April 26, 2012 Round #5 – Beginning the Search and Destroy Mission
I started round #5 of my 8 chemo treatments today at 10:00am. This is an important milestone in that it is the being of the end for the second half of my chemo treatments – the chemo homestretch! It is also an important milestone as I am switching to two new drugs (details repeated below from a previous blog entry):
1. T – Paclitaxel (or trade name: TAXOL) – this is a chemo drug that can cause some nerve damage on the fingers and toes (and potentially other areas of the body), however, the risk should not be too high for me based on my general health. This drug can also compromise my immune system and white blood cell count and cause food to taste metallic. However, I should not experience any nausea with this drug so this will be a nice change. I will continue to take the Neupogen to counter the drop in my immune system.
2. T – Trastuzumab (or trade name: HERCEPTIN) – this is not a chemo drug per say, but a drug that targets specific cells. As I am what is called HER2+ (HER2 Positive - which makes the cancer I have more aggressive), my prognosis would have been more dire in the past without Herceptin as the chances of recurrence and mortality are doubled for me without it. Although there are side effects with this drug (but should be manageable given my general health), Herceptin will all but remove the additional risks by targeting the troublesome over expressed protein cells it is looking for. It has only been approved for common use in cancer patients for the last few years – it had been an experimental drug prior to that with more side effects. Again a silver lining as I am benefiting from previous research and will have improved chances of survival and less chance of recurrence due to this medical advancement. So I will try not to worry about the potential side effects that could include: impacts to my heart, flu-like symptoms and potential chills/fever on the first dose (not bad if possibly happens only once!)
While the combination of the previous two drugs, these two drugs, radiation and hormone therapy are apparently the overall key to significantly reducing the chances of recurrence and mortality, HERCEPTIN is a key drug in this formula that would not have been available to me and the 25% of women with breast cancer about 10 or more years ago. Below is some information from a Herceptin web site and the web site link (you can google other sites for more information):
How HER2+ breast cancer is different
Not all breast cancers are the same. HER2+ breast cancer cells have more HER2 receptors (a particular protein found on the surface of cells) than normal breast cells.
- Having too many HER2 receptors may make the cancer cells grow and divide faster, creating more HER2+ cancer cells
- HER2+ breast cancer is considered aggressive because it grows and spreads quickly
Targeted therapy is available for some women with HER2+ breast cancer.
Based on this and new breakthrough research about the overall “HER” family (sounds like there is HER1, HER2, HER3 and HER4 - Seems ironic/poetic that the family sounds feminine based on it being associated with Breast Cancer:o)), I am now SUPER HAPPY to finally be on this medication.
As I sat in the chemo chair today for my 1.5 hour treatment and 1 hour wait period to see if I had any reactions to this miracle drug, I was envisioning the antibodies roaming around my body to find these troublesome HER2+ cells and attack them.
Later as we were driving home, Todd made the perfect analogy: Herceptin is on a Search and Destroy mission and that is what we want. You betcha that is what I want!
The treatment and the hours that have followed so far (it is 8:00pm) have been uneventful and I am very proud of the uneventful day.
Tomorrow I will be “in the chair” for 5-6 hours as there tends to be initial side effects with the next chemo drug, T – Paclitaxel (or trade name: TAXOL). It sounds like if there is to be any significant reactions it happens on the first dose, the effects are treated and then I should be good to go. I will need to watch for chills, aches and pains over the next few days. If these symptoms become problematic, I have a handy dandy prescription for another drug that will address them. I also still have my friend Neupogen, the handy white blood cell boosting injections on my side after each treatment to continue to combat my arch nemesis “infection”.
So I may not be in the Army, Navy or Marines and I haven’t been deployed to any war zone, but I am now on a Search and Destroy mission using Herceptin blasting antibodies as my offence. The Search and Destroy mission will last about one year (yes this continues after chemo is finished) or 17 treatments. It is great to live in a Province and Country that is ahead of the curve when it comes to Breast Cancer Treatments!
More to come after tomorrow’s marathon chemo session…
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