TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP

Glad to hear an MRI might be covered by insurance. My PS had mentioned 3 years as a followup. I see him in October, and I think I will hit him up for that.



Pbrain....on the immunities. Before we went to Thailand. Ny NP friend made me get bloodwork to see if I still had chicken pox immunity. I did. So maybe we keep them?



Geewhiz- I feel your pain. In the last two months, I have wiped out twice. Once, tripping up the top step of a staircase at Macys, totally messing up my left knee. I start the process of getting that checked further as it still hurts on the back. Then I slipped on a puddle of water I had spilled on my tile entryway. Went hurdling across the floor like ice and crashed to the ground. HIGHLY painful to my toes on the right foot. The big toe, which has hallux rigidus and was scheduled for surgery in January, is so painful yet. The ortho foot doctor got me in, things it is a sprain and that the whole joint tissue is inflamed. Put me in a boot to see if things will calm down. They have, but I still can't put on a shoe and it hurts to move it much. I am not having surgery before the holidays so I may be walking around in sandals in the snow.



Saw the ONC on Tuesday. Bloodwork all good...and when I asked him about testing when I see him next for my three year followup, he started laughing and asked me what I wanted. Told me if insurance will cover it, he will order it. Woo hoo! I feel better already.

More on Perjeta approval...looking good!

WASHINGTON -- Pertuzumab (Perjeta) helps patients with early stage breast cancer before surgery and could become the first agent to win such an indication from the FDA, agency reviewers said Tuesday.



A review of three midstage trials of patients who received pertuzumab in combination with other drugs before surgery fared better than those who didn't receive pertuzumab before surgery, the FDA told members of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee.



"After a thorough review of the submitted data (including review of all the pathology reports),
the FDA review team believes that the totality of the data submitted ... supports the accelerated
approval of a neoadjuvant indication," agency reviewers said in briefing documents released
ahead of a Thursday meeting of the committee.




Biotech giant Genentech is seeking an expanded indication of neoadjuvant treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer in combination with trastuzumab (Herceptin) and docetaxel (Taxotere)."

For all my sisters......

http://nation.time.com/2013/09/11/gabby-giffords-and-robin-roberts-star-in-top-christian-music-video/

Pbrain...my counts consistently went lower but never out of the acceptable range. My last two taxol s were right on the edge. I did not have any kind of boosting shots.



Interestingly, with the vaccine study I am in, I receive an immune system booster at the minimum. I figured that can't hurt. Not sure how long one shot lasts, but any little bit should help.



Ashla...such good news on the treatment front.

So heart & brain side effects. Wonderful.

I'm trying to keep positive for my wife. Having access to this info sometines is not helping. She's in treatment mode & taking supplements to assist. She is not really doing the research. She is relying on me for that and I'm ok with that. I'm good at stuff like that.

art123 - keep in mind that these side effects happen to some people, not all.  I have never felt, nor does my husband, that I have any congnitive impairment.  Cardiotoxic side effects do happen, and have happened to people who post on this thread, but they too affect the minority.  Have you cleared all supplementation with your oncologist?

Additionally ...there are nearly 3 million breast cancer survivors and growing in this country....all stages of breast cancer. With all these great new treatments and protocols we will live many, many years as survivors and a majority will not die of cancer. Survivorship issues are coming to the forefront of the disussion and imho..it is about time.

Hey Ladies!

I just had my 2nd echo this morning {hoping all is well} and I am gearing up to start A/C tomorrow. I know my protocol was a bit backwards from most as I got my taxane+herceptin first and now will be starting A/C.

Anyway, I am SUPER nervous about starting A/C and also nervous about what my ultrasound will show tomorrow. I hope/ pray that it shows that the primary tumor/ nodes are still responding. I am just so nervous and could use a little bit of cheering on.

I did really well with the first round of meds, but I know this one will be hard and it makes me really sad to think about missing the Fall because of it. Of course, I know I am fighting cancer and obviously that's the most important thing, but I just really love the fall. I hate what this has taken from my sweet little family. Hopefully, while I am getting treatment I can still work on my boys' halloween costumes, it's important to me to still make their costumes while they are little and I can put them in whatever I want, haha. :~)

Thanks in advance!

Twinmama really u might do well on these and u do get steroids too right? If u do u'll have energy for 1 or 2 days that u actualy feel fine. Please don't dwell on fear it's very stressful just know this is something that has to be done and u really sound like u'r ready for it.

Art there are some do's and don't thru this whole thing but it just means it might interfere with something that's all. There are good things going for u'r wife, but how is she actually feeling?

And as was said, if u need help u don't have to wait for u'r next chemo call the Dr. They really try to make u as comfortable as they possibly can, they really care about that. So if needed call don't jst think about it, just call. And don't forget loads of water, there's water that is flavored if u don't like plain water.

Art that's so good to hear for u and u'r family--just keep on letting us know OK.

Twin, don't go into this thinking it will be bad.  You should have seen my boss on TCH.  Not one single issue except dry mouth and things tasted salty.  You never know how you'll respond, so stay positive.

Art, I had raging chemo brain during the treatment process.  I budged in line on the day before Christmas at a Philadelphia mall and had no idea I did it--my mother had to gently pull me out and guide me to the back of the line...I once "woke" up from a chemo brain trance and found I'd been staring at the trash can under my desk for ~ 15 minutes.  I don't know why my company paid me to come in here during those months.  Oh, I tried to vote with my grocery store discount card.  The poor pollster kept saying "I can't use that" and I kept saying "why not?"  duh.  It was bad, but I'm perfectly normal now.

And do some reading--I think it is important to avoid antioxidants during chemo because a lot of the medicines rely on the redox reactions to kill cells.  If you stop the generation of free radicals, you may lessen the benefit.  I stopped all green tea (my favorite of beverages) and dark, leafy greens, brightly colored fruits, etc.  It sounds weird, but you want the chemo to pack all the power it can.  After that, back to the healthy stuff.

Pbrain, I did not know, we have to avoid green tea, green leaf or bright color fruits. I thought those are good for you during chemo. When you say during chemo, how many day apart from chemo not to have antioxidant? Thank you!

Art123, my first Taxol/Herceptin infusion was exhausting for me . Total tx time was 5 hours didnt get home until 7PM , was a busy day ttoday due to holiday on saturday .

I was able to pick up and put dinner on the table , go over homework for my boys .

Im experiencing tachycardia HR 112 at rest , hope tomorrow will dissipate .

Health n Happiness to all !

Did any of you have issues with your liver enzymes?  During chemo, my numbers were fine, but since May (I finished chemo in Dec., and just finished herceptin last week), my AST and ALT numbers of the blood chemistry report have been steadily climbing.  My MO wants me to have a liver CT scan, which I am having on Monday.

I should also say that when I was 15, I had a bad case of hepatitis A, which lasted almost 3 months.  I am now 51, and thought I was fine until my MO became concerned about the numbers.

Soriya, I did not take any supplements other than vitamin D and Acetyl l- arginine (supposed to help with joint pain from Taxol), however, I had smoothies with fresh kale or spinach and various fresh fruits every day. Doc was all for it, just said no to them in pill form