Check your chemo cocktail, mine included the Herceptin, I started chemo in Jan of that year, and finished everything the following January. Going to Herceptin only was so much easier than the chemo. The infusion time is much faster- I was usually in and out in less than an hour total. The hair started growing back, the chemo brain fog started lifting, and bit by bit the energy and stamina levels increased. You could always try the Herceptin only route for a bit, and then review. Chemo is meant to take out ant wandering cancer cells before they find a new home, Herceptin is meant to "silence" those instructions to other cells about overexpressing the HER2 (thereby preventing the introduction of new bad cells). Hugs!

Agree with what others have said. Once the chemo is done staying on herceptin is a piece of cake. But do talk to you oncologist.

I am having herceptin. It will finish in april then my oncologist can say something.

A year of Herceptin is the standard of care, research based. Herceptin without the chemo is much easier! Hair grows back, energy improves, no nausea.
I agree with Virginia, ask your doctor explain the benefit.

It's a tough call, it depends on so many things. How well you have handled the chemo, what your overall health is, how it would impact your quality of life, what the projected benefit would be, etc.

Each step of my treatment (side effects, complications) I conferred with the oncologist, and then my PCP. I was diagnosed HER2+, Stage 2a, Grade 3. I did all the chemo (Taxotere, Carboplatin, Herceptin) and the follow-up Herceptin infusions for the remainder of the year. Then after speaking to both doctors about the research I had read, I did not continue active treatment which would have been a year of Nerlynx. The added benefit (up to 2%) vs the common side effects (chronic diarrhea), considering that I have enjoyed an almost legendary remission length from Crohn's- everyone was in agreement that it would be ok to skip, and if the bc comes back, Nerlynx could be considered as part of the next set of protocols.

So, I guess my advice is, do your research, consult the doctors you trust- get a second opinion if needed. Keeping you in prayers as you navigate these decisions. Hugs!