptin meeting. Also, don't worry so much as the results of the Finnish study are touting that 9 weeks of Herceptin is enough so we just might have overdone it with the full year.

2. Put some antibiotic ointment on that arm. There is always a possibility of lymphedema but don't worry to death over it. If it is red, you might want to get your doctor to order you a Zpak for that just to make sure you don't get an infection. Infection is worse than just a burn.

I hope this helps.

Warm regards,

Becky

[juanita]

I have had the same problem at times with skin irritations. After I went back to work after chemo, the perfume I'd used for years started causing rashes. I switched to a different one, and now after almost a year of it I'm starting to have the same problem. I also had to switch fabric softeners. Must be something from the chemo.