Hi gang

[Joy]

I have missed you all. I had to take a break for two reasons. The first because I was without internet again (those bills, you know) and because I just needed a cancer break-duh-don't we all.

I have been on Tykerb and Herceptin for about a month and have had very few side effects. Really just perpectually dry mouth, nose, eyes and some pain and dryness in my hands.

I had my first markers and cmp drawn last week and got the results yesterday. I am pretty pleased and would love to hear what you guys think. My CA 27.29 ,which has been fairly accurate for me to my chagrin at times, dropped from 340 to 274. My alk phos which was quite high for awhile is dropping and is now 272-still high, but it has been much higher. And my alt/ast are stable at just slightly above normal.

Unfortunately, i can be so jaded that I hesitate to get too excited. But I am happy. I am also happy to see the new developments that have appeared on our site for HER2.

I am guessing that if I am responding to Tykerb and Herceptin in the liver, then I am still HER 2 positive in those sites. Would you agree?

My kids are good. The twelve year old daughter is, of course, acting like a 12 year old and that is challenging. Sure brings back some ugly memories of my own battles with my mom at that age. My 10 year old still mostly thinks I am pretty great and does what I ask. Every once in a while I see a bit of what I call "snot factor". It can be so disappointing when you try so hard to raise nice people and these bits of ick start to surface. I bite my tongue a lot because what I want to say sometimes is quite snotty itself, but...I don't say those things. At least not until I talk to my friends with their own 12 years olds.

I hope to write more soon, but I am plugging away at a huge to do list today and don't want to get caught up in computer land. I am so happy to read about some recent triumphs and good results. I have been praying along with you all every day for all of us.

Thanks for being here!