Val,

Hope all is going reasonably well.

Did your insurance balk at paying for the quarterly H?

I think it makes a lot of sense.

TRS

Hi Val! I'm sorry to hear about this most recent development. Please know that you're in my thoughts and prayers, peace and love to you, Bill

Thank you so much to each of you for your kind thoughts and words! I am expecting that the surgery will go very well and that the pathology will show no need for further treatment -- other than continuing the quarterly Herceptin. I may consider doing the Herceptin every three weeks again for awhile if the pathology shows that these cells are also Her2+. We'll see. I also may take another look at Tykerb.

And no, the insurance company didn't balk at the quarterly Herceptin. I am a member of a wonderful local HMO (and the last two years I have also worked there :-) But the first time I went though this I didn't work there and they were wonderful then too.

Val

Sorry you have to go through this again, but glad that you caught it early. I'll keep you in my prayers.

The surgery was yesterday, and it went very well. The good news is that the sentinel node was clear, so no chemo or radiation this time, which is great news!

Val

That's terrific news, Val!! I am so happy that this was found early and you don't need further tx. Have you decided on your quarterly herceptin?

Big Hugs,
Lexi

Val, that's such great news! Yahoo!

Thanking God for this wonderful news for you Val. My heart is rejoicing with yours.

Gentle hugs and Peace I send,

Mary Jo

Val,

That's wonderful news!

Joan

Hi Val! Thank God for the good news! Thanks for sharing it with us.

Wonderful news Val.....now you can get back to writing!

New cancer found in remaining breast
 

Cancer is sneaky. I am glad you caught it early. I don't blame you for wanting to continue some kind of therapy especially after the sneaky cancer snuck up on you. Hopefully the surgery will take care of it. Take care and hang in there.

Lexi, you asked what I have decided about the quarterly Herceptin. I'm pretty sure that I will continue with it quarterly. I called my oncologist yesterday and told him what has been going on (I hadn't talked to him since the new cancer was discvered, so I thought it was time to bring him into the loop). We chatted for awhle; he mentioned that at ASCO this year a study was presented that combined the post-tx Herceptin (triple dose every three weeks) with a lower dose of Tykerb. He knows that I have been following and thinking about Tykerb for long time, but previously I had decided to save Tykerb for a "rainy day."

I have an appointment with him on th 17th. By then I will have the pathology report on my new cancer cells. For some reason they never ran the Her2 or the ER/PR path tests on the biopsy sample, so I have to wait for the path results on the tissue they removed during the mastectomy (that really ticked me off...what a bone-headed thing to do). So when I know for sure that the new cells were also Her2 then I can make a better decision.

If the new cells are Her2+, then I will most certainly stay with at least the quarterly Herceptin. Unless someone tells me differently, I don't believe that mets travel to the other breast, so this is a new primary site. There wasn't evidence of cancer in the nodes, so theoretically my situation hasn't really changed. So I guess I could decide to go back to triple doses every three weeks and add the low dose Tykerb, but since things aren't really that different, I may stick with what I'm doing.

If any of you have any other thoughts, please let me know :-)

Val

Dear Val -
You answered the question I was going to post.
What is the pathology of the new tumor?
Guess you will post that when you know.
In your signature you did not give the GRADE of you first tumor. Mine was high/3 and moved fast.

If it is still HER2, I would tend toward stepping up the frequency of Herceptin. Since you were only getting it quarterly, that leaves you some time between treatments that you are unprotected, giving the cancer time to do its sneaky thing.

And you don't KNOW that there are no micromets in the nodes or remaining tissue. Even though it is considered a new primary, the cancer remained active and did not develop in a vacuum.

Hope you have a great weekend and get in a little fun!