Chemo: what to expect?

[WomanofSteel]

I am one of those people that Lee speaks of. Although because of my age and my daughter, I opted for the recommended chemo my onc suggested because of the agressiveness of my cancer, I did not get Herceptin. I wonder everyday if this would have made a difference for me with my reoccurence. My personal feeling is that you should be agressive as possible with what treatment is offered you early on. The side effects are certainly worth the increase in percentages or years if you look at it that way.

[Louise O'Brien]

Dianne:

I see you're from Canada - so the treatment is relatively standard from province to province.

I was exactly where you are now - two years ago. Your discussion with the oncologist sounds exactly like the discussion I had with mine two years ago.

Under our health care system - Herceptin is combined with chemo. It was the chemo that horrified me. Like you - I considered walking away from the whole thing.

I can only tell you now - two years later - I am so thankful I did not. I chose full treatment and I know now I will never have to second guess myself wondering ... did I do enough... what if.... what if?? I feel I did everything I could, in my power to try to stop this thing.

Her2 is an aggressive little devil and no one knows how it is going to react. And Herceptin has had dramatic results.

If I had a friend who was Her2 positive I would do everything in my power to convince her to take Herceptin. The more research you do - the more you will find this out.

As for chemo - it's doable. Everyone says that but it's true. You have decisions to make and this is a stressful time but I'll step out on a limb here to urge you - don't walk away from Herceptin.

[Patb]

When I made my decision to do chemo, and herceptin,
I just wanted to say I did everything I could so no
regrets later. I have not had any. A/C was easy for
me, for some it is not. Herceptin was a breeze, I realize
I was lucky so for today I am happy with my decision.
patb

[caya]

Hello Diane,

I thought I would chime in here as I see you are from B.C., and I am from Toronto, so I am thinking you may be getting treated with FEC (a 3 chemo combo), then possibly Taxotere. This FEC-T combo is very commonly used here in Canada, as well as other commonwealth countries.
About a month after I finished my chemo, I started Herceptin, which I had every 3 weeks for a year.
I was also stage 1, you can see my stats. My onc. basically told me I was getting Herceptin, there really was no choice. Her 2+ is a tricky nasty devil, and you want to fight it from the onset with everything out there.
I got a port-a-cath inserted in my upper chest to do all my chemo and Herceptin, I strongly recommend you doing this.
As others have said, chemo is very "doable." Taxotere was worse for me, but I just kept thinking that the cancer cells felt worse than I did. The taxane chemos are proven to be very effective in fighting Her2+ BC. Herceptin is very easy compared to chemo. My main side effect was fatigue, some edema in my feet, legs. We are very lucky to have Herceptin - it really is the magic potion, especially for us early stagers.

And BTW, I had been having annual mammos since age 40, along with ultrasounds. Showing nothing. I had a breast reduction in October 2006, my PS found my 1.7 cm. tumour. A breast MRI before surgery found the second 1.0 cm. tumour. Dense breasted women are 4 - 6 x more likely to develop BC.

Good luck, we'll help you all we can.

all the best
caya