Re: Five years out???
 

Thanks for all your input ladies, and it's refreshing and encouraging to see so many posting NED still:)

Welcome Candlegranny, I'm glad you found us and hope so many survivor's here give you hope :)

Re: Five years out???
 

Hi Tricia ~
I was diagnosed stage 3 almost 7 years ago next week....so hopefully this will give some hope out there.
Hugs ~ Ruth

Re: Five years out???
 

Sherri you sound alot like me. stage 3c but i dont know what IBC is. still learning. what an inspiration. seems like everyone i talked to was stage 1 lumpectomy and percentages like 96% it would not return but they were not HER2. I am so excited that i found this site. I need to work on my stats at the end of my emails. got to learn exactly what it all means and what i have so i can get it right. I try to be positive but until i found this site i thought Her2 always comes back, so in the back of my mind it was hard for me to plan the future. NOt any more. I cannot exlain the hope I have since this site.

Re: Five years out???
 

Candlegranny, glad it's helped to read of other's beating this for longer than the Dr's thought initially:)

Btw, IBC stands for inflammatry breast cancer which is very aggressive so Sherri is really beating all the odds! While it's still too early for anyone to say if herceptin has made a long term difference to us, it has certainly helped many of us so far gain more years and recurr less often I think. This is why I began this thread, coming up to five years myself I wondered how many other's out there are doing well, without a recurrance and while this thread is in no way a scientific result I think it's still very encouraging. :) I also have a friend who is a twenty three year survivor, she had an aggressive large tumour and twenty two positive nodes and that was all those years ago. They did'nt test for her2 then so she thinks she was triple negative but does'nt know for sure.

Thanks again everyone, I'll do a summary on numbers tomorrow.

Re: Five years out???
 

Tricia, I'm almost 7 years out with 35 pos nodes! you will be there too!!

Re: Five years out???
 

Michele, wow!!!! Thats amazing and congrats to you and thanks for posting as so many of us find it encouraging to hear from ladies like you:)

Ruth, congrats and thank you too!! :)

Re: Five years out???
 

5 years for me too. http://her2support.org/vbulletin/images/icons/icon7.gif I was diagnosed June 24, 2005 - stage 2B - 1 node microscopic invasion.....

No recurrence....thank God everyday for the life I now live!

Mary Jo

Re: Five years out???
 

Delighted to see your post Mary Jo, I also was dx in June '05:)

Re: Five years out???
 

Ann;

Question...How do you figure you are going to be NED in Sept. 10.?..Are you counting from the time you were diagnosed? back in 1995..so five years out will make you NED?

Just wondering, curious...

Re: Five years out???
 

Our latest tally as of today

Herceptin - 23

No herceptin- 5

Recurrance's - 0

All good news so far:)

Adriana, Ann was dx in Sept '05, so I think she means assuming all is well she'll be five years out then. I've included you in the stats Ann:)

Re: Five years out???
 

It's been five years this month for me. I remember how desperate I was to find people who had survived bc. I was so thankful to find Christine! Now there are many of us.

I'm grateful for Herceptin! I only got 6 months of it, due to heart problem, but a study or two, including one on the list for the current ASCO convention, seem to show that even a small amount of Herceptin makes a difference! I'm going to assume I got enough!

My chemo brain injury keeps me from posting much, but I so appreciate all you wonderful people and being able to read your posts and hear your encouragement to others.

Five years, and onward!

- Carol

Re: Five years out???
 

I'm another almost 5 year-er. I'm over 5 from dx, but just under 5 from surgery (I had neo adjuvant chemo.) Stage 3a. er/pr-. Large tumor. NED!
Linda

Re: Five years out???
 

I keep forgetting when you start counting... diagnosed in 2005. Actually went in for my appointment today all happy thinking I was hitting my 5 year mark. I ended up having a seizure when they were doing my blood draw! 2 of 'em right in a row, now I have to wait to see a neurologist and possibly a brain scan - darn!

Re: Five years out???
 

I was diagnosed October 28, 2005, so I am looking forward to 5 years this October.

Re: Five years out???
 

Congratulations ladies, it's great to see so many hitting the five years and beyond!

Kim, fingers crossed for you and sorry you have this little "bump" to sort out but I'm sure you'll be hitting that five year mark too!!:)

Re: Five years out???
 

So excited to see this poll. I am 5 years cancer-free. Had adjuvant Herceptin and Tykerb. Such miracle drugs! Love my life.

Re: Five years out???
 

Six years and no recurrence. Received herceptin a bit later than normal.

Re: Five years out???
 

Hi, sorry not to have responded sooner -- I read the initial post and had thought that only those who received trastuzumab were included in the tally. And as a Stage 1 I do find it hard to post about still being "NED" because it is so unfair that so many others never even got the chance to "start" from an early diagnosis. At the same time, I do post about it to encourage people who are just terrified about being diagnosed at all, because maybe if they know that someone diagnosed as "high-risk" stage 1 with high-grade HER2-positive disease, and who has NOT even had all the treatments available now and is still NED, they will feel a little less panicked.

AlaskaAngel

Dx January, 2002, still NED
CAFx6 (4 weeks apart, not 3, due to declining blood boosters)
Radiation
tamoxifen x 1 3/4 years as a strongly ER+, PR+
No taxane
No trastuzumab
No AI
Use of nightly melatonin, freshly ground flaxseed, diet and exercise in hope these things help with prevention of recurrence.

Re: Five years out???
 

Thanks everyone and I'll do another tally tomorrow!!

Alaska angel, thanks for posting too. It's obviously not an official poll but thought it would give us all an idea of how we're doing .
Its wonderful to know you're doing so well despite the lack of herceptin and I'm glad to add your stats to the numbers to give us an even outlook!
Many congrats to you on doing so well, and thank you again to all who have posted:)

Re: Five years out???
 

5 1/2 years NED. received 1 yr weekly Herceptin.. began 6 weeks after completing AC/T dose dense (was JUST approved for early stage Her2+)