|
I am currently stage IV, NED. The last chemo I received was July of this year and that was Herceptin.
My doctor gave me the option to stay on Herceptin indefinitely if I wanted. She had concerns about the cardio toxicity even I had no heart problems at the time. She said she had seen other patients with cardio problems that came on rapidly and without warning and then it was too late. She was very much in favor of me giving my body a break if possible and I agreed.
If you're NED now, you can "save" the drugs for later. I guess it's a choice you can make and probably you could find an oncologist who would keep you on some type of chemo forever. But what happens if your cancer progresses while you're on Navalbine. They would have to use something else (maybe something not as gentle) to get you back to NED. If you go off the chemicals for a while, you give your body a chance to recover you may be able to use Navalbine and/or Herceptin effectively again. I think I have heard 6 months is the time frame. If a drug was effective one time and you take a 6 month break from it, it may be effective again. Of course, it's always possible that you go off the drugs and the cancer forges ahead immediately. If they had all the answers we'd have a cure.
The drugs are not a cure - they just help hold things back. At least that's the way I understand it.
|