[Tankweti]

Triple positive. Dx 8/12/14. Lumpectomy 10/15/14. Stage I, no nodes. MD only wanted to prescribe RT and Tamoxifen without Herceptin. I thought "are you nuts?" To this day I dont know what his rationale was. But I took 2 months to do alot of reading and decision making. I am an RN and was working in a pathology office when I was diagnosed. He wouldn't change his mind so I went to Sloan for a 2nd opinion. I wanted the least toxic regimen I could get and had settled on Taxol plus Herceptin without Tamoxifen. Tamoxifen is a known carcinogen in its own right per W.H.O. and also has very active crosstalk with HER2 protein - which can either cause resistance to Tamoxifen OR can make the cancer put its foot on the gas so to speak. Most docs give patients cookie cutter medicine, which is obviously not going to be appropriate for everyone. Anyhow Sloan recommended the Taxol + Herceptin, put it in writing for him and he caved in when I brought him the letter. I had 12 weeks of Taxol + Herceptin, followed by a year of Herceptin alone. So far no recurrence. They say the first 4 years with HER2 is the most critical. It seems to lose its punch after then. In older women Iike myself, age 64, the estrogen receptor positivity will be the next big issue and tends to recur 5 years or more after diagnosis. But so far so good. Forgot to mention also.had RT x 36 treatments as I had a spot of DIC that was 0.6 mm from ribcage. It technically had clear margns but they don't usually like to see margins any closer than 2 mm.