Yuka, results of two national trials regarding adjuvant herceptin were recently released at the ASCO meeting. The addition of herceptin to standard chemotherapy significantly reduces the risk of recurrence (up to 53%). You should be able to find plenty of information about adjuvant herceptin by poking around on this site.
What your doctor is recommended is considered "neoadjuvant" treatment--chemotherapy followed by surgery. Adjuvant treatment is chemotherapy after surgery. Dr. Buzdar at M.D. Anderson in Texas conducted a clinical trial using herceptin along with standard chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant setting. He halted the trials when it became clear that the addition of herceptin in neoadjuvant treatment was clearly superior. In the majority of patients, as I recall, tumors completely disappeared when herceptin was added. Here is a link to the trial information:
http://www.docguide.com/news/content.nsf/n...5256FD40070EAAB
I would strongly recommend you consider adding herceptin to your neoadjuvant regimen.
Best wishes, Mary