Early Stagers?

[StephN]

Hi -
I think your med onc made a rather casual statement that "no one is ever cured." You ARE very lucky to have so little involvement outside your immediate tumor area. (I say "so little" as they do not find anything measurable.)
But for purposes of this conversation, let's say your disease is contained. There may be some micro mets loose in your bloodstream, which is why you get all the treatment. This is to mop up what may have escaped the immediate tumor area. Then with the herceptin, your body can take care of any more cells that may decide to activate and show themselves for the next year.
This gives you an excellent chance of never having to deal with active cancer again.
See if you can keep the "glass half full" outlook in the forefront of your mind.
You are in treatment so that you CAN live your life in a happy, productive fashion. There IS light at the end of the cancer treatment tunnel, and you just have to try and focus on that instead of reliving old fears. Let those fears be transitory, and don't ask about cures.
This is a disease that is very manageable for most of us who are stage IV living with mets or in remission from mets. There are lots of women out there who have never recurred or progressed with mets, so they do not come to this board.