Hello All:
Thank you so much for the kind responses. The past 3 weeks have been tough but, as I told my husband, I have moved on from the 'grief and shock' stage into the 'lets get this over with' stage.
Genetic testing indicated that I don't have a tendency towards other cancers, so I will have a right mastectomy and keep my left. I will take whatever victories I can get at this point
My Onc spoke with both my previous Onc at UCLA and with the team at UCSF and the determination was made that we would do Gemzar, Caboplatin, Herceptin and Perjeta this time. Meeting with my Onc today and curious why that cocktail was chosen. I had Carbo and Herceptin previously...not sure what to expect as far as side effects for Gemzar and Perjeta. I will also be on weekly chemo. After 4-6 months of chemo I will have the mastectomy, then reconstruction. No radiation this time as I had it before.
I start chemo tomorrow. My kids were babies when I was going through treatment before and now are 11 and 9. We have been trying to prepare them for what the next year is going to entail, which is challenging in itself.
For those of you that have read my previous posts from 2010/2011, you know that my previous employer (aka Evil Lady Boss from Hell
) fired me after I shared my diagnosis. When I told my current employer, they could not have been nicer or more supportive. This was a revelation
I would love to hear from those that have had Gemzar as to what their experience was. Taxol wiped me out, but I am told that Gemzar can be milder...again, little victories
Ginny