[CoolBreeze]

I can understand your worry and your feeling that herceptin is your safety net.

A year is the recommended therapy and I don't think any oncologist is going to be able to give you more. So far, studies show a year is the appropriate treatment and that is what an insurance company will pay for - if you talk to your onc, he might put you on an anti-anxiety but not more herceptin. But, you never know, it will be interesting to see if he does.

I think it's time to think of this in a new way. Rather than feeling like your safety net has been pulled away from you, try to do some positive thinking about all the things you have done to protect yourself. Herceptin wasn't a safety net, it was a high wire that led you to the safe ground where you can be stable and secure.

Add an exercise program, or meditation, or walk outside daily, or eat a little healthier. Try to find the places in your thought process that are negative and learn to turn them into positive thoughts that include a long and healthy life.

Medicine doesn't work the way we laypeople think. A little of this is good so we need a little more...that only works for shoes. Just know you did every single thing you were supposed to do to regain your health.

Now your challenge is the hardest of all: to begin to think of yourself as a healthy person again, and not as a cancer victim, and to not let each ache and pain turn you to thoughts of recurrence and death.

It's hard to do, I know, but it is a challenge you can master!

As a woman with Stage IV, I wish I could take back every worry I had in the time between treatment and recurrence. It was wasted energy, completely wasted, time I could have spent enjoying my life.

Please try to do the same. If cancer comes back into your life, it will make itself known. But, the odds are great that it will not and in the meantime, you have a wonderful, meaningful life to lead. Please enjoy it!

Big hugs to you!