Exciting news from PET scan!
I am 51. I was diagnosed with infiltrating ductal carcinoma in early Feb. '07. Her2+++, HR+/PR+, nuclear grade 3 of 3. The lumpectomy found two tumors, one was 1 cm but was not invasive, the malignant 4 cm tumor did not have clear margins. A PET scan showed numerous lesions in my liver. Since then I have had two rounds of chemo on a four week cycle.
week 1: carboplatin, herceptin, and taxol
week 2: herceptin, taxol
week 3: a larger dose of herceptin and the taxol
week 4: no treatment
I have been able to continue with most of my normal activities, just using more moderation. Being self employed I have had more freedom to adjust my schedule. I have continued to work in my garden, planting flowers and vegetables. I have a couple of days a week that I am very fatigued but that is not unbearable. So far all my blood counts have been pretty normal. Potassium was a little low this week, as was my red blood cell count. But just barely below normal. I still have hair, though it has gotten thin. I was beginning to wonder if my doses were high enough.
Thursday I had another PET scan. In the first one, my breast lit up all around the lumpectomy scar and my liver, in the words of the doctor "looked moth eaten", there were places all through it. In this last PET scan there is no cancer. Nothing. When the oncologist told us this my husband thought he was saying that the PET scan was defective. I thought he was saying that my liver was clear. He had said previously that they weren't sure about the liver. The lesions were so diffuse that they did not think they could find them in a biopsy. But nothing showed up. Anywhere.
I am amazed. I had no idea that any treatment could work so well and so fast. I know that this is not considered a cure, I am not even sure if this is NED. I am almost afraid to believe it. I feel blessed. Has anyone else had an experience similar to this?
Leslie
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