HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post

StephN · 07-21-2009, 12:12 PM

Wish I could say otherwise, but NO one knows what tomorrow may bring. We only know the odds are with us that we will be alive and well. Go with that!

Your nagging questioning is natural. You have been able to repress your fears (that we all have) about breast cancer and its fickle nature. These fears and questions are powerfully strong and ebb to the front of our minds at varying rates of speed for all of us.

Many of us repeat as a mantra that "knowledge is power." So we reach out to see what is happening in the way of new treatments in case we should ever need it. We reach out to find out how others with similar diagnosis and treatment are doing.

I believe that the "magic finish line" of 2 years is implanted in the back of our consciousness at the outset of treatment. That survival interval is made important by our doctors, so we have this time frame as a reference point, whether we realize it or not.

As Colleenshusband pointed out, this is OLD news. You and many thousands before you have received Herceptin as part of first treatment. You are all writing a new chapter in the book of HER2 positive breast cancer survival. Keep living as you are, and keep writing!

Satisfy yourself, that you are in the vast majority who are doing, and will continue to do, well against this disease. However, just a bit of edginess may serve you well in watching your body closely as time goes by. It is really more likely that you will have another medical issue crop up before you have another problem with breast cancer.

07-21-2009, 12:12 PM	#4
StephN Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Misty woods of WA State Posts: 4,128	No Seances either ... Wish I could say otherwise, but NO one knows what tomorrow may bring. We only know the odds are with us that we will be alive and well. Go with that! Your nagging questioning is natural. You have been able to repress your fears (that we all have) about breast cancer and its fickle nature. These fears and questions are powerfully strong and ebb to the front of our minds at varying rates of speed for all of us. Many of us repeat as a mantra that "knowledge is power." So we reach out to see what is happening in the way of new treatments in case we should ever need it. We reach out to find out how others with similar diagnosis and treatment are doing. I believe that the "magic finish line" of 2 years is implanted in the back of our consciousness at the outset of treatment. That survival interval is made important by our doctors, so we have this time frame as a reference point, whether we realize it or not. As Colleenshusband pointed out, this is OLD news. You and many thousands before you have received Herceptin as part of first treatment. You are all writing a new chapter in the book of HER2 positive breast cancer survival. Keep living as you are, and keep writing! Satisfy yourself, that you are in the vast majority who are doing, and will continue to do, well against this disease. However, just a bit of edginess may serve you well in watching your body closely as time goes by. It is really more likely that you will have another medical issue crop up before you have another problem with breast cancer. __________________ "When I hear music, I fear no danger. I am invulnerable. I see no foe. I am related to the earliest times, and to the latest." H.D. Thoreau Live in the moment. MY STORY SO FAR ~~~~ Found suspicious lump 9/2000 Lumpectomy, then node dissection and port placement Stage IIB, 8 pos nodes of 18, Grade 3, ER & PR - Adriamycin 12 weekly, taxotere 4 rounds 36 rads - very little burning 3 mos after rads liver full of tumors, Stage IV Jan 2002, one spot on sternum Weekly Taxol, Navelbine, Herceptin for 27 rounds to NED! 2003 & 2004 no active disease - 3 weekly Herceptin + Zometa Jan 2005 two mets to brain - Gamma Knife on Jan 18 All clear until treated cerebellum spot showing activity on Jan 2006 brain MRI & brain PET Brain surgery on Feb 9, 2006 - no cancer, 100% radiation necrosis - tumor was still dying Continue as NED while on Herceptin & quarterly Zometa Fall-2006 - off Zometa - watching one small brain spot (scar?) 2007 - spot/scar in brain stable - finished anticoagulation therapy for clot along my port-a-catheter - 3 angioplasties to unblock vena cava 2008 - Brain and body still NED! Port removed and scans in Dec. Dec 2008 - stop Herceptin - Vaccine Trial at U of W begun in Oct. of 2011 STILL NED everywhere in Feb 2014 - on wing & prayer 7/14 - Started twice yearly Zometa for my bones Jan. 2015 checkup still shows NED 2015 Neuropathy in feet - otherwise all OK - still NED. Same news for 2016 and all of 2017. Nov of 2017 - had small skin cancer removed from my face. Will have Zometa end of Jan. 2018.