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06-15-2008, 11:00 AM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Stony Mountain, Manitoba, Canada
Posts: 47
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It's completed......
As of June 13th, I am officially completed with Chemo and Radiation ......and who says that Friday the 13th is a bad day??????
I finished the 28th round of rad on that day and then met with my ONC. He stated that I am NED, apparently I have been for awhile but no one mentioned it. I am off Herceptin for ever. I only had 4 rounds and according to the Standard of Care in Canada, once you hold for 2 tx's you are off for good. I have developed heart issuses. My MUGA score has fallen 20%. I see the Cadiologist on June 24th to see what he thinks.
I feel sort of weird, waiting for the next shoe to drop, anti-climaxic so to speak. I guess this is normal. (?)
Any who onward and upward!!!!
I am going to enjoy the summer with my kids and see what the future brings. I am not thinking about going back to work for awhile. I still need time to recoup.
Hugs and kisses to all
__________________
Michelle Dick
" Adversity Reveals your strength"
Dx August 15th/07
Invasive Ductal Carcinoma
ER/PR- negative, HER2- positive
Stage 11 with tumor size 3.5cm, .7cm satelite node
Sx Oct 2nd/07
Skin sparing mastectomy of left breast
immediate reconstruction DIEP flap
Nodes 0/3 Sentinal Node Biopsy
Chemo started Nov, 3 rounds FEC and 3 rounds Taxotere and Herceptin every three weeks
Radiation 28 Tx ended on June 13/08
Herceptin was stopped due to falling MUGA score (went from 62 down to 42)
Cardiologist Appt June 24th
Ramipril 2x/d to protect heart and hopefully increase LVEF
Officially NED
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06-15-2008, 11:53 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Savannah, Georgia
Posts: 301
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Dear Michelle,
Congratulations on your big day! I remember being so excited myself and at the same time very very scared. It was definitely a time I wanted to get past, yet at the same time I was very anxious and in a way felt like a "sitting duck". But time will fly, you will feel more and more like yourself with each passing day, and before you know it will be celebrating anniversaries!
Love, Kelly
__________________
dx'd 05/06, 37 years old
er/pr-, Her2+, grade 3
double mastectomy, immediate reconstruction- implants
Stage 2b, 2 tumors- 2.2 cm and 0.6 cm, 3/5 + nodes
all scans clear
genetic testing- negative
06/06 began dd A/C x 4, 12 weekly Taxols w/ Herceptin
30 rads
Herceptin weekly x 1 year
Herceptin completed 08/07
Port removed 12/26/07 MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!
05/17/08 Two year anniversary NED
"We gain strength, courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... you must do the thing that you think you cannot do."
-Eleanor Roosevelt
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06-15-2008, 01:14 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Marengo, IL
Posts: 518
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Michelle,
Congrats on being finished!
It is very normal to feel "weird, waiting for the next shoe to drop, anti climaxic". Your life has revolved around treatment, especially with radiation being daily for many, many weeks. Then boom it is all over. Does it help to know many of us have felt the same way? Enjoy your freedom!
Sorry you are dealing with heart issues. I am hoping things will get better with time.
Good luck and enjoy the summer with your kids.
Donna
__________________
Donna
Crystal Lake, IL
Diagnosed 8/4/06 at age 54
Lumpectomy 8/30/06
Stage llA, grade 3, ER/PR-, Her2++
1.7 cm tumor, 1+ lymph node out of 9
Completed 4 A/C, & 4 Taxol with Herceptin
36 rads completed 5/16/07
Mammograms, 7/07 clear
fractured ribs in radiated area 10/07
Finished Herceptin 12/27/07
Mammogram,CT,tumor markers 1/08 - small lung nodules in radiated area, repeated tests 3/08 stable
Mammogram,CT ,tumor markers 6/08 stable
NED 2 years!!
3 years !!!
4years!!!!
4 years, 10 months and 8 day NED, calling it 5 years!!!
Official 5 years 8/30/2011
8/31/ 2012 - 6 years!!!!!!
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06-15-2008, 02:55 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: WA State
Posts: 199
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So glad to hear more good news on this board. It's always wonderful when treatment is completed and there is no more disease. Enjoy the summer and take care,
Cindy
__________________
Cindy
L/IDC, 1.2 cm, Stage 1, Her2+, ER+/PR+ at age 48
4/15/2008 Lumpectomy + sentinel node biopsy
Margins neg and Nodes neg (2 tested)
MUGA score 55 on 5/6/2008
Treatment starting 05/08/2008:
Chemo 4 cycles, 3 weeks apart with Taxotere & Cytoxan - Chemo - Done 7/24/2008!
