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08-21-2007, 09:57 AM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 600
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Winning the lottery, metaphorically speaking
I met with my oncologist yesterday for the first time since my mastectomy Aug.9. I am just beginning to feel better. I am having problems with tightness in my shoulder and arm and have been cranky because I have had a lowgrade fever that comes and goes and really bad chills. I do feel better today and hopefully tomorrow I will get my staples out and maybe the drains. To get to my point. The pathology report showed nothing in either the breast or any of the lymph nodes. My oncologist is wonderful and though English is not his first language he is very creative in getting his point across. Don't get me wrong, his English is very good. He just approaches things differently. He sat and looked at the results for a moment or two after I made a silly joke about losing a perfectly good breast, he is very serious and I tend not to be. Then he told me that in a percentage of women, that have the neoadjuvant treatment, the cancer seems to melt away. In his words, I may have won the lottery. We will still have to watch my liver,etc. While mine wasn't really meant to be neoadjuvant, it seems to have worked that way. In addition, all the scans they have done recently have been negative. So I am beginning to feel very lucky and very blessed.
Leslie
__________________
In the world of destiny, there are no statistics.
Jan. 26- mammogram and ultrasound- suspicious lump
Mid-February- lumpectomy, infiltrating ductal carcinoma ~4.5 cm and a 1 cm DCIS, did not get clear margins, did not check lymph nodes
ER+/PR+, her2 +++, nuclear grade 3 of 3
February 20-PET scan showed something on liver. No biopsy.
March- Started carboplatin, herceptin, taxol on a four week cycle
May 3- Pet scan, with intent to do a biopsy, found nothing, liver or breast- no biopsy because there is nothing to biopsy
June 21- new onc, very concerned that there had been no biopsy,
June 18th-CAT scan, bone scan-negative
August 7th - Brain MRI-negative
August 9th- mastectomy, all pathology negative
January 2008 still NED! New oncologist -herceptin for full year after chemo- until July, and tamoxifen---negative scans since May '07
July 2008-Finished Herceptin!
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08-21-2007, 11:37 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Ohio
Posts: 212
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Leslie, what wonderful news! Thanks for sharing--maybe you should go buy a lottery ticket now??
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Audrey
diagnosed July 2001, at age 36
large tumor, 11+ nodes
Stage IIIb, er/pr-, Her2+
treated with A/C, weekly Taxol
radiation, + year of Herceptin
on clinical trial. double mastectomy
followed by reconstruction
NED!!
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08-21-2007, 07:02 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Greendale, WI
just outside Milwaukee
Posts: 211
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Leslie, I hope you have nothing but negative reports from here on in. Looks like your body really responds well to therapy. What wonderful news. I am so happy for you. Peace be with you. Karen
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04/05 Onset 49, DCIS, solid, Hist 2/3, Nucl 2/3, 7cm R Brst
04/05 E & P + HER2+++
05/05 Mediport
05/05 Cytoxan & Adriamycin every 3wk x4
08/05 Taxol every 2wk x 4, Herceptin every wk x1yr
10/05 Bilat Mast - my Choice
10/05 3/19 lymph nodes Pos, Stage IIIa
11/05 Rad x 37 Rx, R Brst & Axcilla
02/06 Herceptin stopped (L vent HF 40)
03/06 Started & Stoped Arimidex after 2 mos.-QOL side effects
05/06 Started Tamoxafin
06/06 Bilat Free Flap Reconstruction
12/06 Cardiomyopathy reversed-HF normal
01/07 Bilat Saline Implants
07/07 CA 27-29 steadily rising from 28 in 12/06 to 46 in 7/07
07/07 PET Scan NED, but inflamation at prev surg site.
09/07 Started Femara
10/07 CA 27-29 down to 39
06/08 CA 27-29 down to 32
09/08 Lg joint pain & QOL side effects from Femara, will live w/ to keep CA markers within normal range.
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08-21-2007, 07:41 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Bakersfield, CA
Posts: 38
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Leslie - that's great news! And your description of your doctor brings to mind Robin Williams' character in 9 months when he played an OBGYN...LOL
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 Age 33 at dx - 9/15/06
L breast, Invasive solid DC w/ extensive DCIS, Grade 3, ER/PR negative/ HER2 neu positive (barely)
-AC DD, taxotere, taxol w/ herceptin
-Bi lat 1/18/07, multiple foci of IDC admixed with DCIS, IDC varied from 0.1, 0.5, and up to 1.6 cm, 1/19 + nodes
Expanders in place
Pregnant when dx
Mom to 4 beautiful kiddos (boys: 5 and 14 mos, girls: 17 and 3)
Recurrence in neck lymph node and 8mm spot in L breast above expander, herceptin stopped
BRCA 1 positive
Clinical trial since 7/23/07 (PARP INHIBITOR)-NED for 9 months, supraclavicle node popped back up,..so we cut it out! Full neck dissection - only 1 positive node ER/PR negative and now HER2 negative
Currently on Xeloda and NED
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