[dhealey]

Paris, I think my onc says I will never be cured and will have to treat this as a chronic disease for several reasons. I have tested positive for the gene, my tumor was large and grew in a short period of time. Not there in July discovered large lump in Oct., when you are herceptin positive the breast cancer is aggressive. Herceptin in some women can stop working at some point. I am Er/Pr positive and have tried two different hormone therapies both of which have caused me some side effects, only one more to try. It is not that she is giving me a death sentence, just bein up front that it will return at some point and we treat it again and again. I rather like the fact that she is up front about this. My mother's bc was same as mine only she was 58 when she was diagnosised (I was 52) she lasted 8 years, 5 years with no recurrence, then it came back with a vengence. I have done a lot of research on this and there really is no cure. They can keep us in remission for a long time though, and keep treating it with more effective drugs, but like diabetes it is a chronic disease. Many women who are stage IV go in and out of remission and can live for a long time if recurrence is caught early enough. I hope this answered your question