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Kavy · 07-07-2007, 02:12 AM

Flori,
I am so sorry you got this news, and I do understand how you must be feeling right now. It is very scary changes in treatment, but the change might be better for you. I am also Stage 4 with mets to liver and lungs. I had Taxotere/Herceptin for 6 months, and I was stable, nothing growing, but nothing get smaller either. Then my doctor decided to change treatment to Nalvabine/Herceptin. I was very disappointed, nervous and scared, but now I am glad he did, because my several small liver lesions are gone, and the small nodules in my both lungs are almost gone too, I just have one less than 1 cm nodule that is fading, and a stable lymph node. So this chemo is working better for me than the other one, and maybe this new combo will be better for you than with Xeloda. I understand your worry about not getting Herceptin, but Carboplatin and Gemzar are powerful drugs, I think more powerful than Nalvabine alone, and Tykerb is supposed to be better than Herceptin. If your doctor believes he can bring you to NED with this combo, why don't you give it a try? I am sure he will keep a very close look at your tumor markers, and you ask him to have scans again sooner. You can always go back to herceptin if this new treatment does not work for you. But you need to strongly think that it WILL work, and that you WILL go back to NED.
Flori, we all cancer patients, specially us Stage 4, want to wake up from this nightmare that we are living, and get our lives back to normal. But the only thing we can do is take one day at a time, and try to live our new "normal" life the best that we can, enjoy every moment, don't think too much, and fight with all we have. We will have our ups and downs, but we need to keep fighting always, doing nothing is not an option for us. Besides,you have a lot of treatment options to try. I also hate having to go almost every week to get my infusion, and I look forward for my week off, but now this is part of my new "normal life", and I got used to that. Now if my counts are low and I cannot have chemo for 2 weeks in a row, I get worried. Once you find the right chemo for you, the infusions and side effects will be a small price to pay for its benefits. You will get used to that too, we all do. Hang in there, and do not give up. Things WILL get better for you.
Praying for a great chemo response this time.
A big hug,
Karla V.

07-07-2007, 02:12 AM	#14
Kavy Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 157	Flori, I am so sorry you got this news, and I do understand how you must be feeling right now. It is very scary changes in treatment, but the change might be better for you. I am also Stage 4 with mets to liver and lungs. I had Taxotere/Herceptin for 6 months, and I was stable, nothing growing, but nothing get smaller either. Then my doctor decided to change treatment to Nalvabine/Herceptin. I was very disappointed, nervous and scared, but now I am glad he did, because my several small liver lesions are gone, and the small nodules in my both lungs are almost gone too, I just have one less than 1 cm nodule that is fading, and a stable lymph node. So this chemo is working better for me than the other one, and maybe this new combo will be better for you than with Xeloda. I understand your worry about not getting Herceptin, but Carboplatin and Gemzar are powerful drugs, I think more powerful than Nalvabine alone, and Tykerb is supposed to be better than Herceptin. If your doctor believes he can bring you to NED with this combo, why don't you give it a try? I am sure he will keep a very close look at your tumor markers, and you ask him to have scans again sooner. You can always go back to herceptin if this new treatment does not work for you. But you need to strongly think that it WILL work, and that you WILL go back to NED. Flori, we all cancer patients, specially us Stage 4, want to wake up from this nightmare that we are living, and get our lives back to normal. But the only thing we can do is take one day at a time, and try to live our new "normal" life the best that we can, enjoy every moment, don't think too much, and fight with all we have. We will have our ups and downs, but we need to keep fighting always, doing nothing is not an option for us. Besides,you have a lot of treatment options to try. I also hate having to go almost every week to get my infusion, and I look forward for my week off, but now this is part of my new "normal life", and I got used to that. Now if my counts are low and I cannot have chemo for 2 weeks in a row, I get worried. Once you find the right chemo for you, the infusions and side effects will be a small price to pay for its benefits. You will get used to that too, we all do. Hang in there, and do not give up. Things WILL get better for you. Praying for a great chemo response this time. A big hug, Karla V.