Herceptin Treatments…

Here’s what I know about Herceptin, the IV administered drug I will be taking for one year at the rate of once every three weeks. First of all, what is it? Herceptin is used to treat breast cancer in which cells have tested positive for HER2/neu gene or HER2 protein which stands for Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2. Yep! Here’s a blurb from the Web:
HER2 stands for Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2. Each normal breast cell contains copies of the HER2 gene, which helps normal cells grow. The HER2 gene is found in the DNA of a cell, and this gene contains the information for making the HER2 protein. The HER2 protein, also called the HER2 receptor, is found on the surface of some normal cells in the body. In normal cells, HER2 proteins help send growth signals from outside the cell to the inside of the cell. These signals tell the cell to grow and divide. In HER2+ breast cancer, the cancer cells have an abnormally high number of HER2 genes per cell. When this happens, too much HER2 protein appears on the surface of these cancer cells. This is called HER2 protein overexpression. Too much HER2 protein is thought to cause cancer cells to grow and divide more quickly. This is why HER2+ breast cancer is often more aggressive than breast cancer that is not HER2+.
Wouldn’t you just know that I had to have aggressive cells? I mean, after all, I don’t have an aggressive bone in my body, why cells in my breast?
Here’s what Herceptin does, another blurb from the Web:
Herceptin is called a targeted therapy because it targets breast cancers that make too much of the HER2/neu gene or HER2 protein. These cancers are called HER2-positive. Herceptin is also called an immune treatment because it is made of an immune system-like antibody that blocks the HER2 protein in cancer cells. Blocking the protein helps stop the growth of HER2-positive cancer cells. About one out of every four breast cancers is HER2-positive. HER2-positive breast cancers tend to be more aggressive than HER2-negative breast cancers. Herceptin is only given to women with HER2-positive breast cancer. Herceptin is effective in women with metastatic and earlier stages of disease. It can:

• shrink down and get rid of cancer that has spread beyond the breast to other parts of the body
• help shrink down a medium- to large-sized cancer in the breast before surgery

• reduce the risk of cancer coming back after surgery in women with medium-sized cancer (two centimeters or larger)
The first and third bullets apply to my situation. Here’s the saga of my Herceptin treatments:
During my visit with Dr. Manno following my “burning” ordeal with the first administration of Taxotere, he put in orders to start the Herceptin treatments, which he said would be once a week for a year. I called his nurse, Susan, when I had second thoughts about starting another drug because:

•  I still did not know what the effect of the reduced dosage of the next Taxotere treatment would be
•  I did not want to start a year long, once a week treatment 20-miles one-way from home at the Cancer Institute
•  I wanted to look into the possibility of having once-every-three-week doses
•  I wanted to look into having the drug administered at another facility closer to home, if I had to stay on the once-a-week regimen

So, with Dr. Manno out of the country, Susan and I decided to not start the Herceptin until she talked to him or he came back or I saw him next. However, every time I went for Taxotere, my orders still said to include Herceptin, which I would have to point out to personnel, never got started. My point in telling this is to show that somehow there was always a glitch in the records concerning me and Herceptin treatments. During my last Taxotere treatment with Mona, my favorite nurse who was once my least favorite nurse, she mentioned that Benadryl is administered through the IV before the Herceptin and that it is a precaution in case of an allergic reaction to the H drug. Mona also mentioned that sometimes she suggests to patients following a few treatments that if they haven’t had a reaction, maybe they don’t need the Benadryl. This sounds a little convoluted because how would they know if they were going to have a reaction if they always had the Benadryl first? As it drew close to the time of my first H treatment, nurse Susan told me to bring a driver because I would be very tired. I said I can’t be all tired, I have to go to work the next day. Susan said she didn’t mean the next day, she meant right then and there…that the Benadryl can knock you out, sort of, and you have to have someone to drive you home. After some thought, I called Susan back and asked if I could try having the treatment without the Benadryl. She checked with the doctor, and it was a go, except to have a back-up driver ready to come and get me if it turned out I needed the Benadryl after all. When I arrived for my first treatment, I told Mona that now I was a little nervous, that she had planted that seed about no Benadryl, and now I was worried. She said there was no problem that she would start the H, if there was going to be a reaction, it would be right away, she would stop the H, start the Benadryl, return to the H; and I would call my back-up to come and pick me up. Guess what? No problems with Heceptin. It’s quick because no Benadryl first and, so far, no noticeable side effects. You just gotta love Mona, don’t ya? So far, I’ve had two treatments, but at once every three weeks and no side effects, it’s a walk in the park. Also, my radiation treatment status is 17-down, 8-to go. I think the doctor is finally happy that the treatment area is starting to look agitated. He kept promising it would, and finally it’s beginning to show signs. Actually, more than anything, it just itches. I’m using 99% Aloe Vera Gelly from Whole Foods. Now, I have the laryngitis that’s been going around so since I can’t talk, I decided to write.