please help advive

ukyorkies

am very worried at the moment so i will cut straight to the point ,it seems my breast cancer that i had in 2005 a little grade 1 had lumpectemny 4 lymhnodes involved every went perfect.

recently it has spread my onc is on hiliday will not be back until july 8th,this is my own assesment excuse spelling meataistic which means it has spread to the hip bone area am very worried does this mean this is advanced not that i expect anyone to answer that question this is self assessment so far ,my gp did a blood test and it came back normal .i wish someone could point me in some direction of what could be happening to me what to expect .

 i do not seem to be getting any replys am in a anxious state of mind with my onc on holiday no one to talk to from what i read its not sounding good

TenderIsOurMight

Sorry to read your post indicating new disease in the hip bone area since treatment of your early stage breast cancer in 2005. I'm glad you found this site and am sure others will be by soon to help answer your questions and provide support too. 

 

As to your question does this mean this is advanced, well imo there are two ways of looking at this. It does mean your cancer has left the breast tissue and local area and involves bone, so yes, it is a way of saying it's now considered advanced disease, a term used when no longer local and contained to the original breast cancer site and local nodes as in early disease.

 

The second way of looking at your situation is that bone involvement with breast cancer often is viewed as manageable (in a disease sense, not personal sense as it's still hard to hear and accept) and often more treatable. Increasingly, women and men look to bone as a chronic treatment state. This is to give you something to hold onto during these days of anxiety, yet not exaggerated hype, while you await your oncologists formal discussion with you.

 

Did your breast tumor have either estrogen receptors (ER), progesterone receptors (PR) or HER2 receptors, called tumor markers done? Please know that when new disease is found in the body at a different site from the original, more and more a biopsy of the new disease is recommended if possible to check for change in the estrogen receptor (ER) and the HER2 receptor markers. Such findings may open new doors for differing treatments (perhaps use of hormones or the anti-HER drug Herceptin), as well as make sure the new problem is indeed spread of breast cancer. 

 

It's tremendously upsetting to hear you have more breast cancer. I'm sorry for your recent news, and wish you well and a good discussion with your oncologist.

Tender 

ukyorkies

thankyou for your nice helpful reply  my breast cancer was eastogen had to take tamaxifan for the first few years  i dropped away from taking my tablets as i felt so well in fact a new woman i regret that now am looking forward to that chat with my onc

Skyrat

ukyorkies - you keep saying that it is a 'self assessment'.  So, just for clarification, you have NOT been diagnosed with mets to the bone or anywhere else yet?  Are you feeling discomfort in your hips that is causing you to panic?  If you have not yet been diagnosed with mets, please, don't worry yourself sick over something you may not have!  I know - much easier said than done, but you've already done the breast cancer treatment and been clear, if I am understanding your post correctly.  It is natural I think that we fear the cancer returning somewhere else.  Take a deep breath.

TenderIsOurMight

Ukyorkies, I misunderstood your post, thinking when you said it had spread your doctors had told you this. I'm sorry for my misreading. Skyrat is absolutely right: until a definite diagnosis is made, you don't have metastasis and hopefully you never will. When pain occurs, it is not unusual to think it might be breast cancer again, but I hope your pain is a pulled muscle or sprain, or some other benign nuisance problem.

 

Since you say your breast cancer is ER+ and you took Tamoxifen for a few years, why don't you talk with your oncologist when he/she is back about considering a hormone drug again to help lower the risk of spread?  

 

Again, sorry I misread your post. I hope your oncologist finds everything to be just fine. Thanks for clarifying this major point, Skyrat.

 

Tender 

 

 

 

 

 

ukyorkies

i have had a recent xray but nothing to do with the cancer centre in fact my gp thought i had artheritus the results showed it was cancer connected  was in such a state of shock i could not take in what my gp was saying.my blood test was normal so i did a self accessment of reading information on this web site..the 8th july seems such a long time to wait i have the best onc and he will be worth waiting for.am having difficulty in walking and in pain am trying to stay positive it a help to have people like you on this board  while waiting for my appointment.yes i will take that deep breath .just about holding on to my sanity.