HELP, I need your thoughts

chrisr40

My wife was diagnosed in march of 2011 with multifocal BC, she had 12 treatments of taxol and 4 treatments of FAC.  Masectomy of one breast in August, then 30 treatments of radiation.  This past October the radiologist wanted a bone scan.  The results came back with activity in the manubrium concerning for metastatic disease or other causes.  Also, found to have activity in the posterior left 8th intercostal space which could or could not be metastatic cancer.  We meet with Oncologist this past Monday and he is really not concerned but wants another bone scan in 3 months.  The notes from his visit mentioned abnormal enhancement in manubrium while doing his physical assessment this past Monday.

 I'm scared to death that the cancer has come back, but don't feel like there is any urgency on the doctor's side.  Do ya'll have any thoughts on this?  I feel like know one is concerned?  could this be cancer again.

 After her masectomy and lymph node removal the biggest tumor was 6x4 cm the other one was smaller and before surgery she had one lymph node positive,  they removed 27lymph nodes with no cancer present in them.  She is ER+PR+ Her2 -.

 Sorry for the long post.

Thanks and God Bless

Lauriesh

Hi, I don't think it is concerning that the dr wants to wait. It could be cancer, but it might be something else.  The only way to know for sure is to biopsy, and that may not be possible. It may not be in an area that it can be done, or it may be too small. 

It is reasonable to wait and have a bone scan again in 3 months. What I would ask for is a pet scan, if she has not had one. I would want to make sure, while I am waiting, that the cancer has not spread to any organs, and the pet scan may give some more information about the area that lit up on the bone scan.

Good Luck.

Laurie

reesie

rRads can cause problems with the bones because it weakens the ribs. The Doc might want to just wait and see if the activity dies down a little before checking further.



Since the doc is not too concerned I would not worry too much (I know - easier said than done). He'll get a better look in 3 months and hopefully things will have calmed down.



Good Luck.

37antiques

Hello Chrisr40 and welcome!

Is your wife on any of the AI's? (tamoxifin, armidex, etc?).  Having asked that, I will just say I understand whay you are going through.  It can easily seem like the doctors just won't get a move on when you want them to most.  It seems most mets present in multiple locations, so having just one seems to stump the medical world.  I know PET scans are expensive and insurance does not like to pay for them, is a CT scan a possibility?  Sometimes a regular xray can show a met, too.  The sternum is a tricky area, because the manubrium is actually a joint, and a bone scan can pick up trauma (for about 4 years) and degenerative changes / arthritis as well.  So planning another scan would make them see if there was any changes that are consistent with anything else.

I just went through this (in the same area) myself, apparently it's not an easy call.  The sternum is not always an easy or safe place to biopsy, which is the preferred method of diagnosis.  It is very frustrating to wait and not know, and to not feel like you are doing anything, But, it is reassuring in a way that it does not present clearly.  If you must have mets, bones are best.  The wait is the worst, but it is good they are planning to rescan.  I'm not a fan of the wait and see method myself, but sometimes it is necessary. Ask a lot of questions, research on your own, remember to live to the fullest every day.  And please let us know what happens.

((hugs))

LRM216

Chris40:

Just thought I hop in with a little positive info.  I had a CT scan of abd/pelvis regarding some free fluid in my pelvis, after having had 3 sonargrams of pelvis, 3 transvaginals and 2 pelvic MRI s- (it's been real fun these last 5 months, as you can see) - and while everything is fine in my pelvis, it did pick up a small sclerotic lesion on my T12 vertebrae, which then made a full body bone scan necessary.  I just got my results yesterday, and there is no cancer in the T12 on the bone scan or anyplace else on my bones.  Wanted you to know that things can be seen on scans that do not always turn out to be cancer, and I certainly hope this is the case with your wife.  With our BC history, they jump right away, which I guess is a good thing, despite the fact that we all have to be peeled off the wall during it all.

God bless and all good thoughts being sent to you both,

Linda

chrisr40

Thank you all for the replies, great information and encouragement.  She is currently on tamoxifen. 

ICanDoThis

One of the few advantages of having a spouse who is also a survivor is that I have twice the anecdote pool to call on.

At DH's first follow-up CT scan, they saw "something." But it was small, and kinda obscure, and would have been the devil to biopsy. So they scheduled a follow-up in 6 months.
After the first week, we were able to put this issue basically on the back burner.
However, the week before the scan involved several nights where we met each other on the way to the family room, or the living room because we couldn't sleep. It was a long week.
They called with the results as soon as they had them - no change, it is B9

He just had his next 6 month. We both seem pretty calm.

No doubt about it, cancer sucks!