Follow Up Mugga - Need to Vent

[MJo]

I had my followup mugga today. My baseline before I started AC/Taxol/Herceptin was a very healthy 70. It's dropped 11 points to 59. That's still above 50, so I can continue taking Herceptin. But I resent every point of healthy heart function I lost and I'm mourning those 11 points.

I was Stage1, .55 CM tumor, grade 2, no nodes, her2++. My oncotype predicted a 21% chance of recurrence in 10 years, so I decided to be aggressive. Got very sick with adriamycin and didnt' take 4th treatment. Finished 4th taxol two weeks ago without too many problems and I had my 9th herceptin yesterday.

Until yesterday I was feeling healthy, hopeful and ready to get back to normal. I believed that my mugga score would be at or near my original. This has reminded me that cancer treatment involves health risks, so I'm depressed and every ache, pain and sigh is a symptom of congestive heart failure. The Onc nurse who gave me herceptin yesterday said the adriamycin probably did it. I'll talk to the onc next week. His nurse practitioner, whom I saw yesterday, didn't seem worried. I'm grateful I'm still nine points above 50 and can take Herceptin. The onc nurse told me that some women start Herceptin with a baseline of 59, so I'm still in good shape.

I measured the circumference of my ankle with a tape measure and will check it regularly for swelling. I will try to pamper my heart. I walk two miles almost every day and now I've got to make my diet more heart healthy. I gained 25 pounds during treatment. My onc said, "Don't worry about weight gain. Just get through treatment." I thought "Yippeee!!!." I've always been a Yo Yo dieter and am a little discouraged about sticking to a heart healthy diet, but I've got to try.

Jean took the Topo2 test from Dr. Slamon at USC and she's able to avoid adriamycin, since her test was negative. It's too late for me, but I think any Her2 woman who can find the $$ for the test should take it. It's going to be a while before insurance companies pay.