| It was the Canada Day weekend in 2004 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. That was scary enough, but after the biopsies and lumpectomy and... the news that I was HER2 rocked me off my feet. My diagnosis happened before Herceptin was funded by our cancer agency. All I could think about was how to raise the $80,000US that I would require to fund the treatment. Having 9 out of 14 lymph nodes positive was like good news compared to HER2. A friend of a friend was on the control arm for the Herceptin trial here in Vancouver (not getting herceptin). We concocted ideas for bake sales, loans, frantic with worry. Then, thanks to the great docs at BCCA, Herceptin was approved, and I began the one year of treatment. How things have changed, even since my diagnosis. Now women can get Herceptin along with standard chemo. Instead of iv's for eighteen months, it can all be done in six months. I've since had a complete rebuild of my breasts; made much smaller and lighter, and am grateful to the great surgeons I've had who have been dedicated to working with cancer survivors. |