Monday, October 20, 2008

Living Proof


Thank you, Dr. Dennis Sloman, for believing in Herceptin. We watched the Lifetime movie, "Living Proof" Saturday night. I cried through much of it. Just the memory of what I went through was still quick to bubble to the surface. There were several things that I noticed that have changed just since the clinical trials were going on in early 1990 for Herceptin to the time when I took it in 2007:

1. All of the women in the trial took the Herceptin through their arm with an IV. None of them had a mediport like I did, thus eliminating the poking to find a vein.

2. They were all yoked with the throwing up from the chemo treatments. Mercifully, I only had to live through one weekend of that misery. Thank God for Emend, the 3 pills that cost $350, that kept me from throwing up after my remainder of treatments.

3. They talked about not wanting to eat. Thank God for Marinol, my legal marijuana derivative that gave me an appetite so I could eat food again to gain my strength back.

Dr. Slamon is truly a living hero for me, as is his wife for loving him through the process, as were so many other people who played a part in the Herceptin. Without it, I would be looking at months to live, not months to get over the chemo. And the Herceptin doesn't make you sick! What a deal. A drug that kicks the Her-2 cancer out that doesn't make you sick. It was a great movie and really touched home.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I still can't watch that kind of movie and it's been probably 25 years (maybe 26) since my breast cancer and I didn't even have to go through treatments. Bless your heart. It must have been tough for you to watch that.