looking for support

[visualizehealth]

Hello there,

I was just looking for words of encouragement. I just had my treatment 5 out of 6 today and I am happy about getting closer to finishing my treatment, but at the same time I am getting scared of recurrence. Everywhere I look I see something about Her2 having "poor prognosis" and high risk of recurrence. I worry about being able to watch my two children grow up. I did talk with a good doctor at Emory, who told me that with the size of my tumor and no lymph node involvement, there was a small chance of recurrence for the next ten years. But I still see some of you on this site with mets after only one or two years. Most of the time I am positive about this, but today I feel down. If there is anyone out there that has uplifting news or stories, please share them with me.
Love and prayers,
Annie

[Christine]

Annie,
I was first diagnosed as stage I in 1990, had a recurrence in 1999, still alive kicking and cancer free in 2007.

And we do have several members with similar stories.

Hugs
Christine

[Grace]

Annie--Although HER2+ has worse prognosis than non-HER2, ER+, other factors come into play as well. I was telling my oncologist on Tuesday one of the sad stories, and he came back and told me three positive ones for every sad one of mine. I gave up and he won! Actually, on Adjuvant, which most doctors use, my risk of dying of my cancer in ten years is 4%, and my risk of dying of something else is 12%.

So, honestly, just because you're HER2+ does not mean you'll have a recurrence. Most women don't.

And just think of Christine's story when you get depressed. I do!

[suzan w]

Hi Annie,
It is so hard not to let this disease get the best of us! The way I look at it is, being Her2+++, there is a treatment (herceptin). Being ER+, there is a treatment (arimidex) and so forth. There are so many things that can happen to us on a daily basis for which there is no treatment. I try to stay positive and grateful for living in an age where there have been so many advances in breast cancer treatment. There are even days now when I forget about it for a few hours at a time! That is progress!!! Hang in there!!!

[Mary Jo]

Dear Annie,

I heard or read this joke the other day. It went like this............. A woman went to her doctor to hear the pathology report about her breast tumor. The doctor said I have bad news and good news. The bad news is your tumor is her2 positive AND the good news is your tumor is her2 positive. LOL LOL LOL!

Living in the day and age we are living in as far as her2 positive breast cancer goes, we are a bunch of fortunate women! Well, I don't know if fortunate is the right choice of words. http://www.her2support.org/vbulletin/images/icons/icon7.gif But hey, with herceptin and tykerb things are looking WAYYYYYY better than they were. Your prognosis is really good Annie. Really good.

Your feelings of fear are normal. Most definitely. Especially just finishing up with treatment. It's scary when we let go of that "security blanket" and move into the "let's wait and see world." But once again I say............your prognosis is really good. Try to hang onto that and then go out and live your life and grab a hold of each moment because in reality NONE of us know what's around the bend. Wether you have had cancer or not.

You know, I came to this post to try to encourage someone else and after reading the posts by the others I WAS ENCOURAGED as well. I guess the fears are never far from any of us on any given day.

Sending love and hugs your way,

Mary Jo

[hutchibk]

I am not saying you will, and I pray that you and all "newbies" don't, but if you do have recurrance, it may very well be only once - and you will power through it and whatever treatments are necessary, because that's what we do here. We are the Tykerb Tigers and Herceptin Honeys. And hopefully some day in the foreseeable future, Her2Neu will become Her2Old!

[SoCalGal]

Well, it's really hard to make these decisions and I don't believe there is a wrong one to make.

Here's my two cents:ER/PR negative is not as favorable. There are so many people who stay on herceptin to remain NED for years. If I were in your shoes (hope they are green) I would opt to stay on herceptin a longer time. That's just MY opinion of what I would do going backward:)

Sorry to add confusion to your state of mind but I guess the other points are,
1. it's an educated guessing game full of trial and error - there is no real cure for cancer.
2. you can consider yourself cured and live your life as if you are HEALTHY (which is what I did for the past 11 years)
3. if and when you need more chemo, it will be there for you - that's what my uber surgeon told me when I was trying to decide what to do in 2004, after 20 months of herceptin.

Best of luck to you. Don't loose your edge to worry and give up your healthy time to fear. (Easy for me to say, as I sit here worrying and fearful:).

--Flori

[CLTann]

The recurrence is a statistical guessing game, but it sure gets us all worried, almost every day. My decision was not to treat with chemo nor radiation. My onc agreed with my decision, because he saw so many women with side effects which not only caused severe new problems but also changed the quality of life. Even with chemo and radiation, there are plenty of cases that recurrence still occur. I do take everything that could help: femera, curcumin, ganoderma, flaxseed, exercise, calcium (once a week type), and few dietary regimen. So far, I am well and will soon be 2 yr survivor. For Her2+, the peak of recurrence is around 18 month after surgery. I look at the calendar all the time and hope the days go by faster, so that my chance of recurrence will keep going down. You should be a fine survivor candidate.

[Belinda]

Hi Annie

I go through a similar cycle of fear about recurrence and I have in pthe past sought - and found - inspiration from the amazing women here as one of my strategies for getting past the fear.

Check out the thread here:

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=27218

I think you will find some generous and helpful posts that could help you as well.

Warmest wishes - and looking forward to sharing a long and NED e-future with you!

Belindaxxx

[visualizehealth]

Thank you everyone!
What a wonderful resource this support group is! You have all lifted me up.
I think the chemo also gets me depressed because it makes me feel so awful for a few days.
God bless all of you,
Annie