 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Breast Cancer / January 2004Switching treatments again :(
Just got back from Dr. Smiley's office. Deborah's CEA has risen from 1.6 to 4.9 in the past three months and CA 15-3 from 27 to 45 in the same period. So - we switched to Arimidex + Zoladex today. Deborah has done Zoladex once before but discontinues it because of power surges - but that was two years ago. Hopefully things will go a lot better this time. If she flunks the aromatase inhibitor it's back on chemo for us - probably Xeloda. At least it's better than not knowing - and it could have been a lot worse :) A happy and healthy New Year to all y'all :)  Signatureallan spammers can reach me at abuse@localhost humans can reach me at wizard at pointbeing dot com > Just got back from Dr. Smiley's office. Deborah's CEA has risen from > 1.6 to 4.9 in the past three months and CA 15-3 from 27 to 45 in the [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > A happy and healthy New Year to all y'all :) And to you and Deborah and all our friends on this ng. Mary Mary wrote: >And to you and Deborah and all our friends on this ng. Yeah, what Mary said. ...lisa > Just got back from Dr. Smiley's office. Deborah's CEA has risen from > 1.6 to 4.9 in the past three months and CA 15-3 from 27 to 45 in the > same period. > > So - we switched to Arimidex + Zoladex today. I'm sorry to hear that Deborah's markers are up, Allan! If well-wishes can help, please know that I'm intently beaming positive thoughts her way. Here's hoping the new regimen will (1) have few/no side effects this time around, and (2) whip those numbers back into shape again! Please say "howdy" to her for me. Best wishes to you both in this new year! Ann T. Remove 'dontsend >Please say "howdy" to her for me. Best wishes to you both in this new year! She says 'howdy' back, Ann. Happy new year to all :) Signatureallan spammers can reach me at abuse@localhost humans can reach me at wizard at pointbeing dot com Allan, I wish you and Deborah all the good your lives can hold and will keep you in prayer. But I really take exception at something you inadvertently said -- "Hopefully things will go a lot better this time. If <<<<she>>>> flunks the aromatase inhibitor it's back on chemo for us - probably Xeloda." IMHO, the patient doesn't flunk anything. --I know this is 'medical jargon' -- but thinking in these terms could also be considered down-putting and unnecessary, especially with all that Deborah and many others have been through fighting this damned disease. The point is: the DRUGS have flunked the patient NOT the other way around. Sorry, but it just gets me so mad when I hear kind of terminology. Cancer is not that kind of a 'test'. --One of my buttons I guess. May you have a healthier and rewarding new year. God bless, Lady8 >May you have a healthier and rewarding new year. And the same to you, Lady8 :) I didn't mean to offend - cancer isn't a test. 'Flunking chemo' is a figure of speech. Signatureallan spammers can reach me at abuse@localhost humans can reach me at wizard at pointbeing dot com Sorry to hear about Deborah's tumor markers. She did so well on herceptin - can they give her anymore - or did she build up a resistance/ Anyways I wish you 2 the best for the new year.Alex >Sorry to hear about Deborah's tumor markers. She did so well on herceptin - >can they give her anymore - or did she build up a resistance/ >Anyways I wish you 2 the best for the new year.Alex I'm afraid most of the time it doesn't work that way - usually they use a drug until it's killed everything it can kill - and tumor cells that are left are generally resistant to that drug combination, and so are cells that multiply from those drug-resistant cells. That's why they switch to new treatments instead of revisiting old ones. It sure is a nice thought, though :) Signatureallan spammers can reach me at abuse@localhost humans can reach me at wizard at pointbeing dot com That's a shame but makes perfect sense...I was kind of hoping that they took her off the herceptin and leaving it in reserve. I will keep my fingers crossed that the new treatment goes well. Alex > >Sorry to hear about Deborah's tumor markers. She did so well on herceptin - > >can they give her anymore - or did she build up a resistance/ [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > spammers can reach me at abuse@localhost > humans can reach me at wizard at pointbeing dot com > A happy and healthy New Year to all y'all :) Hello Deborah and Allan, Darn! Will be holding you in thought and prayer as Deborah begins some more treatment.....Wishing you best possible result, with few/no side effects. Health and happiness in the new year! Barb > A happy and healthy New Year to all y'all :) > -- Happy New Year to you and everyone. Its 2004 here already, don't hang about, come on in, the water's lovely. Tim > > A happy and healthy New Year to all y'all :) > > -- > > > Happy New Year to you and everyone. > > Its 2004 here already, don't hang about, come on in, the water's lovely. It was snowing here, 6" - didn't you get it? It was very beautiful but I didn't want to go in ... Bbbrrrrrrrrrrrrr ......... Mary > Tim > > Happy New Year to you and everyone. > > Its 2004 here already, don't hang about, come on in, the water's lovely. > > It was snowing here, 6" - didn't you get it? > It was very beautiful but I didn't want to go in ... Bbbrrrrrrrrrrrrr > ......... Well, when water is frozen into air-grown crystals it is lovely. It was packed into a less-than-lovely humanoid form by the hands of my daughter and her friend while waiting for the strokes of midnight. We didn't get a white Christmas but we sure got a white New Year. Tim Hi Allan, again sorry to hear of the increase in tumor markers. How is Deborah feeling? Hopefully, the change in hormonal treatments will be all that is needed. Does she have any other symptoms? I was wondering--how old is Deborah? >Hi Allan, again sorry to hear of the increase in tumor markers. How is Deborah >feeling? Hopefully, the change in hormonal treatments will be all that is >needed. Does she have any other symptoms? I was wondering--how old is >Deborah? A change in treatments will hold things off for awhile, Kaye - but there's not gonna be a cure unless something new and amazing comes out, and we've already been the recipient of one minor miracle - it's probably time I accepted that. Deborah is 49 and asymptomatic but her CEA and CA15-3 are both on the rise. Her chest x-ray at the end of November was clear and an abdominal CT with contrast (last week) was clear also. Her last bone scan was in July and looked fine. I'm afraid to ask for a skull CT and Dr. Smiley hasn't suggested it. Signatureallan spammers can reach me at abuse@localhost humans can reach me at wizard at pointbeing dot com << A change in treatments will hold things off for awhile, Kaye - but there's not gonna be a cure unless something new and amazing comes out, and we've already been the recipient of one minor miracle - it's probably time I accepted that. >> Allan, it is a difficult time for you both, I am sure, but one never really knows about b.c. The norm doesn't have to happen to any one of us. There are always exceptions. I would like to recommend a new book--just published--THE ANATOMY OF HOPE, by Jerome Groopman, M.D. I found one chapter amazine--chapter 3, "The Right to Hope." It talks of a physician, a pathologist, who specialized in dx'ing stomach cancer, to develop that type of cancer himself. He was given a prognosis of 6 to 9 mos. He decided to do everything against character--or what he would have recommended for everyone else and did--he decided to fight it with major treatment, enduring some very difficult times. The chapter was written 13 years after that time---he was still around, doing quite well considering, to interview Oops--accidentally sent before finishing.... Kaye wrote: << The chapter was written 13 years after that time---he was still around, doing quite well considering, to interview>>> Allan, as you know and has been discussed on this group we need to prepare for the worst but expect the best--sorry for the cliche' but there is no way to determine prognosis for sure. Are you aware of the new vaccine clinical trials for those who are Her2+? I know of one gal who had it in Pennsylvania--who had mets to several areas and went into complete remission such that scans were clear. It might be something to explore. I believe it's called an autovac. I have some info available. If intereted, let me know. Take care and of course wishing both you and Deborah all the best. {{{Hugs}}} |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.