Fantastic News and a HUGE Thank-you to SO MANY HERE

[TSund]

Ruth went in for her 2<SUP>nd</SUP> pre-adjuvant (pre-surgery) TCH treatment yesterday. It was our first appointment with the oncologist since Ruth began treatment. Dr. O’Shaughnessy did an exam and said Ruth had had one of the most dramatic responses (8 cm tumor area, ER+, PR+, HER2+) to a first treatment that she had ever seen. Hurrah! Further, Ruth has a chance of TR (total response, with no evidence of cancer even before surgery). Some of you may remember that Ruth and I had extensive conversations with the oncologist, whose first impulse was to go with the “standard of care” treatment of AC + TH. Ruth had concerns about the heart toxicities given the heart conditions of her mother, and I wanted the Herceptin given early in treatment based on what I had read about Herceptin. Dr. O’Shaughnessy agreed though that it may well be a very good thing to get the Herceptin in on the get go and agreed to try the TCH regimen. Yesterday she exclaimed that “we did the right thing of getting the Herceptin in there early!!!”
<O</O
The second fantastic piece of news is that Ruth’s blood counts are back to full normal after being basically neutropenic (sp?) 11 days ago. (2.3 WBC and 515 ANC) The nurse who did the blood test was predicting the doctor would want to give Ruth a WBC booster shot right on the spot. However, after a call to the doctor the nurse said that the doctor felt Ruth’s blood count was on the rebound and would wait until 2nd treatment to receive Neulasta shot. I scoured the board for WBC help and came up with Astragalus and Reishi mushroom. We found Gaia liquid extracts of both and Ruth has been taking them religiously twice a day. Yesterday the doctor agreed that Ruth did NOT need the Neulasta shot and further, Ruth did not need her blood tested again until the 3<SUP>rd</SUP> treatment. WOW.
<O
We discussed supplements. We only had “permission” to take multivitamin and fiber. I’ve been giving Ruth in addition probiotics, 4 fish oil capsules, 1 tbsp. of Udo’s oil, 1 tbsp. L-Glutamine, multi mushroom extract with reishi, astragalus root extract and astragalus tea. She had been taking extra vitamin B to try to prevent neuropathy but someone on the board suggested that it might not be good for tumors, we can that out after about 10 days. (Our multi vitamin has lot of B vitamins so hopefully that will be enough without being too much?) The oncologist (who is excellent outside of the holistic arena) is still not really on board with the supplements but she says “it is obvious that Ruth is doing very well” and that as long as we don’t do anything that is heavy on the antioxidants, that she “won’t have heartburn” about it. There are so many things I’d still like to add to the mix, but guess we shouldn’t rock the boat right now.


I just want to say a heart-felt thank-you to all of those who have patiently answered my questions, and to those that work so hard at running this board. It has been a life-line for Ruth and I, in so many ways.


We have a long way to go, but it was a good day in cancer-land.


Sincerely,

Terri (spouse of Ruth)