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Old 01-16-2009, 10:05 PM   #1
micheleu
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Nebraska
Posts: 154
5 year's out from stage 3 Her2 pos 35 pos nodes

I thought i needed to post hear for anyone new to this site. There is so much hope for us! My tumor was only 1 cm and when they did my axillary dissection, they found all 35 nodes positive! I'm er/pr negative. I did A/C then 12 weekly Taxols followed by one year of Herceptin. I begged my onc. for another year of Herceptin and they all said NO. I was so dissappointed but looking back, they were right! I also did a HER2 vaccine trial at Seattle WA at the Tumor Vaccine Group. My dr's told me I was not going to make it. I was 39 with 3 small children. I was forced into thinking about what I was going to wear in my coffin, and I hated that! Now looking back I know i was lucky to be dx when Herceptin was available. I took it in a trial and that was my only hope. I'm a nurse and I knew what my chances were. I just gave up for 2 years. I looked for anything I could do, like the vaccine trial, but I didn't think I would make it. Then after about 2 years, I kept waking up thinking, wow, my cancer has not come back yet. They said it would. Maybe....just maybe it won't! I don't think it really sunk in until the results of the Herceptin trial were coming out. There was ALOT of other women thinking the same thing...that their cancer was going to come back, and it DIDNT! Anyone newly dx reading this, I want you to know, you are NOT alone. You have alot of us on this site that are ALOT of years out with a bad prognosis. YOU CAN be that one like us....5...10 years out NED!!!! Come to this site when down. Come to this site when you need encouragement. Come to this site to see that God has given us another chance!
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Michele Ulmer

Dx.2003 Stage 3b 35 pos nodes

Dx August 2003 Stage 3B with 35/35 nodes IDC age 39
Lumpectomy
A/C x4 Taxol x12
35 radiation tx
1Year Herceptin in trial
HER2 vaccine trial Seattle
3 months Tykerb off label
NED

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