Not so good news for me.....

[Esther]

I was sitting in bed watching TV and minding my own business on Mon morning, when I got a call from my Neurosurgeon at Cedars-Sinai. And he starts off by saying the radiation oncologist is there with him....

Well, he was calling to say that after reviewing the MRI taken post surgery about 3 weeks ago, they spotted a tiny 1mm new lesion in my brain stem. They wanted me to come in and consult with the radiation onc on Tuesday.

The options they gave me were Gamma Knife, Modified Linear Accelerator Radiosurgery, WBR. MLAR is given in multiple sessions and is the treatment of choice for delicate areas while minimizing effects on healthy tissue around it. So that is option I chose.

I went in this morning and had an MRI, CAT scan, and was custom fitted for the frame for the treatments. I will have 5 treatments in total beginning next week on Wed. and Fri, then Mon/Wed/Fri of the following week. They got all excited about the Lapatinib option, and said if that wasn't in the picture, they would be recommending WBR, which for me would be my absolute last choice.

I am scheduled to have the MUGA and EKG this Fri, then see my onc on Wed morning next week. I AM getting the lapatinib. My sister and brother have said if insurance does not cover the cost, they are prepared to cover the approx. 42K per year that Lapatinib will cost. So I will be starting the Lapatinib within the next couple of weeks, one way or another.

This is one more unforeseen hurdle to get over....knocked me down for a bit, but I'm re-grouping and doing what I have to do to power through this. Now I'm sincerely hoping that the fact that I've been such a complete responder to Herceptin, may be an indication that I will respond to the Lapatinib as well....One can only hope!!!!