Two years ago, on the 8th January 2015, I had my 18th and last dose of Herceptin. Or so we thought.

18 doses of Herceptin is the standard course for anyone who has Stage 2 or 3 breast cancer which is HER2+. There’s more info on HER2+ breast cancer here. 1 in 4 breast cancer diagnosis are HER2+. It’s not a nice type of cancer. It likes to travel and it spreads quickly. Herceptin was regarded as a wonder drug when it was first developed. As it targets a specific cell type, it isn’t as brutal as traditional chemo. It still has side effects though, and I find it fatigues me. Two years ago, as we drew to the end of the course of treatment, we were counting down, “3 to go”, “2 to go”, “1 to go”, “We’re done!!”. Yippee!!! Get out the banners and balloons! We’re done!!

Today, I had Herceptin no.18, only this time we are not counting down, we are counting up. I want to have as many doses of them as possible, as that means that it’s keeping the cancer under control and stopping any new tumours from growing. And crucially, we can maintain some sort of semblance of normal family life. Herceptin is the least brutal of the treatments that are on the table for me now. Long may this treatment regime continue.

I have the 3 monthly scan next week which will tell us if the treatment is working. Fingers crossed.

Update…
I find Timehop does one of two thing: Pops up with boring statuses about the weather, the kids annoying me or something, or, alternatively, it comes up with something relevant. Today it popped up with a couple of photos I took on the day of my (second) first Herceptin last year. I looked awful! And the port had only just been put in surgically, so it was still healing hence the extra plasters.

I'm not sure which photo I look better in, this years or last years...
Jx