Herceptin for 1 year
Radiation starting in 9/2008
MUGA score 61.9 on 9/04/2008
33 Rads with boost - Done 10/13/2008
MUGA score 58 on 12/01/2008
MUGA score 59 on 3/16/2009
Herceptin for 1 year - Done 4/27/2009
MUGA score 64 on 6/22/2009
All scans - NED 6/24/2009
MRI - NED 11/10/2009
All scans - Still NED 8/25/2011
Still NED 2017!
I am calling this my pink journey
Follow my journey into the pink at my blog here
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06-15-2008, 04:45 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Stayton, Oregon
Posts: 69
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Michelle,
I remember when I finished treatment I felt sort of in limbo. I had been having weekly treatments for over a year. The treatments nurses were always a source of comfort and you knew you were actively making yourself better and when it all goes away so does your security blanket so to speak. Enjoy your summer with your children and recoup. If you have questions or fears, you can always come to this site and there will always be someone to comfort you. All my best, NanaKaren
__________________
Dx 7-21-05
1.7 cm invasive ductal carcinoma
Her2 +3 strongly positive
micromet in sentinel node
Sept.05 Lt.lumpectomy/bilat.reduction
Oct.05 4 rounds of AC/12 rounds of Taxol with Herceptin
Radiation 5 weeks
Herceptin only until Jan.07
Started Femara-stopped
Started Aromisin-stopped
Currently on Arimidex with a great deal of pain
Stopped Arimidex
Taking Tamoxifen
Karen
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06-15-2008, 04:54 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Cordoba, Mexico
Posts: 672
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Congratulations Michelle and enjoy your summer in beautiful Canada!!
Paty
__________________
Dx. June 30th, 2006 at age 43
Lumpectomy rt breast
2.2 cm tumor, 13 nodes all negative
ER-PR+,her2+++
6 FAC
32 Rads
Dx. Lung fibrosis due to radiation
Ended 1 year herceptin in March, 2008
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06-15-2008, 05:36 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Carmel, Indiana
Posts: 98
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Michelle,
Congratulations! Please keep us up to date - we don't want to lose touch! Best of luck!
Love,
Beth
__________________
DX 9-19-07 at age 40
DCIS, Inv. Duct. Car. 3 cm
Positive lymph node biopsy
Er+Pr+Her+++
Carboplatin/Taxotere/Herceptin
10-1-07 -- 1-16-08
Herceptin every 3 weeks until 9/24/08
Lump. and node dissection 2-12-08
BRCA1 and 2 negative
30 rads finished 4-23-08
oophorectomy 5-6-08
Femara started 5/25/08
Zometa for osteoporosis every 6 mo. started 9-24-08
Married 16 years!
3 kids - daughter (10), twin sons (7)
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06-15-2008, 05:49 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Hilo, Hawaii
Posts: 1,867
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Michelle, congratulations on a job well done!! Enjoy your summer with a clear mind knowing you made the best decisions and went 110% to your goal!!
*peace*
Maryanne
__________________
*** MARYANNE *** aka HARRIECANARIE
1993: right side DCIS, lumpectomy, rads
1999: left side DCIS, lumpectomy, rads, tamoxifen
2006:
BRCA 2 positive
Stage I, invasive DCIS (6mm x 5mm)
Grade: intermediate
sentinal node biopsy: neg
HER2/neu amplified 4.7
ER+/PR+
TOPO II neg
Oncotype dx 20
Bilat mastectomy with DIEP flap reconstruction
oophorectomy
2007:
6 cycles TCH (taxotere, carboplatin, herceptin)
finished 1 yr herceptin 05/07
Arimidex, stopped after almost 1 yr
Femara
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06-15-2008, 07:42 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,851
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Michelle,
"Lucky" you that you're finished with the treatment. Your muga score should come back up soon. Enjoy the summer with your kids.
