My Herceptin Approved!

[Tuesday]

Hi,

I've only posted here once, so you don't really know me, but I've got wonerful news. I got a call from the onc clinic today, telling me to come in for an ECHO tomorrow, and that I will begin Herceptin on June 2nd! (That happens to be the first aniversary of my son's death from congestive heart failure due to adriamycin toxicity.) I don't yet know the details of the dose or the length of treatment, but I'll find out next week.

I am a year and a half or so out from initial treatment, so I'm amazed that they've approved it. I have a few questions about resistance and such, but truly believe this offers me the greatest chance against recurrence that I'm gonna get.

Wish me luck on the ECHO tomorrow! (I *think* my heart is fine. It'll be a little hard, though, as I've sat next to my son during ECHOs what seems like a million times. This'll be my first.) It's strange that the dates coincide. I choose to look at it as a sign that maybe at last our family's gonna get a break. We've had some pretty rough times the past ten years or so, and the really difficult stuff seemed never to let up. Parhaps the universe has decided to give me a breather. <g>

If I hadn't been reading here, I would never have asked for the treatment and would have assumed that there was no way MediCal would pay for it, but they are going to. Thank you all for your knowledge, your strength and your persistance, which is what helped me ask for Herceptin.

As usual, please forgive spelling errors--I can't write without a spell checker!

Tuesday

[Cheryl]

Best wishes to you. You have truly been through some of life's most difficult. It is because of this message board that I asked for and will be receiving herceptin too. Would you mind stating your stage etc...? I am still uncertain about insurance approval because of being early stage. We are just going to submit it and pray for the best. Thanks and God Bless!

[Tuesday]

I was Dx'd at a county hospital and, strangely, some path reports there have disappeared, so staging was iffy. I did have the county surgeon's verbal report that right axillary nodes (I had my arm amputated at age 1-1/2 for rhabdomyosarcoma, so some nodes were gone) were "matted, with extracapsular extension." There were tumors in both breasts (3cm & ?cm) and left nodes, though I have trouble finding much on the path report, were, by surgical report, "densely adherent with extra capsular extension."

So-o-o, I'm considered StageIII-A, ER-, weakly PR+, Her2+ by FISH (this reads: "The ratio of HER-2 to CEP17 is >4.0." Can anyone tell me what this means?) and the tumors were both grade 3.

I had bilateral mastectomies, dose dense AC then Taxol followed by rads. I'm not sure when all this ended--I'm really bad at remembering "when" things--but I was just growing a little hair at my son's funeral, June 7th or so, 2004.

Tuesday
(Who dyed her hair purple Friday night for some weird reason. <g>)