Mary - Tierrasanta in San Diego
09-10-2004, 09:04 PM
For those of you who are new I will add a little background. Was diagnosed with stage IV infiltrating lobular carcinoma pleomorphic type in January last year. 11 cm in left breast. 6x4x2 cm biopsy but no other surgery. Numerous bone mets. Started Herceptin the day before adding Taxotere and I could tell that night that it was working. Bone mets were soon gone. At last test only 1cm remaining in left breast. All fall last year I kept asking for a brain MRI but onc would not order one because I had no symptoms. Finally he gave in in March. Called me as soon as he saw the result and told me to come in that day and go downstairs to radiology for WBR. Said he had never seen anything so bad (assume he meant without symptoms). Too many mets to count with the largest one in the back of my head at 2.8cm (and yes, I do mean cm.!). When I had the first MRI after radiation my radiologist told me that it was not good news and the radiation had not worked as well as hoped and that I should plan on not being around much more than 6 mo. or a year. Said that largest met was still 2.2 cm. I felt too good to believe that so I took my films to a radiologist at a different hospital thanks to a wonderful referral by Christine. He showed me the films and said he did not know what the other guy was looking at. I saw it myself. Largest met was 1.4 cm. at most. He is now my new radiologist! Will have another MRI the end of Oct. or the beginning of Nov. New radiologist said that when the shrinking stops we might do gammaknife but that if I continue doing so well the mets may all disappear. Some of them are gone already. Hope that the rest of you in my situation do as well. I feel great and look forward to continuing to rescue dogs for years. Have to give a lot of the credit to my husband who has never lost faith that I will be joining the group that have met NED. Glad that he has never been a jealous man!