Goodbye Herceptin!

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swimangel72
swimangel72 Member Posts: 1,989
edited June 2014 in HER2+ (Positive) Breast Cancer

I am officially DONE with Herceptin and all IV treatments! Yay!

The nurse practitioner called me this  morning saying she wasn't able to order my last herceptin because the insurance company was going to charge me $1800. She wasn't sure why since they never charged me before - they told her it was now part of my deductible. My oncologist said not to even bother fighting them, it was OK for me to skip this last treatment! I checked online and it appears this last treatment may have gone beyond the recommended yearly amount - which wouldn't surprise me since I switched oncologists early on and the new one might not have calculated my start date correctly.

Whatever - I don't CARE! My body has been telling me "ENOUGH" for the past month now - with the coughing and my heart pounding loudly in my chest even when I'm just laying down. And with my upcoming outpatient "foob" repair surgery on May 6th - I just KNOW my body will feel better getting off this drug. It's been a very long year of infusions every-two-weeks - and I'm just soooo happy it's ALL OVER (I hope and pray FOREVER!) 

So how do I celebrate? Can't splurge on food too much - just had my colonoscopy today (which was perfect, thank God) - don't want to stress my totally "cleansed" digestive system too much. Right now I'm listening my life-time favorite singer, Justin Hayward (from the Moody Blues - remember "Nights in White Satin"?) - but he's singing "New Horizons" for me - here's the music with gorgeous photos that reflect how I feel right now, the lyrics are below (I feel they are so much more meaningful to me as I continue on my journey with BC.........no cruises in sight for me yet.......but the horizon beckons beyond the "nightmare!" Cool

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF2__-K8qFo

"New Horizons" by Justin Hayward

I've had dreams enough for one
And I've got love enough for three
I have my hopes to comfort me
I've got my new horizons out to sea

CHORUS
But I'm never gonna lose your precious gift
It will always be that way
And I know I'm gonna find my own peace of mind
Someday, someway.

Where is this place that we have found
Nobody knows where we are bound
I long to hear, I need to see
Cos' I've shed tears too many for me.

CHORUS

On the wind, soaring free,
Spread your wings, I'm beginning to see
Out of mind, far from view
Beyond the reach, of the nightmare come true.

Verse 1

CHORUS

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Comments

  • Estepp
    Estepp Member Posts: 6,416
    edited April 2009

    TEARS of happiness for you... You DID it sister!

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  • maryannecb
    maryannecb Member Posts: 1,453
    edited April 2009

    Yeah for you....nothing like the last infusion!

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  • lexislove
    lexislove Member Posts: 2,645
    edited April 2009

    Doesn't it just feel dandy ?!!!!

    Big Congrats! Try to celebrate by doing something, this is BIG.....BIG.....BIG!!!

    ~*( ChEeRs)*~ Smile

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  • idaho
    idaho Member Posts: 1,187
    edited April 2009

    YIPPEE SKIPPY!   We are proud of you!  Tami

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  • REKoz
    REKoz Member Posts: 590
    edited April 2009

    Oh Swim- just awesome! Congrats and just celebrate YOU! My feeling is that after all this, I WILL, for the first time in my middle aged life feel like I DESERVE something out of the ordinary wonderful!

    God Bless you sister!

    xoEllen

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  • swimangel72
    swimangel72 Member Posts: 1,989
    edited April 2009
    Thank you ladies! My heart is so light now - I've no plans to celebrate, I'm just happy to have a lighter heart! And with that - I'm sending out a prayer for all my sisters here, no matter where you are in treatment, that you all will enjoy a lighter heart, now and then, you all deserve it so much. The sun shining through storm clouds is so much more beautiful than in a cloudless sky, don't you think? Cool
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  • Dejaboo
    Dejaboo Member Posts: 2,916
    edited April 2009

    Awesome!  No More Herceptin!!  Congratulations!

    I am Happy for you.

    I bet you feel lighter, Nice.

    Pam

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  • mmm5
    mmm5 Member Posts: 1,470
    edited April 2009

    Swimangel-

    So so happy for you, what about a nice massage to cleanse your body from the end of the big Medication, one less on you list one more step to complete healing!

    God Bless you and be well!

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited April 2009

    Congratulations, Swimangel.  And just in time for you to get ready for some summer fun without having to deal with IV infusions!  Get out and live now.

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  • angie27
    angie27 Member Posts: 863
    edited April 2009

    Swimangel, that is a beautiful and inspiring picture, congratulations on the end of your treatment, I will be done with Herceptin 6/30.

    Hoping to feel happy just like you when June comes.

