HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - If I am "extremely high risk for recurrance" why no real follow-up?

Lolly · 01-04-2007, 03:03 PM

I think the "wait for symptoms and then scan" school of thought is a holdover from the earlier days of less accurated diagnostic tools, and certainly for us Her2 gals not appropriate any longer in light of how Herceptin has changed the course of breast cancer, in that IF metastasis is discovered it is much better to discover it earlier and jump on it with both feet, ie Herceptin and chemo. I attribute my long survival with metastatic disease to early diagnosis of small mets to nodes before spread to major organs occured, and we've stayed on top of things with maintenance Herceptin and chemo when necessary.
The other side of the story is valid, in that false-positives are bound to occur and are no fun, but better to be safe than sorry IMO.

<3 Lolly

01-04-2007, 03:03 PM	#7
Lolly Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Oregon Posts: 1,756	I think the "wait for symptoms and then scan" school of thought is a holdover from the earlier days of less accurated diagnostic tools, and certainly for us Her2 gals not appropriate any longer in light of how Herceptin has changed the course of breast cancer, in that IF metastasis is discovered it is much better to discover it earlier and jump on it with both feet, ie Herceptin and chemo. I attribute my long survival with metastatic disease to early diagnosis of small mets to nodes before spread to major organs occured, and we've stayed on top of things with maintenance Herceptin and chemo when necessary. The other side of the story is valid, in that false-positives are bound to occur and are no fun, but better to be safe than sorry IMO. <3 Lolly __________________ Sept.'99 - Dx.Stage IIIB, IDC ER/PR-, HER2+++ by IHC, confirmed '04 by FISH. Left MRM, AC x's 4, Taxol x's 4, 33 Rads, finishing Tx May 2000. Jan.'01 - local/regional recurrence, Stage IV. Herceptin/Navelbine weekly till NED August 2001, then maintenance Herceptin. Right Mast. April 2002. Local/Regional recurrence April '04, Herceptin plus/minus chemo until May '07. Gemzar added from Feb.'07-April '07; Tykerb/Abraxane until August '07, back on Herceptin plus Taxotere and Xeloda Sept. '07. Stopped T/X Nov. '07, stopped Herceptin Dec. '07, started Avastin/Taxol/Carboplatin Dec. '07. Progression in chest skin, stopped TAC March '03, started radiation. Herceptin has served as the "Backbone" of my treatment strategy for over 6 years, giving me great quality of life. In 2005, I was privileged to participate in the University of Washington/Seattle HER2 Vaccine Trial.