Herceptin Week 2

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Hi.  Today started off good.  I felt a little worse this morning than I did last night but I think it’s just been my cold/cough/sore throat thing and it got better as the day progressed.  I had my next round of Herceptin today and actually felt better after my appointment than I did before.  I got all my blood counts checked.  Red blood counts and blood platelets were good but white blood counts were low (the ones that affect your immune system so no surprise I’m still sick).  They said it was normal though and nothing that needed immediate attention or concern.  They said I’d start feeling less tired by the weekend.  I’m going to work tomorrow though and ready to get back to normal.  I met a really nice girl today in the chemo room.  She has breast cancer as well.  It also doesn’t run in her family and she got it young (early 40’s).   Hers isn’t HER2+ over-expressing like mine but has spread to her lymph nodes like mine.  She’s undergoing a clinical trial and we’re seeing all the same doctors (oncologist and surgeon).  It was nice meeting her.  She’s 3 months ahead of me and we exchanged numbers and will continue seeing each other every Wednesday.  Most of the other people in the chemo room were much older today and it was less crowded than last time.  The girl I met today talked about her port, which is the semi-permanent IV thing that I was contemplating cancelling my appointment for.  My surgery for that is next Friday.  She said she thought the same thing but after weeks of sticks, your veins get worse and you really need it so she was glad she had it now.  So I guess I’m keeping my appointment for that since everyone else has said and recommended the same thing.   The best news of all today was when Dr. Limentani said that my tumors felt much smaller already.  He said it wasn’t typical but not unusual either for that to happen so fast with HER2+ over-expressing cancer and Herceptin, since it’s such a wonder drug.  He didn’t take any measurements because he said they’ll wait and do that every 3 weeks but said he wouldn’t be surprised if by the next big chemo round in two weeks, he may not even be able to find them for measuring.  It’s not going to change any of my treatment plans but it’s still a great thing to hear.   🙂  Well, Dan and I are off to dinner, craving some baked spaghetti.  Yummy.