[Andrea Barnett Budin]

That picture (peeking out from under the flowers) was taken on my 60th. My manicurist sweetly gave me those orange tipped yellow roses cause she knew they were my favorite. They sell them in the shop. I was delighted by the gift and generosity of Spirit!

Previously, my dear friend Pinkie reminds me, I had a pic of me and my hubby in Hawaii, celebrating my 60th. We went parasailing (a thing the old Andi would never consider). I summoned the courage b/c I wanted to get as close as I could to God and shout out a big THANK YOU. I was orig dx at the age of 50! My gratitude is and was gynormous...

I was full of joy and serenity. BILL -- I may have been thinking of yellow roses...

We had NOT taken a vacation since my dx. Weekly Herceptin had precluded that.

Then I graduated to the every 3 wk plan, which was a real vacation in and of itself. Did that for 10 yrs..........

FYI -- in '98 when the bc recurred throughout my liver, my onc gravely told me that what I had was "INCURABLE, INOPERABLE... AND YOU WILL BE ON LONG TERM CHEMOTHERAPY... FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE". He had known me and Paul for 3 yrs. He was clearly morose having to give us this news.

But as it turned out, I asked to be tested for HER2, as Paul and I had been keeping up on the latest since '95. I was in fact 80% positive, as they stated it back in the day. Herceptin was still in clinical trials (my recurrence was in Aug of '98). The FDA fast-tracked the drug making it available to metastatic bc patients September 28, 1998.

And so Doc Slamon saved my life! And after 9 mnths of Taxotere hell, long term chemotherapy became monoclonal antibody therapy, which is not as horrid as one would imagine, though potent, toxic and potentially a lot of bad things. For me, it was a life saver.

Now, my onc has taken me off Vitamin H, believing those old cancer cells are no longer in my body and that I might be building up a tolerance to H (after 10 yrs). So we are giving my bod a break.

I HAVE BEEN OFF HERCEPTIN SINCE JULY '08! I REMAIN STABLE.

Ev 3 mnth full panel of bld tests, including of course TMs. Ev 6 mnths CT scans.

Hey BILL -- when I was dx many sent me flowers. I had literally dozens of bouquets. Very touching. So much love. My friend Vicki sent me 2 dozen YELLOW ROSES, cause she said yellow is said to be very healing! I'm just saying...

I mention the Herceptin thing hoping those interested in staying on H might see this post. I think Sarah was inquiring and Steph led her to a post or two of mine on the subject. Just recapping as my experience might help and/or inspire others... That would be grand!

Always sending love and healing energy,

ANDI