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Hello everyone -
This week is a milestone for me - who was not given a very great chance to live out the year of 2002!
In July of 2002 I was "let off" a hard course of chemo plus Herceptin for hard to treat mets. I was #6 enrolled in a new clinical trial here in Seattle (phase II) that involved Taxol and Navelbine and Herceptin if patient was Her2 pos. I have done well on that protocol and managed to get off and stay off chemo for THREE years. This is with very fast moving and aggressive metasteses to liver and starting into my bones. In my case, hitting the cancer hard and taking the highest doses I could stand did the trick. My med onc is happy for me and all my family and friends are overjoyed at my success.
It was definitely not easy, but the few months of tough chemo was a worthwhile tradeoff for me to have this long off any kind of chemo.
With exception of my brain mets caught in early Jan. of this year, I have no sign of active disease. These appeared probably only because the drugs can't cross the blood/brain barrier as molecules are too large to get through.
Brain mets are either resolved or dissipating on schedule. Nothing new in my abdominal CT scan. "Out, out damned spots!" A quote from Macbeth.
Zometa. I have been on this bone strengthening drug for three years and this is "long term" for this drug. They don't know how long we should take it. They don't know about long-term side effects. Since there is much that is NOT known as the drug is so new, I am being cut to every 12 weeks. I will get the same dose I am now getting which is the normal dose. Will not increase as we do with 3-week Herceptin dose, etc. My med onc feels for the protective benefit is worth getting it on a stretched out basis, rather then stopping altogether. Fine with me as I feel fine after I get it.
We had earlier touched on some of the new biphosphanates, but Zometa is doing the job for me so we will stay with it.
Anyway - just wanted to share my news. And let some of you know that Herceptin is effective on its own for many of us after we have become Stage IV.
Next stop - a vaccine trial. More as things firm up.
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