Interesting article on our fellow Chinese HER2 sisters...

[al from Canada]

And I know everyone must get really bummed out on a very regular basis. yet how many times has it been said that cancer doesn't affect one person but everyone who cares about that person. Think of this as a time to draw people towards you, as they may be hurting just as much as you are. God has nothing to do with this and you didn't do anything wrong, maybe it's just the luck of the draw. Two things I do know: is how many times a day I ask myself they very same questions and two, if I could have traded places with Linda... those who know me on this board can predict the answer.

The moral of the story: you're not hurting alone.

Best wishes,
Al
ps don't forget to register

[Sheila]

I have found that the best way for me to deal with all of this is live my life to the fullest....none of us can predict the future...no one can predict that they will get breast cancer....the greatest gift to me is when someone says...you don't look like you have stage IV breast cancer....and there are many days I dont feel like I do....I worked with cancer patients in the hospital for many years and attitude is a very powerful treatment in this disease!

[mamacze]

Rhonda,
You are incredibly motivating; I love reading your posts and threads. Just when I have a smidg of a thought to feel sorry for myself, I stumble on things like this incredible story you have posted about these brave Chinese women, and I am reminded all over again of all the things I have to be thankful for.
And Sheila, you are right, attitude is huge. But as our unregistered guest has pointed out, sometimes the burden can weigh down the greatest desire for positive attitude. Friends like you and Rhonda and all here are a great help in keeping us focused on living.
Love Kim from CT

[sarah]

dear Rhonda,
Terrible about the women who can't get this important drug. Can we do anything to help motivate those countries to do more or the drug companies to do more? I think it has a lot to do with price. Remember England changed its policy with pressure about it. Of course England's a richer country but still.....

dear unregistered - I feel funny talking to a nameless person but....
Sheila's right about attitude and Al's right - it's not your fault, it's probably genetic but certainly noting you did, caused it and God isn't punishing you.
I would strongly advise reading books, watching movies, getting out of yourself. TV oftens seems to have a negative effect perhaps because of news and the unrealistic aspects of it. Go to yoga classes - they're very good physically and mentally - one of my favorite feel good things to do and if concentration is a problem for you, which I suspect it is, then this should help. Then there's always trancendental meditation which teaches concentration and stops you from focuses so much on yourself. Also getting outside, walking and maybe getting involved in charity work. There's nothing like helping others to make you feel better about yourself.
You can help yourself and feel better but only if you start to do something about it. Also as silly as this sounds practice smiling. the very act of smiling does something chemically I don't understand but helps make you happier!!! So start smiling. You also sound like you need some good hugs. oh did I mention animals!!!! nothing like an animal to perk you up!
good luck in your fight
sarah

[RhondaH]

AWESOME suggestions and Kim...my thinking is "can it be worse"? and then I answer "yes, it can" and then I think of all my blessings and not my problems. Also, Sarah, I wish we could. Unfortunately, China is a communist country (my sons best friend is from China) not to mention that "women" are not thought highly of (not sure if you've heard the story of how in China there is a 1 child per couple limit and for those that have girls, they tend to abandon them so that they can try to have another...preferably a boy and NOW the problem they are experiencing is that they have all these boys and no girls to marry them to) and like Al said, there are so many OTHER countries that have the same experiences. Take care and God bless.

Rhonda

[Cathya]

Hi;

I had an interesting discussion last evening with a federal politician here in Canada. I was asking about our health care system and he told me he believes that countries such as the US, Canada and the EU must get together and deal with pharmaceutical companies and drugs on an international basis.....for instance your FDA in the US is able to get drugs registered much more quickly than Canada because we have a smaller organization. This would be the first step in a process of becoming global. I love the idea. The article on those chinese women really does hit your heart. We really are so lucky to live where we do and have all of the benefits. I also get down sometimes....as I believe we all can do from time to time.....we are after all living with a life threatening illness. When that happens to me I try to pull myself into the day.....this day....what I am doing....who I am with. It is only when I think longer term that I can worry a bit so I try not to do that....or at least not to do that without being in the presense of an extreme optomist....lol.

Cathy

[Christine MH-UK]

I hope that you are feeling a bit better today, unregistered guest. While I think that life was better before breast cancer, certainly there are still some good things and helps me to focus on what I still have rather than what I have lost.

The question of why bad things happen to good people is an old one and in the early days of breast cancer I did feel a bit like Job (who lost everything but his life). Instead of "why me?," I think "why not me?" Time and chance happen, unfortunately. But, at least for her2 positive breast cancer, the clinical proof is that the drugs have made a big difference to the survival of her2 patients and I am thankful for that.

The governments do need to get things together and work things out. Right now there are real problems in comparing US and European clinical trials on breast cancer simply because no study has been done comparing the efficacy of FEC (the European standard anthracycline) with AC (the US standard), so studies based on those combinations don't readily translate, although this problem might disappear if they are replaced by a new anthracycline. From a her2 perspective, there have been two drugs trials now, one in Finnland and one in Miami, with fairly strong results indicating that perhaps giving herceptin only during chemo is adequate, but attempts to get the larger trial, FinHer, tested more widely in Europe seem to be foundering because the governments don't want to shell out for this type of research, even though these small trials had fewer heart problems and were highly effective (83% disease free survival at 3 years for stage III patients in the Miami trial of herceptin+cisplatin+taxotere->AC with low cardiotoxicity (1 woman with congestive heart failure out of arounf 40). The costs of the full-year of herceptin (not just the drug, but also the administration) mean that it is simply too expensive for many countries and you would think the governments would be chomping at the bit to find a more efficient use, but apparently not. There is some good material on this in an article 'Beyond the Herceptin Hype,' which is, unlike many similarly titled items on the internet, an intelligent discussion of the problem of expensive drugs.
http://www.cancerworld.org/CancerWor...e.aspx?id=1083