I did a bit of research and seems the whole month of November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month. The purple iris seems to be the flower people in the US have chosen as the symbol, but I think any purple flower or anything purple would show support.I think it's great that you're already thinking of planning something for next year. ... View more

Hi Chris, sorry for the bombardment. I've heard back from the helpline. Here's what they had to say (I've bolded bits that answer your questions directly myself): Have spent a bit of time researching this email and I have included some information for you. This lady is having AC (chemotherapy) then having taxotere.This is one of the commonly used protocols for breast cancer. The taxotere is given after the AC not at the same time. I am assuming that this lady is HER2 positive which is why she is having herceptin. Herceptin is not a chemotherapy but a monoclonal antibody which means that it joins to the receptors on the cancer cells so that the epidermal growth factor (food source for the cancer) cannot reach the breast cancer cells. This stops the cells from dividing and growing. Current research is assessing Herceptin's effects when it is given with certain chemotherapy drugs. If  it is given with some chemotherapy drugs, particularly paclitaxel (Taxol)  and docetaxel (Taxotere®) , it increases the effectiveness of the chemotherapy and may improve survival.Herceptin may be given once a week or once every three weeks. If Herceptin is given together with Taxol or Taxotere, they are given in the normal way, which is usually every three weeks. Below is a web link on herceptin. The HERA trial is comparing treatment with herceptin for 1 year vs 2 years but the results aren't known yet. Other trials are looking at whether 6 months works as well as 12 months.http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Treatments/Biologicaltherapies/Monoclonalantibodies/TrastuzumabThe lady also mentions no 2 week gap to get over the herceptin side effects but we need to remember that this is a monoclonal antibody which is different to a chemo. There are side effects especially to the heart but herceptin does not lower the blood counts (like chemo) which is why we give chemo in cycles and wait for the blood cells to recover. Generally the side effects of the AC are worse than those of T alone and so if she is coping well with AC then the feeling would be that she will be OK with the T. I have though, included the web links to side effects of AC and T below. http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Treatments/Chemotherapy/Combinationregimen/AChttp://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Treatments/Chemotherapy/Individualdrugs/Docetaxel ... View more

I think it's important to remember that you don't have to be positive 100% of the time. You're only human. Some days you are going to feel down, some days you will feel sad but that doesn't make you a less strong person. ... View more

Hi Margro welcome to the new forum. I'm your friendly neighbourhood moderator. I know there are lots of people out there who have had whipple operations. Hopefully we'll have some people come and share their experiences with us shortly. ... View more

Hi Chris, you may have already known this but another name for Herceptin is Trastuzumab. The National Breast Cancer Centre has some good reading material herehttp://www.nbcc.org.au/bestpractice/resources/HERG216_recommendationsforus.pdfIf you would like a booklet version let me know and I can arrange to post you one.While I was looking for more information about the taxotore herceptin combo I came across this which you might be interested to readhttp://pamsrobe.com/pamstory.htm ... View more

Hi Gail. Of course it's ok. Please do post your thoughts when you're ready. They are definitely being heard here. All the best, Mike ... View more

Hi Jan,Thanks for taking the time to post this up. I will make sure the info gets passed on to Kathy Chapman and Belinda Vangelov. Thanks for all your questions last night, hope it was useful session. Cheers,Mike ... View more

Hi Phillip, I can't say I've ever received any nutrition counselling but  I'd be interested to hear what you've learnt at COSA. I'm sure others would too. ... View more

Hi Chris. I will ask the helpline and see if I can find any information for you. ... View more

Hi Nikki, welcome to the forums . I help to moderate Cancer Support Online. Are there any issues in particular you would like to discuss? Perhaps you could get the ball rolling. ... View more