My mum is currently undergoing herceptin treatment following chemo and rads. She’s had her 7th cycle and the 8th chould have been Friday coming, with her heart scan the following week.
In the early hours of Friday morning she was rushed into hospital as she couldn’t breathe. The doctors told her she had fluid on her lungs caused by heart faliure from the Herceptin and she has to stop the treatment. They’ve also found a blood clot on her heart and want to start her on warfarin to try and reduce this.
Does anyone know if there are alternative treatments to Herceptin, she is taking Tamoxifen at the moment as well. Or will they just stop altogether and it’s a case of hope for the best.
My mum has also booked a holiday to Mexico in May which she really needs (I’m sure you can relate) but the cardiologist has told her she may not be able to go because of the heart problems. Has anyone had a similar experience and if so, how long did it take to correct/stabalise? I know it’s probably ‘how longs a piece of string’ but I just want to give her a bit of good news for a change and that it may not come down to cancelling her holiday. She really needs something to look forward to.
So sorry to hear about your mum’s problems. If you would like to give the helpline a ring the nurses here will be only too willing to have a talk to you about what’s happening to your mum, and perhaps how best you can help her. Calls to the helpline are free, 0808 800 6000, lines open Mon to Fri 9am - 5pm and Sat 9am - 2pm.
I’m really sorry to hear about your mum’s reaction to Herceptin - unfortunately this is one of the known side effects of this treatment. I think that over time the heart can heal but I may be wrong. I didn’t have too many problems with Herceptin. I also think that regarding the holiday - it may not be a good idea to go as if she has a pre-existing condition - it’ll cost a fortune for her to get insured and insurance is a necessity if she has this known heart problem. Also I think a lot of insurance companies won’t insure you whilst you are still going through treatment. I haven’t had a holiday abroad for 1 1/2 years and am having my first abroad holiday in March.
The only other drug which hasn’t been licensed yet but some people have managed to get it through trials is called Tykerb/Tyverb.
She did have a quote for travel insurance at £150 for full cover including covering the breast cancer. They were happy to cover her through treatment as long as the diagnosis was over 12 months ago. But she can’t take it out until two months before travel (3 weeks time!!!). I told them what I know (which at the moment isn’t too much) to see if they will still cover her and if the premium will increase. They said they couldn’t say at the moment, until we have a full diagnosis and details of new meds, but it wasn’t a definite no. The only snag is they need a letter from her cardiologist to say she’s fit to travel. I’m hoping if I speak to the consultant and explain the situation he’ll let us have the letter so at least if worst comes to worst she’ll be able to claim for the cost of the holiday (almost 4k)
The sad thing is, I went to visit her last night and she said the last week or so she physically couldn’t have gone on holiday, but now she feels great and could happily go today…sods law.