Thank you Tonya for your kind words....they mean so much x. I participated in the international clinical trial in 2009/2010 and was randomised to the lapatinib only arm of the trial. Other people either got herceptin only, herceptin and lapatinib at the same time, or herceptin first followed by lapatinib (6 months each). At the time I agreed to participate, the 'word on the street' was that lapatinib was most probably a far superior drug to herceptin, with many less side effects, so I was thrilled to have been chosen to take lapatinib only! There were a number of side effects, but everyone kept telling me how lucky I was not to have to have herceptin intravenously every 3 weeks (lapatinib is in tablet form) and be at the risk of heart failure. I thought I was on the next best drug to take over from herceptin, until I received a phone call at work on Monday from my Oncologist. I was shocked to hear that the preliminary results have shown that lapatinib may not even be as effective as herceptin! My Oncologist was also very surprised and very apologetic. They've had to stop the lapatinib only arm of the trial now, and all patients on that arm are being offered herceptin as 'compensation'. It doesn't mean I have to accept herceptin as lapatinib is an effective HER2 drug...its just not as effective as herceptin. Early results of the trial have shown that those on lapatinib only are having 'higher recurrences of relapse, sooner'. I dont know the exact statistics, but I will be discussing this with my Oncologist on October 4th. My feeling is to go ahead with herceptin however, due to the news I've just received. I was so angry and sad for a few days after receiving the news as I was just starting to get my life back together and had set myself some wonderful goals for early next year. Anyway, I have my fingers crossed that all will go well with few side effects. Thanks again Tonya, Celeste x