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Re: Encouragement needed to decide whether to join a vaccine trial
Thank you for all your support. I went to Alta Bates yesterday, met with the research nurse and the doctor, and signed the consent form. The first step is to do an apheresis (which I'll do on the 8th) and then I'll have 6 shots of the vaccine (given monthly). With each shot, I'll have my blood work done and towards the end of the trial I'll have another apheresis to determine whether I had an imunological response to the vaccine.
One thing I'm happy about is that the oncologist there will run the CA 15-3 tumor marker test for me. I have not had a tumor marker test done before as my oncologist doesn't believe in it, but this oncologist uses it on a regular basis.
The trial still has 5-6 spots open, so if anyone would like to sign up, feel free to send me a PM if you need more details. I'm expected to have no major side effects, except maybe slight irritation at the vaccine site.
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ER+ (30%)/PR-/HER-2+, stage 3
Diagnosed on 02/18/09 at 38 with a huge 12x10 cm tumor, after a 6 month delay. Told I was too young and had no risk factors. Found swollen node during breastfeeding.
March-August 09: neo-adjuvant chemo, part of a trial at Stanford (4 DD A/C, 4 Taxotere with daily Tykerb), loading dose of Herceptin
08/12/09 - bye bye boobies (bilateral mastectomy)
08/24/09 - path report shows 100 % success in breast tissue (no cancer there, yay!), 98 % success in lymphatic invasion, and even though 11/13 nodes were still positive, > 95 % of the tumor in them was killed. Hoping for the best!
September-October 09: rads with daily Xeloda
02/25/10 - Cholecystectomy
05/27/10 - Bone scan clear
06/14/10 - CT scan clear, ovarian cyst found
07/27/10 - Done with Herceptin!
02/15/11 - MVA-BN HER-2 vaccine trial
03/15/11 - First CA 15-3: 12.7 and normal, yay!
10/01/11 - Bone scan and CT scan clear, fatty liver found
now on Tamoxifen and Aspirin
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