Lani, thank you for posting this article. It has special significance for me because I have lung mets again after 5 years NED, and since an echocardiogram a month ago showed my ef at 45-50 my oncologist doesn't want to give me herceptin or tykerb. He did give me two rounds of navelbine, and then we discontinued while I went on a trip to Hawaii. I am back now and having a lot of trouble breathing, plus heaviness in my chest. It got so bad I had to go to the ER Wednesday where they ruled out pulmonary embolism but said my ekg did not look good so they did an angiogram which actually showed some improvement over an angiogram a year and a half ago. They also did echocardiograms on my heart and carotid arteries, but I won't know the ef they show until I see the cardiologist on Monday. I had told him previously and also in the cath lab that I wanted him to help me raise my ef so the onc would give me herceptin. He teased me that the whole ER thing was for that purpose, and I told him I'd just thought about it but it might be a good idea after all. I am hoping the improved angiogram and hoped-for rise in the ejection fraction will convince my oncologist to start herceptin. I had 15 rounds of it, plus 6 months navelbine, in 2004-2005 after a heart attack in 2004. A CT scan after the heart attack showed the BC was back after 15 years cancer NED. I had had BC twice before but the first two were not her2. The last two have been.
I would like to print these articles off to take with me when I see my oncologist on Tuesday. Would it be possible for you to send them directly to me by email? My email is
pairadox1@q.com. Thank you so much for posting them! Hugs, Tricia