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Tom, this is hard news. But, I think Xeloda is a good option right now. It's easy to take, and if the starting dose is low and that's tolerated well, then dosage can be gradually increased. On the other hand, the low dose might just do the trick, as your mom has done so well on Herceptin mono all this time she's obviously a "responder".
I'm not an oncologist, but I DON'T understand why her doctor is throwing out the baby with the bathwater by dropping Herceptin at this time. Many others here, myself included, have progerssed while on Herceptin and our oncs have simply ADDED a chemo agent to give Herceptin the extra boost it sometimes needs.
I have a chemo buddy who's lung mets were wiped out with Xeloda/Herceptin. I have another chemo buddy who has Inflammatory BC, notoriously hard to treat, who did very well for a good long time on Xeloda/Herceptin.
Again, I'm not an oncologist. But it seems to me her doctor is giving up too fast. Maybe he feels because of the dememtia and her age the deck is stacked against her, but who's to say she doesn't have the right to maintain good quality of life by keeping the cancer and it's symptoms at bay for as long as possible. That isn't done by stopping treatment, unless the treatments are causing unacceptable side effects.
I hope you can regroup and get a sympathetic ear, if not with the current doc then a new one.
Keep us posted, and let us know if you are needing any research.
<3 Lolly
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