    Take care............

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  • jader
    jader Member Posts: 223
    edited April 2009

    Hurray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  • magentagirl
    magentagirl Member Posts: 101
    edited April 2009

    CONGRATS! You did it! i have two more and can't wait until I'm done done done.

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  • flash
    flash Member Posts: 1,685
    edited April 2009

    woooooooohoooooooooooo!

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  • nobleanna007
    nobleanna007 Member Posts: 641
    edited April 2009

    SwimAngel

            Congrats to you!!! I had my last one at the end of March. It was a long year and a half. I would go weekly. Had low Muga Scans and still I find myself thinking "Don't I need to go and have a TX this week" its weird! But feels so good!!! I am like get this port out of me!!!!

             I love the words of that song so true and so beautiful!!!!!!!

                                            HUGS-Bridget

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  • marejo
    marejo Member Posts: 1,356
    edited April 2009

    Congratulations Swimangel......What a happy time for you!!!  It doesn't take long to get use to the "no IV life!"

    God's blessings to you and I hope your May 6th surgery goes well.

    Love and peace,

    Mary Jo

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  • swimangel72
    swimangel72 Member Posts: 1,989
    edited April 2009

    Thanks so much my sweet sisters! Angie and magentagirl be sure to post a thread when you're finished your Herceptin so we can all celebrate with you! And Bridget, this week I kept feeling like I was forgetting something - so I put a big red X across my last treatment that was cancelled and a Smiley face on my last treatment two weeks ago.  Once all my Stage 2 surgeries are done I'll REALLY be celebrating............goodbye hospitals, surgeons, drains and pain. Almost there now......May 6th is coming up fast and then it won't be long till July 1st! Thanks for your prayers Mary Jo - hope your Stage 2 goes well  and that you won't need to wear a binder very long in the summer...........let's plan on having a "pool party" here online in August when you and I should be basically be done with healing, God willing! Cool 

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  • suemed8749
    suemed8749 Member Posts: 1,151
    edited April 2009

    Swim - A big CONGRATULATIONS to you! I'm three weeks ahead of you, and yesterday, when I normally would have been getting an infusion, I just had blood work and a doctor's appointment. What a great feeling to walk out of that office without having to be "hooked up." And even better - no oncologist's appointment until July 30!!!!! I am SO looking forward to my summer break this year.Cool

    YAY for us and all of our sisters finishing up treatment!

    Love, Sue

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  • lexi4
    lexi4 Member Posts: 1,074
    edited April 2009
    SmileYippeeee!!!!!
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  • HensonChi
    HensonChi Member Posts: 357
    edited April 2009

    Congrats on being done with herceptin!  I should finish mid June and am counting the days.  After it is over do they do some kind of a scan?

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  • marejo
    marejo Member Posts: 1,356
    edited April 2009

    Thanks swimangel - an online pool party sounds like fun - although REAL pools sound a whole lot better, right? 

    I have resigned myself to the fact that I WILL be in a compression garment - Penny and Nancy both went to the same surgeon as me so it's a given.  PLUS I put a call into my PS office to ask that ALL IMPORTANT QUESTION..... Smile and YES was the answer I got.  Dang!  Oh well....it's still "small potatoes" compared to the first stage so I'll get through that just fine too.  Not much I can do about it but wear it, right?  So, I'll make the best of the situation and hope the 6 weeks passes quickly BUT not too quickly as I'm off all summer long....I don't want my summer vacation over to quickly. 

    Hope yours goes well too.........it's fun coming to the end of all the "stuff" isn't it.  We are alive...healthy and loved by the Lord.....life doesn't get much better than that. 

    Hugs...

    Mary Jo

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  • hiker
    hiker Member Posts: 22
    edited April 2009

    Great Job, Swimangel!!  And thank you for teaching me how to put my picture on at a different thread.  I have one more herceptin to go and am so ready to have my nose stop dripping.

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  • kalyla
    kalyla Member Posts: 258
    edited April 2009

    Oh Swimangel, congratulations! It's been a very long year, hasn't it? I'm glad your finally done, I'm so happy for you!

