2 questions

[eric]

Hi All,

I'd love any feedback you can offer on these 2 questions...

* all the posting on this board strongly endorse 6 month brain mri's for her2 patients. While I've been succesfull in getting Caryns Onc to agree to do it at each previous 6 month interval, it has taken a good deal of pressing each and every time. He's a very considerate doctor who is willing to listen to everything but feels strongly that with her tumor markers so good for so long and no symtoms annual scans are called for. Since I want to pick my battles with him am I wrong for letting this inch towards nine months?

* Thankfully Caryn has been NED since 1/05 and both she and I are starting to get more nervous that it's just a matter of time for the cancer to reappear since she's stage 4. I know that more years can go by and new drugs are always coming but I hate the idea of her going onto chemo again. Bottom line is I hate the idea of losing her and even more importantly hate the thought of my kids (14 and 8) being without their mother. Sorry for the negativity but, and this may sound stupid, her tumor marker is at 2.3 when it had consistently been at 1.3. Considering that normal is 0-3, she's still doing well and the medical staff says that that deviation is insignificant, I have to admit that the inching up bothers me. It was 2.3 last month and I really expected it to drop back down this month. Am I being ridiculous?