[sandywc]

Hi All,

My best friend has had a reoccurrence (the third) of her breast cancer. She is HR2 positive and this is her third year since diagnosed. She had some node involvement and it first came back in the same breast. That's when they tested her and found she has the HR2 gene expression. She has been on Navelbine and Herceptin since, and was doing fine until last April when suddenly she became ill and they found a pretty good sized brain tumor on her brain stem. She had surgery and radiation. Somewhere in between she got spinal meningitis from the brain surgery and was very ill. She really hasn't gotten back from all of that and she still has nausea and vomiting, yet the only treatment at the moment is Herceptin. Now she has another lymph node involved near her neck and has been told that she will have an 8 week course of Avastin, Taxol and Paraplatin. I worry so much because she has already been nauseous and lost 30 pounds.

Has anyone had this treatment who might be able to tell me if the side effects were really bad? I'm going to fly out and visit her soon.

Thanks for any information,
Sandy in California