Joan
__________________
Diagnosed stage 2b in July 2003 (2.3 cm, HER2+, ER-/PR-, 7+ nodes). Treated with mastectomy (with immediate DIEP flap reconstruction), AC + T/Herceptin (off label). Cancer advanced to lung in Jan. 2007 (1 cm nodule). Started Herceptin every 3 weeks. Lung wedge resection April 2007. Cancer recurred in lung April 2008. RFA of lung in August 2008. 2nd annual brain MRI in Oct. 2008 discovered 2.6 cm cystic tumor in left frontal lobe. Craniotomy Oct. 2008 (ER-/PR-/HER2-) followed by targeted radiation (IMRT). Coughing up blood Feb. 2009. Thoractomy July 2009 to cut out fungal ball of common soil fungus (aspergillus) that grew in the RFA cavity (most likely inhaled while gardening). No cancer, only fungus. Removal of tiny melanoma from upper left arm, plus sentinel lymph node biopsy in Feb. 2016. Guardant Health liquid biopsy in Feb. 2016 showed mutations in 4 subtypes of TP53. Repeat of Guardant Health biopsy in Jana. 2021 showed 3 TP53 mutations, BRCA1 mutation and CHEK2 mutation. Invitae genetic testing showed negative for all of these. Living with MBC since 2007. Stopped Herceptin Hylecta (injection) treatment in March 2020. Recent 2021 annual CT of chest, abdomen and pelvis and annual brain MRI showed NED. Praying for NED forever!!
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06-15-2008, 08:52 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: indianapolis, indiana
Posts: 1,544
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Congratulations! It might take a while for all side effects to go completely away but you're done. I'm glad for you.
__________________
dxd 9-04, lumpectomy,
st 1, gr 3, er,pr-, her2 +,
2 tac,33 rads,6 cmf
1 yr herceptin,
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06-15-2008, 09:07 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 2,077
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Congratulations, Michelle! You go have a great summer and tell Pinkie I said Hi next time you see her. She knows everyone up there. Best wishes, Bill
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06-16-2008, 04:07 AM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Sheboygan, WI
Posts: 2,582
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Hi Michelle,
How happy you must be? The feeling of being "finished" feels so good. Just knowing you "made it" through it all gives a person much to be thankful for.
The "waiting for the other shoe to drop" feeling is normal. Unfortunately, very normal. We all kind of feel like..........." well it happened to me once, why wouldn't it happen to me again......" unfortunately, that thinking is normal too as we leave treatment behind us.
I'll never forget while I was going through treatment that my onc. told me that going through treatment was the easy part and leaving treatment behind and learning to live with a cancer diagnosis was the hard part. Of course I thought she was nuts when she told me that (I was in the middle of treatment) but she was right (she was a cancer survivor also - so she "got it").
As Kelly said "soon you'll be counting anniversaries" and yes, you will learn to live with this diagnosis. As you are planning on doing................enjoy your summer with your kids!!!!!!!!!!!! It's your "NOW" time. Wake up each day with a thankful heart and live each day to the fullest. Make each moment count - love others and live, live, live.............................................. .....
Love to you and I'm so happy for you,
Mary Jo
__________________
"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10
Dx. 6/24/05 age 45 Right Breast IDC ER/PR. Neg., - Her2+++ RB Mast. - 7/28/05 - 4 cm. tumor Margins clear - 1 microscopic cell 1 sent. node No Vasucular Invasion 4 DD A/C - 4 DD Taxol & Herceptin 1 full year of Herceptin received every 3 weeks 28 rads prophylactic Mast. 3/2/06
17 Years NED
<>< Romans 8:28
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06-16-2008, 05:35 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: moved to Lancaster, Pa in June, 2010
Posts: 576
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Congrats Michelle! Enjoy your summer, your kids and living life!!!!
__________________
Debbie in North Carolina
Diag 10/2006-high grade invasive ductal carcinoma- mastectomy L breast
2.5 cm tumor ER/PR pos-Her2+++
4 rounds A/C, 4 rounds Taxol
Herceptin every 3 weeks until Jan. 2008
6/18/07 prophylatic mastectomy R breast
8/2007 started aromasin/stopped arimidex (side effects)
12/07 stopped aromasin due to side effects (now what?)
Finished herceptin 1/8/08
started tamoxifen for 2 years then will switch to femera
allergic to tamoxifen started femera 4/2008
June 20, 2008 portacath removed
Learnig to live life to the fullest!
Stopped Femera due to side effects
July 28, 2008 start trial for breast cancer vaccine
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