In 2023, my sister was diagnosed with Stage 1B breast cancer. She immediately underwent four months of initial chemotherapy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy aimed at preventing secondary tumour formation.
Thankfully, last year, after undergoing radiotherapy at the Royal Marsden hospital, she received the ‘all clear’ from her doctor.
The doctors chose Kadcyla (Trastuzumab emtansine) for my sister’s adjuvant chemotherapy. Despite being designed to treat HER2 breast cancer, the drug does cause a range of unpleasant side-effects, some of which my sister experienced. For example, she complained of constant tingling in her hands and feet (known as peripheral neuropathy).
Why only hearing half the story is truly bad news
My friend Jim, a small business owner, called me in a state of complete despair. He told me that he …