I decided that after depriving my body of an adult beverage for this long that tequila might not be a good way to get my feet wet. I'm not really a dive-right-in kind of girl - I'm more of a let's-test-the-water-first person. So at last Sunday's Chargers game I left the margaritas at home and went with Coors Light instead - 3 to be exact (or was it 4?) They were refreshing and delicious just as I remembered. I probably should have had the tequila after the Chargers pathetic performance, but if I start drinking every time I'm frustrated with the Chargers I would never be sober. But I digress...
I went for my first herceptin-only infusion on Wednesday. Herceptin is the drug that targets my Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) cells which are overexpressed in my body and therefore encourage cancer cells to grow. I've been receiving herceptin in my chemo cocktails, but now am receiving only it. There are no side effects so I wasn't worried about it at all. When I got settled in the infusion center I felt really low. I've been so relieved and excited about finishing my chemotherapy and here I was sitting right back in the infusion center with the same needle in my port connected to the same IV machine. Yes, it was for a much shorter stay (only 30 minutes to receive the IV) but other than that nothing had changed. I better get used to it - I have 11 more infusions before I'm done in June 2011. And so far, so good - no side effects or anything yet so that is fantastic!
I met with my doctor before the infusion and we discussed the tamoxifen hormone treatment again. He said that all of the studies of tamoxifen were done before the discovery of HER2 and triple positive breast cancer so he can't tell me what the benefit would be to take the drug. He said in small animals growing human cancer tumors there seems to be a benefit to taking tamoxifen along with herceptin. You know, I'm just not sold on the small animal research argument when it comes to putting even more meds in my body. So we agreed to continue to disagree and let my body detox for awhile before discussing it again. I think he thinks he can wear me down by recommending tamoxifen on every doctor's visit. What he doesn't know is that the cancer cells have not affected my stubborn cells so he's in for an awfully long conversation. I hope he takes rejection well.
On Thursday I had a follow-up echocardiogram. Herceptin and the other chemo drugs can damage my heart, so I need to get it checked periodically. If you remember my post in June about the first echocardiogram you'll know this was my favorite test. I get to lie on a bed in a dark room listening to the swooshing of my heart with warm goo being rubbed on my chest. Maybe I'm a bit odd, but I found it very relaxing! The technician said that (unofficially of course) everything looked good, so that's a relief.
And if you're keeping score at home, hot flashes are still winning over hair growth. I'm hoping that will change soon.
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