Could somebody, e.g. Kim, please assist me with the following?
My girlfriend, Faith, is just finishing treatment with taxotere for er- Her2+ stage IIb breast cancer (initial treatment was adriamycin and cytoxin). The oncologist has already indicated that there is a strong chance of recurrence because this cancer is very aggressive.
I, of course, am very concerned about this (although Faith is an avoider and wishes not to discuss it), and have spent an amount of time looking at her condition.
Faith had leukemia when she was in her early teens, which resulted in her receiving massive doses of chemo. Obviously, she beat it -but it was close and she lost her spleen in the process. Several years later she collapsed and went into what the doctors termed 'toxic shock', although they could not explain why. While she was there (two weeks in a coma) she was diagnosed as being Hep C+, while at another time in her extensive medical history a doctor pointed out that her iron levels were very high -I do not think they bothered to do anything about them, however.
Question: I have read that regular hospital checks for Hep C cannot differentiate between Hep C and iron toxicity. Could she have gone into toxic shock from an excess of iron?
Related Question: Excess iron is supposed to cause an abundance of 'harmful' free radicals. Accepting that Faith's previous treatments (the chemo, and radiation from tens of x-rays etc.) could have contributed to the development of her current condition, are heavy metal a factor, and should Faith take steps to remove them from her body? The best method I have found to accomplish this is chelation, and I think I have found a very good product -I just wanted an expert opinion.
Very cheeky additional question: Faith's oncologist explained Her2 very briefly (I realize they are busy people) as the cancerous cells being over-expressed with protein receptors. What extra nutritional steps should be undertaken to combat this fact?
Any help with any question by anybody with knowledge is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Conrad