hello everyone, I’m off to see another onc, specialist this time for BC, and she’s a SHE…! my onc doesn’t think there’s much more he/they can do, but I am not sure what he means by this, despite us talking French and him good English…! so, he doesn’t think anything of my tumour marker being sky high, nor the fact that he says I’ve now got something on my lung…! he thinks another scan in 3 months will suffice. I had a lunch x ray about 6 months ago and was told I had the best lungs ever - I’m a runner…! so now I’m a tad worried. He’s also mentioned herceptin, so await to see what the lady has to say.
If I have to go herceptin, does this mean no more arimidex? and when do you get it? I know it’s by needle and I am NOT looking forward to that. Anyone out there just said…SODDIT and stopped taking all these drugs and stopped xrays, scans etc etc. I’m sure that every time I have something done, something else crops up.
Thanks for listening.
Karen
Hi Karen
I am not too sure but I think you would continue on both arimadex and herceptin. Arimadex is given for ER+ and Herceptin for HER2+ therfore I would think you would be positive for both.
Linda
Hello Karen and fellow French resident, hospital visits can get confusing can’t they between the 2 languages and how I wish I could speak fluent French rather than Pigeon French.
Do you have a good relationship with your local doctor, perhaps he/she could find out exactly what is going on?
I have been told by my Onc that I will probably go on to Herceptin after all my chemo/rads etc. It is my understanding (and please correct me if I am wrong as I am new to all this) that Herceptin is given like Chemo, so in my case, via hickman line. I think it is also given about every 3 weeks as well, but I am not sure for how long this goes on.
Keep your pecker up Karen, you can do it xxx
Karen,
Linda is right - Arimidex is for hormone positive cancers, and herceptin is for Her2+ cancers. BC can be either, neither, or both. So being Her2+ will not affect Arimidex. I am on tamoxifen (for hormone positive cancers - tamoxifen is for pre-menopausal women, arimidex for post menopausal) and herceptin. Herceptin is given like chemo - a drip every three weeks. For me it takes 90 minutes, but I believe some hospitals do it quicker. The side effects are minimal, the main issue being the hassle of having to turn up to the hospital every three weeks, and the hanging around that comes with that.
Thanks for you posts. The 2nd Opinion was a waste of a day travelling to Toulouse. She didn’t seem overly bothered and said that the Pagets Disease which I’ve just been operated on for, wasn’t showing that I was Her2+ so no Herceptin, and she didn’t think that I’d get it here becuase they usually only give it to start with, as / with chemo. So yipppeee for that.
She didn’t even bat a eyelid on the very high tumour marker CA125 which is worrying me most of all. I wil have to wait for feedback from my Onc in UK I think on this one.
The shadow on my lung she thinks is from radiotherapy, although I’m not convinced given I’ve prob had two xrays/scans since rads and nothing has shown up. She is happy that I continue on Arimidex and go for another scan in 3 months. Oh well, I will have to speak to my local GP here and see what he has to say as I’m not overly happy with what’s going on at all.
Cheers again
Kx
Did you go to the Institut Claudius Regaud Karen? It’s just that my GP has said they are supposed to be the best cancer care unit in France. Not much help to you I know if that is where you went.
I can understand why you don’t feel happy, and I hope that your GP will have something more promising to say.
Good luck
x
Hi there, yes, that’s where I went, the lady was very nice, but clearly she didn’t think I ought to have gone. So will see what the Onc here says and then my Onc in UK.
Oh well…no more needles, to that makes me happy at the moment.
Kx