HER2+

I had my 8th round of Herceptin on Wednesday. I did not have any side effects last time and so far none this time around either. It's so wonderful to get a drug that doesn't effect you much. It was an easy day on Wednesday, I was in and out of there within 1 1/2 hours. I like those kind of visits, with no labs to draw and no doctor's visit, it makes a difference. Nothing to hold you up and wait for.

I have another MUGA scan on the 11th of February. I have to do these every 3 months to make sure that my heart is staying strong because the Herceptin can cause cardiac dysfunction. Many ask me what does the Herceptin actually do and according to my Nursing drug book that my thoughtful mom purchased for me, it states that it is a recombinant DNA-derived monoclonal antibody that selectively binds to the HER2 proteins, inhibiting proliferation of tumor cells that overexpress HER2. You may ask what is HER2, well all normal breast cells contain copies of the HER2 (Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2) gene, which helps normal cells grow. The HER2 gene is found in the DNA of a cell and this gene contains the information for making the HER2 protein. In HER2+ breast cancer, the cancer cells have an abnormally high number of HER2 genes per cell. When this happens too much HER2 appears on the surface of these cancer cells and are overexpressed. Too much HER2 protein is thought to cause cancer cells to grow and divide more quickly, so that is why HER2+ breast cancer is considered aggressive. About 25% of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer are HER2+. So there is your lesson of Herceptin and HER2+ in a nutshell hope that it made sense.

When you think of breast cancer you would think that it is just breast cancer, but breast cancer is so complexed that it's just not categorized as breast cancer when diagnosed. You have hormone receptors that you get tested for and get check to see what your HER2 status is plus with the grade of the tumor and the stage of the cancer, are you lost yet? Anyways not only am I HER2+, but I also am Estrogen and Progesterone positive, which means that couple of weeks ago I started taking the wonderful drug Tamoxifen. It's funny because the other day I was on the YSC discussion board and there was topic posted there "I took my first Tamoxifen" and everyone who responded had the same worries and concerns as I did with it and they all procrastinated a little when they started taking it. Some waited days, like me, some waited months, but we all have the same concerns with the side effects, the major one being HOT FLASHES, welcome to Menopause, oh my. Tamoxifen will now be my friend for 5 years. Luckily I am also taking Effexor, which helps with hot flashes, so that's a plus. And to answer your question Aunt Sandy that you asked me tonight there are different doses of it depending on your treatment that you've had, but it looks like 20mg is the common dose and that's what I'm on.

I was suppose to have my genetic test follow up on the 11th also, but due to my scan I had to cancel. Unfortunately I can not get another appointment until April, so I have my appointment then and I'm also on a cancellation list. I did ask if I could get my result before then, but the receptionist had to give the message to the doctor and I have not heard back yet so have to wait and see.

Posting a couple of pictures of me with the boys. Griffin is getting so big and I'm proud to say that he is now the only one in the house with the least amount of hair, but we are neck and neck. My hair is growing back nicely so far it's my normal color, not blonde. As for the texture I can't really tell yet, but I'm excited to get my hair back and my eyebrows and eyelashes, but of course where I could care less that I have hair or not on my body is coming back as well. As my friend Amy put it too bad it wasn't swimsuit season. LOL.

The Healing Power of Pink

It's Stacie again with a quick update. Nicole just updated also so make sure to read the previous entry.

Shortly after Nicole's diagnosis, I was contacted by one of her coworkers named Susan Stein. She wanted to show her support by putting together a book dedicated to Nicole. I personally reviewed the book before it was published and it is beautiful! Susan is a very talented photographer, and she has taken several of her photographs of pink flowers, etc. and combined them with excerpts from this blog.

Al Bly, President of US Water Services, has funded the printing of the book which has allowed all of the proceeds to go directly to Nicole's Benefit Account. More details on the book and the order form are available through the US Water Services website at http://www.uswaterservices.com/pink%20page.php. The cost is $20. The form and check can be mailed to:

Karen Danielson
2950 Xenium Lane N, Ste 120
Plymouth, MN 55441

I know Nicole, like many of us, has a difficult time accepting donations from people. So far, she has been very fortunate that insurance has covered the majority of her medical costs. Even so, she is very grateful for all the support she has been shown. The plan is to keep the money in the benefit account for future use. Nicole is also thinking about doing a breast cancer fundraising walk within the next year and may also use some of the funds towards that cause.

