A Good Day but a Sad Day

[Sheila]

What a day! Talk about the good the bad and the ugly!

THE UGLY:
Left home at 5am to drive to Chicago in super dense fog, got pulled over by the police...one headlight was out on my VW BUG...glad no one was out to see me in the funeral home parking lot with all the lights flashing!

The GOOD:
Got an Excellent report...I am 2 1/2 weeks into Tykerb with the Herceptin and the palpable nodes in my neck are down to half the size or better...1 prominent is almost gone, the axillary node is barely palpable now and the tightness in the chest, side and throat from all the other enlarged chest nodes is pretty much gone...no more taking the bra off while trying to leave the grocery store parking lot! (I was seriously that uncomfortable).
This should give hope to anyone who has not had this combo...it was worth the fight!!!!!

The BAD / SAD :
Today was a tearful goodbye to my oncologist, who has managed me and this disease for almost 8 years....has kept my Mother a survivor for 23 years, and was more than just a Dr., she was a friend. She has spent her life bettering treatments, outcomes and patients of this awful disease, and is a breast cancer survivor herself! She assisted in pioneering the early clinical trials of Herceptin, and is mentioned in the book, Her 2, The making of Herceptin. She was a Professor of Medicine and a Professor of Oncology, and the Chair Person for the Brian Piccolo Foundation....I will be seeing her collegue, who is amazing, and I am lucky to be getting her, but tonight, I am feeling sad, and yet I know how lucky I have been for the last almost 8 years to call her "MY ONCOLOGIST, My friend."