Local recurrence in 3 nodes just finished herceptin in January!

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SLB11
SLB11 Member Posts: 32
edited June 2014 in Just Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastasis

hi all, I have not posted in a long time. I finished herceptin on January 20. I had a pet at the beginning of match and 3 nodes lit up. I can not believe this happened so quickly after my last treatment. I have surgery on Monday. I start rads at the beginning of May the will be on taxotere/perjeta/ herceptin. I'm so concered that this battle will continue to be my life as soon as I'm off treatment that I will have the worry of another recurrence! Anyone have any advice?

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  • Denali
    Denali Member Posts: 347
    edited April 2014

    Hang in there, you can do this.  So many of us have had more than one bout of cancer.  I had breast cancer 5 yrs ago and 3 yrs later I had kidney cancer--a new primary, not mets.  Seems so unfair, doesn't it?  But I know of friends who have had cancer 3 times and they are doing WELL years later.  Did you have chemo with the herceptin?  If so, maybe you know what to expect.  If not, try to visit the threads on this site posted by others on your type of chemo, as it sure helps to support and learn from each other.  If you're having a difficult time emotionally, don't be afraid to ask your dr for some meds to help you.  (Xanex helped me get through those occasional tough days.)

    Take one day at a time and do something to make yourself smile every day.

    Hugs,

    Linda

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  • mjm1
    mjm1 Member Posts: 139
    edited April 2014

    I'm so sorry this is happening to you. There are a number of fairly new treatments for HER2+ (I include perjeta in that), and more being developed, and they work in different ways. Hopefully this treatment will be the answer for you. xo

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  • SLB11
    SLB11 Member Posts: 32
    edited April 2014

    thank you!

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  • mjm1
    mjm1 Member Posts: 139
    edited May 2014

    Hi again, I know more about ER-/PR- HER2+ (my mother's diagnosis), but I think I've seen HER2+ women who are also ER+ getting treated with tamoxifen or other treatments that target the hormone side of things (as well as the HER2+ treatments). Just wondered if it might be worth discussing with your oncologist as another type of ammo to throw at it if needed. Hope the rads and chemo are kicking the cancers butt:)

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  • maevictor
    maevictor Member Posts: 12
    edited May 2014

    I was done with Herceptin in July of 2013 and by August noticed some spots on my skin along my surgical scar that were diagnosed in October of 2013 as a re-occurence.  Mind you this scar received the maximum amount of radiation it could and the cancer still came back there.  I am so sorry you are going through this.  We asked my surgeon to be honest and he told me this.  One, when the PET didn't show anything else that was really good news.  Immune system is handling the cancer elsewhere (it appears) but just not locally.  Two, he sees lots of cases with severe local issues that never go anywhere outside the breast and then other instances where women locally seem like they have a minor case and it is all over.  You just never know what you are going to get so don't get ahead of yourself.  Be happy you still have rads as an option.  Also, I just went through this round of chemo - not the most fun thing to do but the trial and results are really promising.  In this trial the mesters were averaging 6 months with disease free progression.  My onc explained in case study terms this is amazing because some women go into these trials quite ill and can die in days/weeks from other complications or because they were that close to the end of life anyhow.  Perjeta attaches to a different receptor than herceptin weakening the cell making the chemo more effective.  Stock up on Imodium, ginger and peppermint tea is my recommendation.  Good luck!

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