|
Hi Helen,
I too was diagnosed with liver mets in 2001(original BC diagnosed 1997). I had 8+ months of Taxotere and Herceptin weekly and then had to stop the Taxotere because the side effects were adding up. My scans had improved tremendously, but I still had a small suspicious spot on my left lobe. I continued on with just Herceptin and went to UCSF for a consultation with a surgeon. RFA was not an option because the spot was too close to the left portal vein. He said the only way to be sure we got it all was to have resection. I decided to wait and watch for awhile because it was the beginning of summer and I wanted to take a vacation with my family to Grand Cayman. I finally decided to have the surgery in November, because I knew that I would never rest until I knew for sure that we got it all. They removed the entire left lobe and it turned out there was no cancer to be found, just scar tissue. They said my left lobe looked like a shriveled up prune!
The surgery was tough, but I felt I needed to do it. It would have been wonderful if there had been some way to know for sure that what they were seeing on the scans was just scar tissue. I think because we are still in pretty uncharted territory when it comes to having metastatic disease that actually disapears with the Herceptin/chemo combo, they want to do everything they can to insure success. It is so hard to make these decisions, but the fact that I am still here 4 years out from my recurrence, makes me feel I did the right thing. You just have to do whatever you can for now to keep this disease at bay until they find a cure. I am positve we will be here to see it!
Love Kim
|