My wife has survived the past twenty years with stage IV, metastatic breast cancer. She started out shortly after her thirtieth birthday with a small tumor (7mm) in her right breast. Initially, Tamoxifen and other hormone related treatments worked while newer forms of treatments were developed. Several years later they discovered the HER2/neu gene and her treatments became more specifically oriented to combat this type of disease. In 2000 she opted for high-dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow transplant which gave us a few years of cancer free life. Herceptin (trastuzumab) seems to hold the key to her current success and after having participated in a phase 1 clinical trial for T-DM1 (the "T" stands for trastuzumab) & GDC-0941, the disease remains contained to this day. (I say this while keeping my fingers tightly crossed in the hope that this continues :¬)
As a side note; we discovered early on in the phase 1 trial that she was plagued with side effects that caused her to be constantly nauseated. Eventually this turned into anorexia and she found little, or no relief from standard antiemetic treatments. Out of desperation she tried cannabis, and she found immediate relief. I became a activist in order to provide access to patients like my wife who can benefit from this plant and eventually, a law was passed in our state to allow its use by seriously ill patients.
Her story is truly one of hope. Having spent so many years battling this horrible disease, one thing rings true to us; never give up hope! There have been several times that we have been faced with a dire prognosis, but maintaining a positive attitude has given us the stamina to move forward and to face the next round of treatments with enthusiasm...
Moultonborough, NH