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Hi Natalie,
You are very wise to be asking these questions. I think all of us here understand the pull to "get back to normal" and not have to have our disease front and center.
I have metastatic disease (originally diagnosed stage IIA two years ago) and finished up 6 months of chemo in March. I really do believe that clinical trials are important but you have to balance that with your life. I looked for a vaccine trial and there are many but I wasn't willing to upset my life (job, kids, husband) by flying out to Seattle (I live in PA). So I searched and found a vaccine trial close to home at University of Pennsylvania. It was a phase one, and I wasn't sure it would help me, but I thought the concept was so exciting and forward thinking that I wanted to be part of it. The trial was easy - I went in for a shot (4 shots actually) every 2 weeks for the first 4 treatments, then just once a month. The only reaction I had was some injection site discomfort (redness and swelling) but when you've been through chemo twice, it was a breeze.
Alas, I did advance and have begun more chemo (and hence got kicked out of the vaccine trial) but I am so glad that I did it, because that kind of relatively innocuous therapy is where we need to get too. I hope in 10 years, women will look back on chemotherapy like we look back on leeches and say "what were they thinking??".
So that's my 2 cents, if you can find one (look on the nci.gov web site) that's convenient and not too experimental, give it a whirl. You can always drop out if it's not right for you, you are in control.
Good luck in your search!
Donna
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