Heal article on heart/lung health after treatment

Hi Nancy:  I'm finding that my back Dr. is doing all the work the oncs and rad drs should be doing.  I signed up for a radiation trial and now I wonder if he is ignoring my symptoms because they want good numbers on the trial.  I'm very lucky I have my back dr to help me as I can't find a primary care physician where I live.  I hate it when the oncs ignore se and other things that happen to us it's wrong I hope that you get all the right help from whomever will give it to you. And shove the article in his face, maybe it will wake the doc up.

I am glad to have found this article.  I was diagnosed in July 2006.   Did a round of chemo, had a partial mastectomy in Oct. , Then began a round of Taxotere/Herceptin.   I noticed that I developed a cough, but didn't think much of it considering that coughing was listed as a side effect.   My final round of chemo was on Feb 2, 2007, although I was too continue on the Herceptin for a year.   While taking the xrays for radiation therapy the doctor recommended that I get another ctscan because my lungs looked "junky".   My oncologist gave me the results of the ctscan, saying that the cancer had moved to both of my lungs.   He also said that we would not change treatment because Herceptin is the strongest weapon we have against breast cancer.   At that point I was extrememly dissappointed and couldn't figure out why I should continue with the radiation treatment.   Their answer was too prevent a local recurrance.   So I played the game and continued the radiation.   I began to notice every time I went in for my Herceptin treatment, my cough would be worse over that weekend.   I was sent to a Lung doctor to deal with whatever it was going on with my lungs.   After all sorts of tests, she did a bronchoscopy to get some tissue samples. All of the samples came back negative for cancer. ( Even though at that point my oncologist said he was 95% sure that it was cancer.)   I talked to both doctors about the possibility that it was the herceptin that was causing the inflammation, but both said that they were not aware of that side effect.   I continued to do a little more research on my own and decided to go off the Herceptin.   When I admitted this to my lung doctor, she said that she noticed that the inflammation in my lungs had changed.   Since nothing was really concrete, she discussed the possibility of having an open lung biopsy.   Saying that this would be the only way to be sure what was happening in my lungs.   So in Sept. of 2007, I had that biopsy done.   The results were negative for cancer and was given the diagnosis as "BOOP".   I would like to say that was the end of my worries.   Unfortuanately, my breathing troubles continue.   And to make matters worse, I went in January to have a lump biopsied.   My cancer had returned to the same breast, but toward the center of my chest.   I had a mastectomy on Feb 18.    I saw my oncologist about a week after my surgery and he mentioned the herceptin again.   When I said I was a little reluctant to go back on it because my breathing was improving, he again said that he was not aware of herceptin causing any sort of breathing troubles.    Every so often I google Herceptin and BOOP and find that there is more and more information coming out and being studied.     Thanks for starting this message!