Hi, I am a 45 year old husband and father. My son, now six, was only nine months old when my wife was first diagnosed with Her2 positive breast cancer in 2008. She quickly had a mastectomy, then chemo, followed by a year of Herceptin, then Tamoxifen. We had a few scares, but had five 'cancer free' years, to all intents and purposes. Then, after complaining of a sore back she had a CT scan in October which showed metastasis in one of her thoracic vertebrae. This was an absolute shock to our systems, as we had both just got to the stage where we were starting to think of cancer as a thing of the past. The last 2 months have been a whirlwind of emotion, ranging from hope to terror and back again. She has just undergone major fusion surgery to remove the damaged vertebrae and tumour and have titanium rods and screws put in to support the spine while the bone fusion takes hold. She has also been taken off tamoxifen, put back on a 3 weekly regime of Herceptin, this time for life, and a monthly Zoladex injection to stop her ovaries from working, and has just started taking Anastrozole, although she will have to have her ovaries removed early in the new year. She is also starting a two week course of radiation therapy on Monday, which is completely new territory for us. Anyway, that's the medical side, but I came across this site and thought it would be a good channel to share my fears and frustrations, and interact with people in similar situations. So hello, and all the best to everyone out there who is suffering from cancer or who has a loved one who is.
