Herceptin

So here's the short of it,
More about Herceptin

And here's the long

Today was Herceptin at 3:30.  I keep thinking about the online group discussions I looked at last night; almost everyone who posted was having the Herceptin every 3 weeks.   I think back to that first meeting with Dr. Schlabach and how I had this intuition after 5 minutes that I wanted him for my oncologist.  Actually it may have been within the first minute.  One of the things that he said that day was that he followed the protocols of the earlier trials and administered the Herceptin every week instead of every three weeks. At the time that wasn't something that meant much to me, except that I had to go to the office every week instead of every three weeks.  Of course it would be so much more convenient to be on an every three week schedule, but I haven't really thought much about it. 

Now that I'm this far in, I've looked up some of the studies that moved the protocol to every 3 weeks instead of every week.  I'm thinking it was to align with the every three week chemo schedules.  Anyway, the every 3 week schedule is apparently as safe and as effective as the every week.  But there are several articles that say side effects are greater for the every 3 week schedule.  Since one of the side effects is heart trouble, I wonder about that safety finding.  I'm keenly aware that a less that 1% failure rate, is still a failure for someone. 

Anyway, it seems that Herceptin side effects may explain lots of my complaints - muscle aches, joint pain and stiffness;  acne breakouts; ragged nails and cuticles; splitting skin on my fingertips; foot and hand cramps; tiredness; shortness of breath; diahrrea, stomach queasiness, gas and bloating; shortness of breath; difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep; those horrible nose sores and frequent nosebleeds; and maybe the continuation of the neuropathy in my feet; heartache (actually both heartburn and depression are side effects - wouldn't that be heartache??) Fortunately I don't have any of these at the severity that many suffer according to the posts I'm reading, but all those women are on an every 3 week schedule.  Apparently many women have a difficult time for a day or even three after their infusion - including fever and severe aches and pains.  I haven't really experienced much of that.  I haven't had the doctor report on my last heart scan, but the technician told me it looked really good. 

I feel so lucky to be diagnosed in this time when such good medicines are available.  And I continue to feel so fortunate that Dr. Schlabach is my physician and that Lori is my nurse!