Eric & Caryn~
I'm so sorry you guys are going through this! This discovery is a scary period, but hang in there, you'll find your way & we are all here to help! You've already gotten some great advice & I just want to reinforce all the great stuff that's been mentioned above & contribute my thoughts & prayers.
Like Irene, my disease has followed a strange and convoluted path. Distal mets, local recurrence, multiple methods of treatment-chemo, RFA, liver resection. NED here & there...Inspite of it all, we are both, like many here, not just LIVING, but THRIVING.
I never abandoned Herceptin. My docs & I like to ponder the thought that the Herceptin has helped control & minimize my disease recurrence & progression. But each time we needed to, we added Taxol , the lesion would melt away, then it was Herceptin solo again. TH has been my "Magic Cocktail" -maybe Gemzar+Herceptin is Caryn's.
It is a hard decision to make-go back to what you know worked before, but what if it doesn't work again and the disease progresses? Or try something new...but what if
it doesn't work, and the disease progresses? Not to metion, I'm sure Caryn's gotten quite accustomed to having hair again...It would be such a bummer to lose it AGAIN...It always is, regardless of how many times you've already been bald
The first time my single liver met recurred this is what we did:
Weekly TH x 2 weeks, RFA the lesion, then weekly TH x 2 weeks
My hair thinned a bit, but nothing I couldn't work around. Unfortunately, inspite of the RFA, the spot did pop up again - BUT that is b/c the lesion was so close to the main portal vein that they couldn't get a good burn radius around the spot. As Irene says, Caryn's circumstances (location of lesion) could be totally different and this option is certainly one worth checking out.
Liver resection (aka partial hepatectomy) is also an option. It's a big surgery & docs don't like to jump into it lightly-My docs watched me for a year, on & off chemo, b/c we had to be confident that the disease was truly isolated to that single met. Like Irene, my liver's been NED ever since too
. KK1 recently had the same surgery & she's recovering beautifully, as did I & we've been talking about how to get her back into shape for skiing!
Keep the Faith, Eric. There are still so many options to explore.
Hugs & comfort to you both~