JJ,
Sorry - I missed your post earlier.
My nurse brought in plastic tubs of ice and I stuck my hands in them. Brrrr . . . lol! But I was examining diamonds using tweezers at the time of treatment. I was afraid if I developed neuropathy I would start launching them across the lab - very embarrassing!
The affect on my lower legs and feet was greater, so perhaps it worked.
Yes, each treatment lowered the risk of recurrence. And as time goes by the risk of recurrence drops. There is a pattern that differed based on ER positive or negative.
There was a time when the risk for Her2 positive Estrogen negative cancer was thought to be the greatest in the first two years. I breathed a huge sigh of relief at passing 24 months and remaining NED, then each year the risk percentage dropped. As was explained to me at 5 years my risk was the same as the general population for cancer.
Her2 positive / Estrogen positive continued to have more recurrences later then Her2+/ER-. Studies were done (and if memory serves me right still ongoing per fellow board members) about 10 years of treatment instead of only 5 years for hormone positive cancers. There was a pattern of recurrence that peaks about 20 - 24 months drops then peaks again at 5 -7 years.
You might find this ASCO article interesting:
http://am.asco.org/extending-adjuvan...ence-mortality
I see you have your final Taxol treatment in December - good for you!
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