HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post

07-16-2005, 12:53 PM

hi lori~
looks like you've already gotten some great advice...you'll find so many generous, incredibly knowledgable & wonderfully compassionate & supportive folks here.
just to add my 2 cents...like al said, get a muga b/c of herceptin but also b/c the you've had adriamycin too. the adria + hercep, even in sequence, can potentially increase your risk for cardiac probs, so it's good to do the MUGA to keep an eye on it all.
some blood tests you might want to follow are tumor markers like CA27.29 or look into the ner Her2serum test or even a test called CellSearch. I was dx'd @age 33, but er-/pr-, & I've been going to an endocrinologist to follow what's going on w/my hormones since the chemo puts me in transient menopause while in on, but my cyle has returned each time i've stopped tx. i'm hoping the same will be true this time too.
I have to say that I don't believe in waiting to scan until after you show signs & symptoms.Signs & sypmtoms indicate that organ's functions are already being compromised by the disease & probably leaving you feeling weak or out of breath or in pain. If I have to go back on chemo, I'd rather go after a small tumor than a big one & I'd rather do chemo while I'm still feeling strong, regardless of "the outcome"-the journey is more important to me & I'd rather feel well as I'm fighting this disease. At one point I had a tumor load in my liver described as "innumerable, immeasureable" but my liver enzymes were & have always been normal. I hate to think what my liver might have looked like if we had waited until my liver function tests were abnormal.
But, to each, his own..."Scan Time" is a notoriously anxiety-ridden time for me & tough thing to deal with every 12 weeks.
Hope this info is helpful. Good luck to you!
Keep the Faith!

07-16-2005, 12:53 PM	#7
jessica Guest Posts: n/a	hi lori~ looks like you've already gotten some great advice...you'll find so many generous, incredibly knowledgable & wonderfully compassionate & supportive folks here. just to add my 2 cents...like al said, get a muga b/c of herceptin but also b/c the you've had adriamycin too. the adria + hercep, even in sequence, can potentially increase your risk for cardiac probs, so it's good to do the MUGA to keep an eye on it all. some blood tests you might want to follow are tumor markers like CA27.29 or look into the ner Her2serum test or even a test called CellSearch. I was dx'd @age 33, but er-/pr-, & I've been going to an endocrinologist to follow what's going on w/my hormones since the chemo puts me in transient menopause while in on, but my cyle has returned each time i've stopped tx. i'm hoping the same will be true this time too. I have to say that I don't believe in waiting to scan until after you show signs & symptoms.Signs & sypmtoms indicate that organ's functions are already being compromised by the disease & probably leaving you feeling weak or out of breath or in pain. If I have to go back on chemo, I'd rather go after a small tumor than a big one & I'd rather do chemo while I'm still feeling strong, regardless of "the outcome"-the journey is more important to me & I'd rather feel well as I'm fighting this disease. At one point I had a tumor load in my liver described as "innumerable, immeasureable" but my liver enzymes were & have always been normal. I hate to think what my liver might have looked like if we had waited until my liver function tests were abnormal. But, to each, his own..."Scan Time" is a notoriously anxiety-ridden time for me & tough thing to deal with every 12 weeks. Hope this info is helpful. Good luck to you! Keep the Faith!