August 31 2012 Friday                            GILBERT
  L
                                                                                                 GILBERT


 

BELLA



MY BROTHER'S  BOAT ON A SANDBAR

PICKING UP SEASHELLS ON A SANDBAR.  JUST OFF THE INTER 
COASTAL WATERWAY.LOOK CLOSELY 
TO SEE MY GRAY HAIR COMING IN .  I HAVE SUNGLASSES ON TOP.










Great news--- I went yesterday for 
my weekly treatments and to get the results of the liver scan from last week.  




  The Doctor advised me that I am in REMISSION!!  Thank you all for the many prayers. The plan for now is to stay on the weekly treatments for about 6 weeks. The Doctor advised you never want to stop/change treatment right away. She advised me that I will stay on Herceptin still every 3 weeks for now. This is the antibody that treats HER2+ cancer which I have. If you remember HER2+ is the cancer that recurs and spreads quick. It is very likely I will stay on Herceptin indefinitely. As for chemo  I will stay on Navelbine for 6 more weeks now and then we look at other chemos which are not as strong. HER2+ cancer does not do well without chemo treatment. There is even a pill form I may can take without having to go every week for treatment. The doctor said if over the next few months the scans continue to show no tumors that I may be able to stop chemo for awhile.   So the plan for now is to figure out which chemo to change to and to continue with scans.

 Remission means that Chemo and Herceptin has broken down the tumors and they no longer show on scans.  The cancer cells now remain in the liver as a collection of single cells and not tumors. (Remember there is no cure for this cancer). Patients in remission must be monitored closely for potential recurrence where the single cells  grow together again forming tumors which are seen on scans. HER2+ cancer is one which tends to grow and spread fast.   Cancer can go into remission, be active sometimes and not others, or move quickly to other areas.  It frequently involves trying one treatment after another, ideally with breaks in between treatments.  It is best to look at Stage 4 cancer as an on- going disease because of the potential to recur. There is no way to know how long before a recurrence will happen. Everyone is different. Remission can last anywhere from weeks to years which makes this an on-going process.

I am very excited about my remission. At the same time I am also nervous about recurrence. I wished remission meant no more treatments and scans, but it doesn’t. As I write this- August is the month I found the lump in my breast 1 year ago. September and October started all the tests, scans and breast surgery and I started chemo in November. It has been a long emotional process not to mention having to educate myself about metastatic liver cancer. My hair is slowly starting to grow back after being on the weekly treatment since May 1 which was not as strong as the monthly chemo I was on from Nov 2011 till May 1 2012. 

  I am so lucky to have family and friends like you all. My parents have been here for me throughout this ordeal and I appreciate and love them so much. Mom has still not missed a chemo treatment yet. For now I am going to believe that I will be one of the 20 year remission patients!!!!!!!   Thanks for all the prayers, cards, emails, phone calls and cards.