Okay, so I called Dr. Hurvitz and asked about being off of Herceptin for five weeks and I was told, no way. That I shouldn’t be off of the drug at all, for any period of time, during treatment. As I thought. So now how to fix it. My current oncologist says I can’t have any more Herceptin until a month after surgery and that I should not even have a dose (as would normally be scheduled) next week because it is too close to surgery.
Yet, there is no evidence that this is what should be done. I don’t get it.
Anyway, I was told by Dr. Hurvitz’ office that I should get a triple does next week (or at least a double dose) so that then I can wait on my next treatment to be either two weeks or three weeks after surgery respectively. She said that either way, I should not be off of Herceptin for any time – meaning I need to increase the dose in order to allow for “time off”. But, it really isn’t time off because there will be a double or triple dose of the drug in the interim that will cover that period of time.
I called my oncologist and left a message with his physician’s assistant. Hopefully I will get a call back soon. I am inclined to go ahead with a double dose today (this would then make it three doses between today and yesterday). And then I would get my next dose (which would be a triple dose) in three weeks from yesterday. That would allow me two weeks without a Herceptin treatment after surgery. I should be able to get in for a treatment of Herceptin two weeks after surgery without too much trouble I would presume.
This is so frustrating. I should not have to spend my time babysitting my own oncologist – checking up on him and making sure he has made the right call. Fortunately, his behavior makes it painfully obvious that he doesn’t know what he is talking about – which I think is very fortunate for me – otherwise I would bounce along and not know any better and be at risk. (Actually, I would still be double checking no matter what, it is in my nature. But, that being said, if I were with Dr. Hurvitz, I would not feel the need to double check, she is fantastic and she is at the source – where Herceptin was developed and studied). But, my oncologist . . . aaargh! I mean the idea that there may be microscopic cancer cells in my body that per this moron’s “advice” would go unchecked by Herceptin for the next five weeks and given the possibility to grow and land somewhere else in my body and wreak havoc is just maddening. Okay, now I AM mad at him. This is pathetic.
So, I am waiting for his PA to call me back. Since it is already after 1:00 pm, it is doubtful that there will be time for me to come in for another dose of Herceptin today. So, maybe I can do it on Monday. I am just so frustrated by this guy. I am going to call my insurance provider right now and demand a case manager be assigned to my case. This is so ridiculous. And, just so you know, this is the ONLY protocol for Herceptin. The drug was developed and studied at UCLA. So they (the doctors at UCLA) absolutely know what the treatment should be and how often. There should be no dispute what so ever and there should be no departure from what is the known, verified, proven by clinical trials, protocol.
Please say some prayers I don’t have to battle this out with my oncologist. I don’t get the sense that he is open to hearing someone else’s opinion – that seems fairly obvious from the fact that he has not even checked to see what the protocol is supposed to be for Herceptin treatment.
I am so done with this guy.
cancerfree2b 
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