Paul....how is your mother?

[Vi]

I'm just wondering how your mother is coming along? I know you've added so much to this site with your research and knowledge, and just wanted to know how your mother is doing...she is so lucky to have you by her side.

[Paul]

Dear Vi (and Vicki Z & Vicki),

Thank you for asking about my mom. She is doing quite well. We're in the process of scheduling her for an annual MRI brain scan and FDG-PET scan. As you well know, this is an extremely anxious time for her as well as the entire family. All things considered, she's doing great. She realizes that "information is power" in terms of prevention and treatment strategy -- albeit at the persistent prompting of her son and daughters.

The educational information allowed mom to see clearly that the most sophisticated breast cancer research advances (including drug development) are in the area of HER-2 positive breast cancer.

The researchers are really beginning to look inside the human cell and better understand the various biological and chemical "pathways" or "streets" through which cancer must pass to proliferate. If you can block those critical streets through the use of a targeted drug(s), you can delay or stop the cancer. The remaining trick is to block those streets efficiently and effectively so as not to create a traffic jam for normal cells.

After performing a considerable amount of HER-2 positive breast cancer research over the past 30 months, I have no doubt that today and tomorrow are constantly getting brighter for HER-2 positive breast cancer patients such as my mom.

Warmest regards,

Paul

[eric]

Paul,

Glad to hear your mother is doing so well and I will pray for clean test results, whatever that may be worth!

Best, Eric

[Paul]

Hi Eric,

Your kind words mean a lot! I also want to wish you and Caryn great success with the Gemzar/Herceptin combination. Our entire family is keeping Caryn in our thoughts and prayers. We know she will succeed. Please extend our best to her.

Paul

[Vi]

Glad to hear things are going well...good luck with the tests and keep us posted. Also, thanks so much for your input -- you have a knack for compressing large amounts of information into succinct summaries. Thanks for sharing.