[Leslie's sister]

Hello everyone.

I'm new to this board. I have been reading your posts for about a month now and have really learned a lot.. Thank you so much. My name is Lisa. My younger sister, Leslie, was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 06. It has been a life-altering event to say the least. I'm still devastated about her diagnosis and have spent countless hours researching breast cancer and treatment options for her. She is Stage II, Her2Neu+++, ER-, PR-, and 1 positive node. I can't explain how hard it was to read her pathology report and read the words unfavorable after almost every marker. But then we learned about Herceptin and that is the medical hope that we hang on to. I have told her about your site but she can't bear to read much about her cancer so she relies on me for information. Which brings me to my questions. She is struggling so much right now emotionally and has been for about a month. She started on Ativan and she called it the "I don't care" drug. It worked for a while but then she started feeling more and more anxious and attributed it to the Ativan. She had heard from someone else with cancer that Zoloft was a good drug. So about a week and a half after her 2nd chemo treatment, she stopped Ativan cold turkey and started Zoloft, hoping to end the anxious feelings that she was having. Well within 24 hours she was sick. For about a week she felt bad. We figured out that quitting Ativan cold turkey was not good because it works for nausea as well. Also she had Zofran but was not taking it. She has started that now as well. Anyhow, she feels better now and just had her 3rd chemo on Wed. We are praying that she will fare better this time. Question #1- is anyone on Zoloft and if so how long before you could feel the effects of it? She has been on it two weeks and feels no different. She feels hopeless in the morning as well as anxious and depressed. Towards the end of the day she pulls out of it only to start the entire process over again the next day. (She still takes Ativan, along with Zoloft)
Question #2-Does each chemo treatment get progressively harder or should she level out? (Her Chemo is TCH) She did so well after chemo treatment #1 but #2 was awful.

Lastly, Leslie is so sad and I want more than anything for her to feel hope again. She is so worried about leaving her children 16 and 12. I hate to see her hurting as much as she does. She cries everyday. I want to do everything to help her I can. I have been to every doctor's appointment, every chemo treatment, handled insurance approvals. I have done everything I can think of. I am on the Internet at least an hour every day researching. I don't want to miss anything that might help her, cure her. She has a strong love of the Lord but isn't leaning on Him like she normally would. She has isolated herself from everyone other than her immediate family. She loves being involved with her children's activities but she can't bear to face people and answer questions. She hates that she has lost her hair and esp. doesn't want to face people she knows other than immediate family in a wig so her depression gets worse because she chooses not to do the things that she used to enjoy doing. Did anyone get this low emotionally and if so how can I help her? If you are on Zoloft do you think that is enough for her level of depression?
I’m sorry this is so long. Thank you all again for such a wonderful site