Herceptin

Today is Herceptin day. This is the wonder drug that has increased breast cancer survival rates by 46%, and they pour it into your veins once every three weeks for a year. That's the good bit. Unfortunately, some people don't cope with it very well, and as well possibly causing a pretty frightening allergic reaction, it can also induce a heart attack the first time they give it to you. So today, the drug itself takes an hour and a half to get, and then I'm not allowed to go home for another 5 hours, just in case. Apparently, throughout this whole time a nurse will not be allowed to take her eyes off me - I won't even be allowed to go to the loo on my own. All a bit daunting, and a bit scary. Stupidly I looked at the facts and figures on Google last night - about 3% of women get into trouble with Herceptin which sounds very high. OK, so I know that the 97% of women that don't sounds a heck of a lot higher, but we silly humans so often focus on the negative when we're scared stiff, don't we?!

Then, tomorrow, oh joy, it's chemo day all over again. What a fabulously exciting week I'm in for! Actually, I should turn that upside down and think tomorrow "Aren't I so lucky that I didn't have a heart attack yesterday so I'm well enough to get the chemo that will make me live for squillions more years!". Sometimes I'm just pants at all this positive thinking stuff.

This weekend has been about as tough as it can get being a parent. I mentioned a couple of posts ago that there were some big issues affecting my family, well this weekend one of these issues exploded, and everything in my world seems to have collapsed in a heap as a result. I really can't say anymore without blowing away someone else's confidentiality, but I really don't need a heart attack today because I think my heart has already been broken.