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Just say yes to the serum her-2 test...
I know this is controversial, folks, but we are making this more complex than it need be...
Whether you are stage 1, 2, 3, 4 or somewhere in between...if you HAVE EVER been told and shown evidence that you are her-2 positive in ANY way, you need to monitor the levels of the her-2 protein in your blood. If they stay around 12 or under...hurray for you, but keep in mind this is no GET HOME FREE CARD..you could still have other cancer stuff going on, but at least you know where your serum her-2 is...HOWEVER, if the number consistently starts going up...and usually it will start doing this quickly, unexpectedly, you may feel wonderful...but if the number starts on a climb exponentially, week after week, month after month...take it from a 10-year survivor...who has used the test regularly since July 2003, something is going on somewhere and you don't even have to know where, just get thee to Herceptin Quickly....
As to the expense argument...the test costs about $120 to $150 bucks...this is way cheaper than surgery, more chemo drugs, ablation, radiation, blah, blah, blah...
I have used only herceptin since 1999 and have followed the serum tumor marker since 2003. It can work...
This is science not pulp fiction. If the protein is in your blood, you have her-2 over-expressing somewhere...let's not make this complicated.
Sorry to be so tough on this one, but why be "against" one of the only real tools we have in this horrible fight???
Gina
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