[TriciaK]

As some of you already know, I started out this third round of cancer mets year and a half ago with a heart attack. Two arteries are blocked, and heart surgery was planned, but in doing a CT scan the lung mets were found. My oncologist said I would have had about 3 months if the mets hadn't been found, so the heart attack actually saved my life. I have never yet had the heart surgery, but am being monitored by a cardiologist and an oncologist. However, the cardiologist had never heard of herceptin! The oncologist felt the herceptin was so important he started me immediately after the FISH showed her2, and he had me do a MUGA after a couple of months which showed 58%EF. The cardiologist didn't ever think a MUGA was necessary, but a month or so ago when an echo showed 30% EF, he had one done, which agreed with the echo. SO my EF dropped considerably and the onc took me off herceptin. I had had 15 months of it by then and was NED, so we both felt it was worth it. My oncologist, who has been with me for 20 years, and whom I trust and can talk to, says not to worry about the low EF now, it is reversable, and it will rise in time and if I need herceptin again I can have it. I do have symptoms of congestive heart now: dizziness, swelling, extreme exhaustion, palpitations, shortness of breath, coughing and nausea, plus an x-ray ordered by my onc shows the possibility of fluid in my chest cavity. I am on Coreg, Emdur,Plavix, diuretics and Aquinel, and am able to rest as I need to and do mild exercise and eat healthy food. I am not fearful about the heart problems, but I do feel the cardiologist is not on top of it as much as the oncologist. Both seem to feel the heart surgery is a last resort and would be too hard on me now. Sometimes I get the feeling the cardiologist expects me to die from the cancer and so the heart is not that important! Why am I telling you all this? Because I think we can only do the best we can do, and to stay as positive as possible is very important. Everything I read agrees with my onc that the herceptin damage is reversable. I will have another echo in two weeks, plus a brain MRI(my first and just to check--no symptoms) and a chest CT to see if the possible fluid is from the heart congestion or possibly more lung mets. I am fortunate to be retired now because I know I couldn't keep up the schedule I used to. My heart goes out to those of you who have to work still, and I know how fearful heart problems can be ontop of BC, but I repeat: learn all you can, do all you can, work with doctors you can trust and talk to, and then turn it over to God. It's hard not to worry, but worrying and becoming weak with fear is counterproductive. That doesn't mean we shouldn't express our fears and share them here! Remember, fear and faith cannot exist at the same time, and fear will debilitate faith. Someone once said that FEAR is False Education Affecting Reality! Concentrate on what builds you up, not tears you down. This site (and the things we learn here) is one of our best weapons we have. I am so grateful for the love and prayers we share here, too, and that we can draw strength from each other and each others' experiences. Thank you all! Hugs, Tricia