Mom diagnosed for the 3rd Time

Jenn77

Hello this is my first time logging in, my mother has had BC twice, today she received results from a biopsy taken last week and was told that the mass are BC cells.  Because she has had BC before she asked for the Dr to do bone scan last week.

She's very upset and often doesn't understand what the Dr says, can anyone give me suggestions on what type of questions I can ask to understand what this diagnosis means for her.

From what I understand the cancer is the type that can not be treated by hormones.  The lump she found is located in the chest muscle near her collar bone and has spread to her right lung (I'm not sure how large or if it's in multiple spots).  The preliminary treatment is kemo which they said they would probally start next Wednesday.  She's going back in tomorrow to have a PET test.

If anyone has any advice I would love to hear it, I'm very worried about her and I don't really understand enough to know how serious this diagnosis is.

TenderIsOurMight

Hello Jenn,



We're really sorry to hear that your Mom's breast cancer has recurred. It's terrifying to your Mom and you to hear these words. You've come to a great site for support and information. So feel free to use us by posting back, starting threads as you need to.



You say you understand your Mom has hormone negative cancer as of now. Perhaps this will change as a biopsy or biopsies are done of the new growths, as nowadays doctors like to take new samples of the cancer to check, for this purpose and other. So that would be a reasonable question to ask your mom's doctor: are you going to biopsy the new growth?



Sometimes the location of the recurrence is too difficult to safely get a biopsy. Then the doctors treat the recurrence on the basis of the past disease analysis. With two past BC, I take it she has had chemotherapy in the past. So now most likely the doctors will use a different, and new chemotherapy to treat her, although sometimes they use Adriamycin again, as it's a great drug in recurrence and can be used up to a certain dosage. So, that would be another question to ask, what chemotherapy agents are they using?



Getting away from these questions, how do you and your family prepare for chemotherapy is a good question. Often oncologists offices have handouts to give to patients and family: watch for this, please buy this, notify us immediately of this. You may wish to ask for these.



Here is this sites link to Chemotherapy: http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/chemotherapy/index.jsp



Just copy and paste it into the browser window, and then click on their highlighted words to read specifics.



Another question to ask is if your Mom is HER+ on her pathology report. This is very important to find out, as strangely, yet wonderfully, this HER positive disease is becoming better understood and more treatable.



If the recurrence is not hormone sensitive, and not HER sensitive, it's called Triple Negative breast cancer. There is a link right here on this board to our sisters with this type of breast cancer. It is treated with chemotherapy, and of late, newer chemotherapy agents have been suggested, and the ladies on this link are up to date on this. So this may be a great place to pose more questions to get the attention you warrant.



You ask if this is serious. Yes it is. But more and more is becoming known daily on breast cancer, many chemotherapy's exist, so your Mom and you need to know there is much help and hope.



I'll just end by saying that a special person, Iodine, alerted me to your post. We both are amazed at daughters and sons who go out of their way to come to a wonderful board like this. It is one of the best ways to get up to date, practical information, and someone is typically online 24 hours a day, as it is a worldwide forum.



Please post back with more information, such as your Mom's history of breast cancer, any pathology you obtain (that's the information from any biopsy) and the type of chemotherapy the doctor is proposing as well as any other question you can think of.



What a wonderful loving daughter you are. We'll be right here helping you help your Mom.



Welcome, Jenn.



Tender

NoH8

Can you go with your mom to the appointments and talk to her oncologist first hand? It sometimes helps to bring a tape recorder so you can go back and listen to things you may have missed and definitely take notes. I brought someone with me to take notes so I could listen and it really helped to have another ear.

Jenn77

Thank you so much for writting to me and providing some great questions we can ask.

I've passed on this information to my father, he's going to my mothers next appointment (next Wednesday).  I'm not able to go with her because I live in DE and she lives in ME.

She has the PET test results and the cancer has not gone to any other locations.  On Wednesday she will recieve her first treatment, my father said he's not sure of the type of chemo.  I'll write back after her appointment on Wednesday.

Thank you again for your advise, prayers, and support.  It's very helpfull to know I have a place I can go to ask questions and find support from others that are going through the same thing.

Shirlann

Honey, buy a small tape recorder, have your parents ask permission, and tape all the visits.  That way you can know what is going on and it will help them too.

I loved my little thing, only cost about $30, at any big Drug Store or Radio Shack.

It is a huge help.

Hugs, Shirlann