Short stints on therapies for stage IV

[KristinSchwick]

Sheila,
My tumor markers again climbed to now 114, and the PET showed mild progression in the bones. Some spots got brighter but some actually got dimmer, and there were 2 new tiny spots on my tail bone. My oncologist decided that the Gem/Carbo wasn't worth it, so he's put me back on Tykerb and continuing on Herceptin and Xgeva. He is encouraged that the lungs and liver are still clean, because it is unusual for Her-2+ mets to be isolated to the bones.

On a good, but odd note- he is thinking about trying some estrogen suppression. This is odd because originally my primary was Her-2+++, ER-/PR-, but it is possible that it would have converted to ER+. To me this would be a miracle- what hope I would have, if I can get yet another targeted therapy and avoid further harsh chemo and start tamoxifen. He said that to biopsy the bone is quite painful and sometimes the decalcification process to repeat the ER and PR receptor testing can make the results inaccurate. But if I responded to tamoxifen, there is no reason to do the receptor staining. He said its also a possibility that the original staining was incorrect- grrr. Thanks for all your concern and I will keep you all posted and you are always in my prayers for healing too.
Huggs
Kristin

[Sheila]

Kristin...hoping the new plan will do magic...I too often wonder of my tumor stats have changed from ER neg to Positive ...on my question list for next week! Thanks!