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  • swimangel72
    swimangel72 Member Posts: 1,989
    edited April 2009

    It's a great feeling Sue knowing the IV is done - I'm so happy you've finished too! We should start a thread for everyone who's finishing their tx's............whether it be chemo or tamoxifen/arimidex......or radiation........these milestones are so important for all of us! HensonChi - I'm assuming my onc will schedule me for a bone scan and/or pet scan, he mentioned it to me months ago. I'll find out on Wednesday when I see him. My bones have been very stiff and achy this past month - I'm assuming it's the Arimidex. Maybe he'll let me switch to something else. Mary Jo I hope the compression garment won't be too hot and that you have a/c in your house. I'm glad you'll be off from work - I'm sure you'll do fantastic with your stage2 surgery just like you did with stage 1! Hiker I'm happy you put up an avatar........and I know what you mean about the drippy nose. Mine is STILL drippy - I wonder how long until the Herceptin is totally out of my body? And thanks Kalyla for your kind thoughts (and everyone else I forgot to mentinon) - it warms my heart reading your words and knowing that some of you have been through more ordeals than myself. May the sun continue to shine on all my wonderful sisters here - and may God's blessings shine down on all of us and help us heal in body and spirit! Cool

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  • Gina_M
    Gina_M Member Posts: 294
    edited April 2009

    I haven't been on the boards much lately (except for one of them), but found this when I was trying to google for more information about how long it takes for the herceptin to clear the body and side effects (and cardiac risks) go back to normal.  This was one of the first sites to come up on Google!  So, congratulations to swimangel72!!! I hope to be joining you in the "have been there and finished that" club after July 21st.  My tumour was ER/PR negative Her2+, so there will be no more drugs for me.  I'm being followed with digital mammography (booked for July 3) and a second MRI (booked July 15th, following one in February  of the "good" breast that caused a bit of concern and needs to be repeated). 

     Did anyone find out how long the Herceptin stays with us?  It seems to me that some side effects from the chemo (TCH) which I finished in September are still with me.  Hair is horrible - curly and short looks weird on my face!  But hey! It's hair!!

     Hope all are well!

    Gina

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  • lexislove
    lexislove Member Posts: 2,645
    edited April 2009

    Gina,

    Good question about the Herceptin and the length of time clearing the body. I read somewhere that it takes about 2 weeks or 10 days. My onc said once you have finished the Herceptin, you heart starts to rebuild/repair itself right away.

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  • swimangel72
    swimangel72 Member Posts: 1,989
    edited April 2009

    Hi Gina - and thanks for sharing with us. July is just around the corner - then you can join us for a goodbye chemo pool party! Like Lexi I also heard that Herceptin takes about 10 days to get out of your body, but who knows how long the chemo SEs last? I had 4 months of Navelbine - and my arm still gets spells of weakness - but not very often. My biggest complaint now is total skeletal pain and tiredness........I saw my onc today and he's scheduling me for cat scans with contrast of my lungs, pelvis and abdominal area, a bone scan and a muga scan. I really feel confident that these scans will be fine.........I'm blaming the Arimidex for my bone pain and general weakness, but it'll be good to get the scans done so I can move forward without worrying. Though of course, as we all know, worry takes on an entirely NEW dimension in the BC alien universe we all inhabit.

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  • nobleanna007
    nobleanna007 Member Posts: 641
    edited April 2009

    SwimAngel,

        I just wanted to wish you luck on your scans, I had mine in Feb. and it really stressed me out due to all the nerve aches and general aches and pains I had developed. Thankfully all was clear! Which was a huge relief. I know sometimes when I have done a little more than normal I will go through a period of terriable fatigue its like when I was in full TX. Also I still have the nerve issues which my Pain Dr. does not feel that will get any better than it is now! Which STINKS! And I am getting the Lupron shot plus Tomixfen so boy somedays I feel 80yrs old. I can only hope once I have my overies out things will get better!!!

                  Keep us posted!!! By the way do you still get a drippy nose once in a while??

                                                           HUGS- Bridget

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  • swimangel72
    swimangel72 Member Posts: 1,989
    edited April 2009
    HI Bridget - I'm so happy all your scans were clear, thanks for sharing - it helps so much. Is your oopherectomy coming up soon? And yes - I still have a drippy nose - and cracking finger nails (both SEs of Herceptin) - it'll be interesting to see how long they continue. Hope you're feeling OK - hugs back at ya!
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  • simojt_jeffrey
    simojt_jeffrey Member Posts: 6
    edited May 2009

    Hi everyone...

     Reading this wonderful story truly makes you feel God's power, love and compassion over His people. An eye opener towards the realms of our spirituality. I urge you to through the links and let know your comments by posting it below. So go on, experience life one's more with God's words...and try to search in google the thankgodforebooks by C. Olivia Parr-Rud.... thank you

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  • swimangel72
    swimangel72 Member Posts: 1,989
    edited May 2009
    simojt_jeffrey - I have noooo clue what your are talking about - maybe you posted this in the wrong thread or are you just spam? Undecided
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