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CoolBreeze · 08-19-2014, 07:55 PM

Herceptin/Perjeta IS a miracle for me, but it wasn't an instant miracle. It took a year.

It took me a full year to hear the word NED, and that was after years of dealing with metastatic cancer growing in my liver. I had even cut out half my liver to rid myself of this disease and it grew back. So I never expected to even hear NED, I was just trying to stay alive a bit longer. I started Perjeta (had been on Herceptin for almost 4 years) last August and cancer was still there up until recently, it just became inactive. My second to last scan, my cancer had not grown but had not shrunk either. (Not growing was all I hoped for).

Then I had one a couple months ago..... and now there is nothing there! Was I ever surprised!

It has only been a couple months for you, way too early to expect miracles. Give it time. If your cancer is not progressing, you are ahead of the game.

This is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to conserve your energy and expect that things will take time. It seems that you are not metastatic, right? Well, if you are still not metastatic, you are a winner! And, you'll be more of a winner as time goes by. Next June you may hear the words you want to hear - remission.

I have many many friends in the cancer world and many of them are now dead. They were the most positive, wonderful people I knew. So don't believe that you must always be positive. Sure, it is good to be hopeful and it is also normal to be discouraged. Life is easier when doing grueling cancer treatments if you can put it in perspective but we all have many moments of despair and that's normal. But in this case, you are too early to be worried it hasn't worked. It still may be your miracle.

*hugs*

08-19-2014, 07:55 PM	#4
CoolBreeze Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 562	Re: New Here & Need Words of Wisdom Herceptin/Perjeta IS a miracle for me, but it wasn't an instant miracle. It took a year. It took me a full year to hear the word NED, and that was after years of dealing with metastatic cancer growing in my liver. I had even cut out half my liver to rid myself of this disease and it grew back. So I never expected to even hear NED, I was just trying to stay alive a bit longer. I started Perjeta (had been on Herceptin for almost 4 years) last August and cancer was still there up until recently, it just became inactive. My second to last scan, my cancer had not grown but had not shrunk either. (Not growing was all I hoped for). Then I had one a couple months ago..... and now there is nothing there! Was I ever surprised! It has only been a couple months for you, way too early to expect miracles. Give it time. If your cancer is not progressing, you are ahead of the game. This is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to conserve your energy and expect that things will take time. It seems that you are not metastatic, right? Well, if you are still not metastatic, you are a winner! And, you'll be more of a winner as time goes by. Next June you may hear the words you want to hear - remission. I have many many friends in the cancer world and many of them are now dead. They were the most positive, wonderful people I knew. So don't believe that you must always be positive. Sure, it is good to be hopeful and it is also normal to be discouraged. Life is easier when doing grueling cancer treatments if you can put it in perspective but we all have many moments of despair and that's normal. But in this case, you are too early to be worried it hasn't worked. It still may be your miracle. hugs __________________ http://butdoctorihatepink.com 08/17/09 Dx'd. Multifocal/multicentric IDC, largest 3.4 cm, associated ADH, LCIS, DCIS HER2+ ER+/PR- Grade 3, Node Negative 10/20/2009: Right mastectomy, reconstruction with TE 12/02/2009: Six rounds TCH, switched to Taxol halfway through due to neuropathy 03/31/2010: Finished chemo 05/01/2010: Began tamoxifen, the worst drug ever 11/18/2010: Reconstruction completed 12/02/2010: Finished herceptin 05/21/2011: Liver Mets. Quit Tamoxifen 06/22/2011: Navelbine/Zometa/Herceptin 10/03/2011: Liver Resection, left lobe. Microwave ablation, right lobe - going for cure! 11/26/2011: C-Diff Superbug Infection, "worst case doctor had seen in 20 years" 03/28/2012: Progression in ablated section of the liver - no more cure. Started Abraxane, continue herceptin/zometa 10/10/2012: Progression continues, started Halaven, along with herceptin and zometa. 01/15/2013: Progression continues, started Gemzar and Perjeta, an unusual combo, continuing with herceptin and zometa 03/13/2013: Quit Gemzar, body just won't handle it. Staying on herceptin, zometa and perjeta. 04/03/2013: CT shows 50% regression in tumor, so am starting back on Gemzar with dose reduction, staying with perjeta/herceptin/zometa. Can't argue with success! 05/09/2013: Discussing SBRT with Radiology due to inability of bone marrow to recover from chemo. 06/07/2013: Fiducial placement for SBRT 07/03/2013: Chemo discontinued, on Perjeta, Herceptin and Zometa alone 07/25/2013: SBRT (gamma knife) begins 08/01/2013: SBRT completed 08/15/2013: STABLE! continuing with Perjeta, Herceptin, Zometa 06/18/2014: *** NED!!!!*** continuing with Perjeta, Herceptin, Zometa 01/29/2014: Still NED. continuing with Perjeta, Herceptin. Zometa lowered to every 3 months instead of monthly. 11/08/2015: Progression throughout abdomen and lungs. Started TDM-1, aka Kadcyla. Other meds discontinued. Remission was nice while it lasted. 5/27/18: Stable. Kadcyla put me right back in the barn. I have two teeny spots on my lungs that are metabolically inactive, and liver is clean. I’m beating this MFer. I was 51 when this started and had two kids, 22 and 12. Now I’m 60. My oldest got married and trying to start s family. My youngesg graduates from Caltech this June. My stepdaughter gave me grandkids. Life is fantastic.