So, a huge thank you to Susan, Al and all the others that made this book happen! I can't wait to get my copy!

It's Not Fair

Time to update, I had my 1st round of the Herceptin only on Wednesday and so far no real known side effects. Here I thought that I would be in and out of there faster than I was, but with my oncologist being gone last week he was very busy seeing double the patients and he got behind, which made my infusion get behind. So I started at 9:30 and did not get out of there until 1:30. The good news is that my next infusion should only last 1 hour total by the time I get checked in and out because I don't have any lab work or an appointment with the doctor. I'm definitely looking forward to that. It is not my favorite thing to do with my free time is to wait around at the cancer center.

My oncologist was very happy with my scan and that everything was still cancer free. I asked him if I was considered to be NED (no evidence of disease)and officially I'm considered NED, which I have been since my scan that I had in October, but I wanted to hear it from the doc. In regards to the inflammation that was seen on the scan he thinks is related to the chemo and if I have any digestive issues that I think are abnormal to let him know and they will perform a test that puts a scope down into my stomach to investigate, not sure what the technical name for it is called sorry to all you medical people. I'm bad with terminology.

I had my bloodwork done and my hemoglobin is still low at 10.8, but rising. There were tears brought to my eyes when I saw my alkaline phosphatase result. Your alkaline phosphatase(ALP) is an enzyme that is in your blood and if it is high it is usually related to a liver or bone disorder. It has been indicated that this test is the most sensitive test to indicate metastatic tumor(s) to the liver. When I first had my blood drawn back in August, my ALP was 219. The normal range for this is 50-136. On Wednesday my ALP was 75, the lowest it has ever been. I was so excited that I couldn't wait to share with everyone. Of course my tumor marker test was much higher and drop tremendously, but the ALP concerned me a lot since it was the test directly related to your liver, that I dwelled on it in the beginning although I have read on some of the discussions boards for some women of it being much higher then my has ever been.

In regards to discussion boards, I have listed on the site a couple of websites that I visit frequently for support. The Young Survival Coalition is one that I visit often and I feel like I know some of these girls without even meeting them face to face. This website has really helped me keep positive and stay strong besides all you of course who read this and leave me comments. There are a number of girls who are stage IV and they have given me alot of HOPE. But at the same time I feel for the ones that their treatments are not working and they struggle and at times some of them pass away leaving behind their children, husbands and other family. It's not fair that young women who may be mothers or wives have to go through this. It's not fair that children have to grow up without their moms. It's not fair that husbands have to be widowed way too young. With all of this said I want everyone to visit this site http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor and know that life is way too short and we need to cherish it everyday and thank God that he has given us one more day to spend with our families. Even though I have never met Amy, her story has touched me and she has been taken way too soon from her family and they have been robbed by this horrible disease, but I know someday, SOMEDAY no more families will have to face what her family has faced. I feel fortunate that my treatment has responded so well, but there is that 1% that I fear could this be my family someday. Thanks for letting me vent, I don't express my feelings too much, but felt that I needed to share with everyone what my thoughts have been lately.

On a much happier note to celebrate Bryan's birthday we all went out to eat and bowling tonight and it was FUN by all! I included a couple of pictures to share.

Brock watching his ball go down the lane with the help of dad


In picture is our niece Paige, Bryan, brother-in-law Brad, and nephew Noah

Welcome 2009!

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a safe and happy new year. It's sad to say that we did not make it til midnight, but we did watch the ball drop in New York, that counts in my book as bringing in the New Year even though it's an hour early.

I had my PET scan on Christmas Eve and received the results on Monday and there is no change in regards to any cancer, but there seemed to be some inflammation in my intestine area, not sure if this is due to the chemo or not, but the radiologist noted that a clinical follow-up should be done. I will have to wait until Monday when my doctor is back at the office. I'm sure I will hear then if not I will see him on Wednesday when I have my next chemo, which will just be the Herceptin. Looking forward to only having to be there a couple of hours instead of 4-5 hours.

I'm proud to say that I'm starting to get some fuzz on my head, so far coming in dark and not blonde or red or purple, LOL. Bryan is growing his back out and of course he is leading, but not by far. The kids had a New Year party at daycare and I took a picture of them with their party headbands. Hoping 2009 will continue to bring good results and we keep kicking some cancer butt.