The Fourth Chemo/Visit to Dr. Allison
Tuesday, Nov. 1: This past week has not been too bad with side effects. I have had a few bloody noses from the avastin. I was tired on Thursday of last week. I was tired on Friday as well but I decided to get out and about and that helped a little. I got the taxol today. I didn't even have any questions for Dr. Maity. Robert took me to chemo and then my friend Barbara drove me home. I always have to take a nap when I get home. Chemo was uneventful. I got home and took a nap so I would be ready to see Dr. Allison at 3:00. Robert came with me to the doctors and I am glad he did. We got an earful.
First off, I got the most thorough check up. Dr. Allison's nurse took a detailed family history. Talked about me and what had been done to me so far. Dr. Allison (this is a woman too, by the way) comes in and tells us that as soon as she saw my treatment plan from Dr. Maity that she wanted to see me immediately. She was flabbergasted that I was being given avastin. She says that this drug is not FDA approved for breast cancer. She asked if I was in a clinical trial (no) and if I had signed anything giving Dr. Maity permission to give this drug to me (no, again). Robert and I are dumbfounded. Dr. Allison said that avastin is in a few clinical trials right now but only for women with advanced breast cancer. She explains that when a drug is first tried it is given to those that are in the worst shape, which is the advanced cases where the cancer has metastesised, spread to other organs. If it shows promise, then eventually it will make it to the early stage breast cancer. But it is always in a clinical trial. Not just given to someone because you want to. So, to sum up the avastin: It is only FDA approved to treat colon and rectal cancer and has never been studied in early stage breast cancer. I call American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute and look on the internet. Everything that Dr. Allison says is true. They tell me at the American Cancer Society that the studies that they are doing right now on the advanced cases are not even showing that much promise. Some women are showing benefits from it and some are not. So what the heck am I doing on avastin??
So, on to the next item. As I have said before, I am Her2 positive. This means that the cancer is a more aggressive type. Dr. Allison can't believe that Dr. Maity's plan does not include herceptin. Herceptin is not a chemo drug. It is a "smart" drug that targets only cancer cells. It targets the Her2 protein, killing it. She said that herceptin is the best thing that has been discovered for breast cancer since tamoxifen. She also says that she would consider it medically unethical to not give me herceptin. Herceptin was all over the news in Oct. but she said that oncologists have known about herceptin since early in the year. Dr. Maity should have known to give this to me. Those are the two main points taken from our meeting with this new oncologist. She spent over 2 hours with us.
Before we leave, Dr. Allison outlines her treatment plan for us to think about. I need to take Adriamycin and cytoxen together (called AC). And I need Taxol and herceptin. Here is where it can get confusing: Herceptin is taken for a year. Herceptin and taxol are taken together. You cannot take adriamycin and herceptin together or it will damage your heart. Hope this is not too confusing: I stop taxol right now after my fourth treatment. Next week I will start AC. ( this is the hard stuff) I will take 4 treatments, once every three weeks. When that is over, I will start up again with taxol and herceptin. Taxol I will take for 8 weeks and herceptin for a year. Which I was just thinking about this morning...I think herceptin is an IV drug as well, if I have to do it every week, I will never get to leave for a vacation!!! I guess I will be doing a lot of weekend trips. Shoot, I am not working, I guess we will be doing a lot of camping!!
So this is our choice. I am definitely done with Dr. Maity. I am going to go with Dr. Allisons new plan. By the way, another positive about leaving. Dr. Maity's office was a 30 minute drive from my house. Dr. Allison is about 10 minutes away, if that. I go back to my surgeon Nov. 14 for another followup visit. She is going to get an earful about Dr. Maity.
First off, I got the most thorough check up. Dr. Allison's nurse took a detailed family history. Talked about me and what had been done to me so far. Dr. Allison (this is a woman too, by the way) comes in and tells us that as soon as she saw my treatment plan from Dr. Maity that she wanted to see me immediately. She was flabbergasted that I was being given avastin. She says that this drug is not FDA approved for breast cancer. She asked if I was in a clinical trial (no) and if I had signed anything giving Dr. Maity permission to give this drug to me (no, again). Robert and I are dumbfounded. Dr. Allison said that avastin is in a few clinical trials right now but only for women with advanced breast cancer. She explains that when a drug is first tried it is given to those that are in the worst shape, which is the advanced cases where the cancer has metastesised, spread to other organs. If it shows promise, then eventually it will make it to the early stage breast cancer. But it is always in a clinical trial. Not just given to someone because you want to. So, to sum up the avastin: It is only FDA approved to treat colon and rectal cancer and has never been studied in early stage breast cancer. I call American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute and look on the internet. Everything that Dr. Allison says is true. They tell me at the American Cancer Society that the studies that they are doing right now on the advanced cases are not even showing that much promise. Some women are showing benefits from it and some are not. So what the heck am I doing on avastin??
So, on to the next item. As I have said before, I am Her2 positive. This means that the cancer is a more aggressive type. Dr. Allison can't believe that Dr. Maity's plan does not include herceptin. Herceptin is not a chemo drug. It is a "smart" drug that targets only cancer cells. It targets the Her2 protein, killing it. She said that herceptin is the best thing that has been discovered for breast cancer since tamoxifen. She also says that she would consider it medically unethical to not give me herceptin. Herceptin was all over the news in Oct. but she said that oncologists have known about herceptin since early in the year. Dr. Maity should have known to give this to me. Those are the two main points taken from our meeting with this new oncologist. She spent over 2 hours with us.
Before we leave, Dr. Allison outlines her treatment plan for us to think about. I need to take Adriamycin and cytoxen together (called AC). And I need Taxol and herceptin. Here is where it can get confusing: Herceptin is taken for a year. Herceptin and taxol are taken together. You cannot take adriamycin and herceptin together or it will damage your heart. Hope this is not too confusing: I stop taxol right now after my fourth treatment. Next week I will start AC. ( this is the hard stuff) I will take 4 treatments, once every three weeks. When that is over, I will start up again with taxol and herceptin. Taxol I will take for 8 weeks and herceptin for a year. Which I was just thinking about this morning...I think herceptin is an IV drug as well, if I have to do it every week, I will never get to leave for a vacation!!! I guess I will be doing a lot of weekend trips. Shoot, I am not working, I guess we will be doing a lot of camping!!
So this is our choice. I am definitely done with Dr. Maity. I am going to go with Dr. Allisons new plan. By the way, another positive about leaving. Dr. Maity's office was a 30 minute drive from my house. Dr. Allison is about 10 minutes away, if that. I go back to my surgeon Nov. 14 for another followup visit. She is going to get an earful about Dr. Maity.
posted by Meredith @ 12:01 PM
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