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chrisy · 09-23-2007, 08:15 PM

Hi Melanie,
Welcome to the right place! It sounds like you are in very good hands and getting exactly the treatment you need. It can seem very overwhelming, as I'm sure you have noticed! It is like having another full time job. My advice is to make sure you are gentle with yourself, give yourself permission to accept help from those who care about you. It's hard, we are so used to "doing" everything for everyone else. For me, rotisserie chicken 3x a week was much more palatable once I realized that it wasn't about people bringing me FOOD, it was about bringing me LOVE.

You're right, HER2 pos is not the most common flavor of breast cancer - only about 25-30% are. As you work to learn more about this, be aware that "old news" will talk about it as a poor prognosis cancer. This was before the advent of targeted therapies such as Herceptin...and now it is considered a favorable thing! Ignore any statistics that are more than a few years old.

We're all here to help you as you need, you can feel comfortable asking ANYTHING.

BTW, I'm originally from Chicago area, too, and frequently am back to visit my sister and niece in Glenview. Small world.

Take care
Chris

09-23-2007, 08:15 PM	#8
chrisy Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Central Coast, CA Posts: 3,207	Hi Melanie, Welcome to the right place! It sounds like you are in very good hands and getting exactly the treatment you need. It can seem very overwhelming, as I'm sure you have noticed! It is like having another full time job. My advice is to make sure you are gentle with yourself, give yourself permission to accept help from those who care about you. It's hard, we are so used to "doing" everything for everyone else. For me, rotisserie chicken 3x a week was much more palatable once I realized that it wasn't about people bringing me FOOD, it was about bringing me LOVE. You're right, HER2 pos is not the most common flavor of breast cancer - only about 25-30% are. As you work to learn more about this, be aware that "old news" will talk about it as a poor prognosis cancer. This was before the advent of targeted therapies such as Herceptin...and now it is considered a favorable thing! Ignore any statistics that are more than a few years old. We're all here to help you as you need, you can feel comfortable asking ANYTHING. BTW, I'm originally from Chicago area, too, and frequently am back to visit my sister and niece in Glenview. Small world. Take care Chris __________________ Chris in Scotts Valley June 2002 extensive hi grade DCIS (pre-cancer-stage 0, clean sentinal node) Mastectomy/implant - no chemo, rads. "cured?" 9/2004 Diag: Stage IV extensive liver mets (!) ER/PR- Her2+++ 10/04-3/05 Weekly Taxol/Carboplatin/Herceptin , complete response! 04/05 - 4/07 Herception every 3 wks, Continue NED 04/07 - recurrence to liver - 2 spots, starting tykerb/avastin trial 06/07 8/07 10/07 Scans show stable, continue on Tykerb/Avastin 01/08 Progression in liver 02/08 Begin (TDM1) trial 08/08 NED! It's Working! Continue on TDM1 02/09 Continue NED 02/10 Continue NED. 5/10 9/10 Scans NED 10/10 Scans NED 12/10 Scans not clear....4/11 Scans suggest progression 6/11 progression confirmed in liver 07/11 - 11/11 Herceptin/Xeloda -not working:( 12/11 Begin MM302 Phase I trial - bust:( 03/12 3rd times the charm? AKT trial 5/12 Scan shows reduction! 7/12 More reduction!!!! 8/12 Whoops...progression...trying for Perjeta/Herceptin (plus some more nasty chemo!) 9/12 Start Perjeta/Herceptin, chemo on hold due to infection/wound in leg, added on cycle 2 &3 11/12 Poops! progression in liver, Stop Perjeta/Taxo/Herc 11/12 Navelbine/Herce[ptin - try for a 3 cycles, no go. 2/13 Gemzar/Carbo/Herceptin - no go. 3/13 TACE procedure