HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - I've Been Deported! (and re-ported and my liver met updates)

Kim in CA · 02-23-2013, 12:45 PM

Ha ha ha ladies,

Glad my title "gotcha"!

A little levity goes a long way sometimes, in keeping all this cancer stuff manageable.

To answer your question Kim, I was actually the one that suggested going back on the Taxotere after it was apparent that being back on the Herceptin alone was not bringing my tumor markers back down.

Back in 2001/2002 the Taxotere brought me to NED when my liver was fully engulfed with tumors. It wasn't til near the end of treatment that the side effects became really bad. I didn't even lose my hair back then, just thinned quite a bit.

I also thought about the TDM-1, but since it has only just been approved as of yesterday, I would have had to travel quite a ways to get treatment at a faciltiy doing the expanded access. So, I asked my doctor to pursue getting me approved for the Perjeta.

As it turned out, the Taxotere has been a real "bugger" for me this time. So, I'm taking a chemo break and just doing the Taxotere and Perjeta for now.

We will be discussing the game plan going forward when I meet with my new oncologist after we've made the big switch to Kaiser on March 1st. I already had a
consultation with her before we made the decision to change health plans, so am feeling confident that she will guide me in the right direction.

So.....stay tuned,

Kim

02-23-2013, 12:45 PM	#6
Kim in CA Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: California's Gold Country Posts: 404	Re: I've Been Deported! (and re-ported and my liver met updates) Ha ha ha ladies, Glad my title "gotcha"! A little levity goes a long way sometimes, in keeping all this cancer stuff manageable. To answer your question Kim, I was actually the one that suggested going back on the Taxotere after it was apparent that being back on the Herceptin alone was not bringing my tumor markers back down. Back in 2001/2002 the Taxotere brought me to NED when my liver was fully engulfed with tumors. It wasn't til near the end of treatment that the side effects became really bad. I didn't even lose my hair back then, just thinned quite a bit. I also thought about the TDM-1, but since it has only just been approved as of yesterday, I would have had to travel quite a ways to get treatment at a faciltiy doing the expanded access. So, I asked my doctor to pursue getting me approved for the Perjeta. As it turned out, the Taxotere has been a real "bugger" for me this time. So, I'm taking a chemo break and just doing the Taxotere and Perjeta for now. We will be discussing the game plan going forward when I meet with my new oncologist after we've made the big switch to Kaiser on March 1st. I already had a consultation with her before we made the decision to change health plans, so am feeling confident that she will guide me in the right direction. So.....stay tuned, Kim __________________ Diag. Feb 1997 4.5cm IDC <10%ER+, PR-. 5 out of 36 nodes +. Mastectomy followed by 3 rounds Adriamycin/Cytoxin. 5/1997 Hi Dose Chemo w/ Stem cell rescue. Spent 4 weeks in isolation ward. Then 6 weeks radiation. 9/2001 widespread mets to liver. 8 mos Taxotere/Herceptin brought me almost to NED. Stop Taxotere & add Femara . 11/2002 liver resection to remove spot that turned out to be necrosis. Officially NED! 7/2003 Tumor markers rising add Xeloda Disastrous reaction, 8 days hospital, but tumor markers came back to normal! June -Dec 2004 UW Vaccine Trial. 7/2005 MRI single 11mm brain met 8/2005 Gamma Knife. Brain MRI @3 months NED! 2006-2011 brain/body still NED 8/04/11 Taking Herceptin break, will monitor with tumor markers. 6/20/12 Tumor markers begin to rise. CA15-3 is 31.3 and Her2 Serum is at 17.1 Decide to repeat in one month. 7/23/12 CA15-3 now 49.3 Her2 Serum 26.8 8/6/12 Back on Herceptin CA15-3 now 76 Her2 Serum now 49 11/7/12 Add weekly Taxotere for 4 cycles 2/2013 Stopped Taxotere added Perjeta. MRI shows approx. 50% reduction liver mets. CA15-3 still elevated @ 55. Will continue on just Herceptin & Perjeta. November 2014 Continuing on Herceptin, Perjeta, and Femara indefinitely. Guess I'm NED again, but watching those tumor markers carefully! Dec. 2015 PET scan reveals mass in perirectal area of abdomen.biopsy confirms. Still Her2+, but no longer ER+. Bye bye Femara Jan 2016 Begin Kadcyla March 2016 PET scan shows tumor now barely visible, still NED everywhere else. 2016/2017 continue Kadcyla November 2017 brain MRI reveals small focus of T2 hyperintensity with possible 4mm enhancing nodule. Short term follow up MRI suggested. Stay tuned...