HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post

jpuk · 10-31-2005, 05:40 PM

StephN, with respect I think you misunderstood what I wrote. You said that you had a lot of cancer cells and that you suffered an allergic ‘flu-like reaction when you first had Herceptin. This description precisely reflects what my consultant said, viz. that the Herceptin acting on the protein bearing cancer cells would cause a reaction! What he was commenting on was my situation, i.e. the fact that – happily – I have experienced NIL reaction whatsoever, and suggesting this might indicate there were few if any cells left behind with me. As I said in my original post, I shall discuss the matter again when I next see him later this week.

Sandy H: thanks for your friendly contact. The wretched IBC diagnosis is so rare that it is unusual to come across anyone else with it – in fact most people have never heard of it (including the client services manager at the cancer care centre where I go). Once again, what you have said reflects what I was told at the outset to this treatment, viz. that there is no way of measuring whether Herceptin is working, merely that it produces a statistical effect. The treatment program provides for 3-monthly MUGA heart scans, so my next one will be due in a couple of weeks.

I am content to remain on this treatment for as long as advised. The only inconvenience to me is the hospital visit for the 3-weekly treatment session – plus of course having another recovering incision from the operation to instal the port in my chest, the line for which had to be inserted through the jugular vein. This gives an unsightly bulge and I feel it is vulnerable, as it lies just under the skin in my neck – but it’s a thousand times better than the previous Hickman line which was a daily, day-long source of pain and anxiety. I think of these wounds as battle scars.

10-31-2005, 05:40 PM	#10
jpuk Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 8	Thanks everyone for your contributions. StephN, with respect I think you misunderstood what I wrote. You said that you had a lot of cancer cells and that you suffered an allergic ‘flu-like reaction when you first had Herceptin. This description precisely reflects what my consultant said, viz. that the Herceptin acting on the protein bearing cancer cells would cause a reaction! What he was commenting on was my situation, i.e. the fact that – happily – I have experienced NIL reaction whatsoever, and suggesting this might indicate there were few if any cells left behind with me. As I said in my original post, I shall discuss the matter again when I next see him later this week. Sandy H: thanks for your friendly contact. The wretched IBC diagnosis is so rare that it is unusual to come across anyone else with it – in fact most people have never heard of it (including the client services manager at the cancer care centre where I go). Once again, what you have said reflects what I was told at the outset to this treatment, viz. that there is no way of measuring whether Herceptin is working, merely that it produces a statistical effect. The treatment program provides for 3-monthly MUGA heart scans, so my next one will be due in a couple of weeks. I am content to remain on this treatment for as long as advised. The only inconvenience to me is the hospital visit for the 3-weekly treatment session – plus of course having another recovering incision from the operation to instal the port in my chest, the line for which had to be inserted through the jugular vein. This gives an unsightly bulge and I feel it is vulnerable, as it lies just under the skin in my neck – but it’s a thousand times better than the previous Hickman line which was a daily, day-long source of pain and anxiety. I think of these wounds as battle scars.