Her stage 4 breast cancer spread to her lungs--she was dying

ConchitasHubby

My wife's breast cancer had spread from her breast (stage 2b) to her chest wall (stage 4) then to form about 30 lesions on her lungs. All this despite the use of some expensive drugs, one costing $11,000 a bottle (Tykerb). She started to slip into cachexia (rapid weight loss of 32 lbs., loss of appetite, growing and profound weakness), coughing every five  to ten minutes, tingling of the fingers in her left hand (from reading I'm thinking from neuropathy--nerve damage--from extended chemo), numbness in her right hand (maybe neuropathy or lymphadema I was told or read about), pain in her left arm (probably lymphadema).

I scoured the internet to save her life. I found two books that I think saved her life: 1. Anticancer by Dr. David Servan Schreiber and most important of all 2. Life Over Cancer by Dr. Keith Block (co-founder of The Block Center for Integrative Cancer Care). I started changing our diet as indicated in the books and to get my wife the nutrition her body desperately needed (but had no appetite for) I started giving her nutritional shakes (see Dragonslayer shake in Beating Cancer With Nutrition) which eventually evolved into anticancer green smoothies which I blend for her twice a day (morning and evening). The symptoms slowly started subsiding until they eventually all went away.

The last two quarterly high resolution CT scans have shown remarkable shrinkage in the roughly 30 lesions on her lungs. Many of them are "almost completely resolved" according to the radiologists report. Exact wording is quoted in my wife's story at the blog (stage4living.wordpress.com).

If you're interested in my wife's story you can see the full story at the blog I put together for her (stage4living.wordpress.com). It's dedicated to her story and the intigrative cancer care approach which I believe has extended her life. Our site has several links to articles and brief (2 to 3 minute videos) of Dr. Block speaking about aspects of intigrative cancer care.

I just want to share the book (Life Over Cancer) and the approach of integrative cancer care (conventional care plus scientifically supported complementary therapies such as state of the art anticancer nutrition, fitness, and mind body wellness plans) that I credit with extending her life. We don't know how much extra life my wife has been given but we count every day as a precious gift that we're grateful for.

Tell me if we can answer any questions on our experience or the integrative cancer care approach and Life Over Cancer. Hoping and praying for the best for every person that reads this (and if you feel like it, our blog).     

CherylinOhio

That's amazing!! There is something to be said about nutrition and "Alternative" treatments. I will check out these books. Thanks for the post!!

TG1969

thank you for posting your wife's story! I hope this post finds her doing well. Xxoo

mamachickie

n behalf of my 67 year old mother i have been hyper vigilant in finding a way to slow the growth. We were told this is a,cancer that will take her life. There is no cure. Surgery was not an option as there were 8 metastases already. .but the " burden of cancer was not great or huge" compared to the burden of chemo at that time. This was June 2015. Now October 2015 ... two rounds of taxatere and cytoxin. .. one of just cytoxin because insurance denied coverage. .. then one round of doxcyl with a shot of Xgeva.

Now told metastasis is in bone. In August hospice was suggested as an option if she chose quality of life vs. Looking for more quantity of life. October hospital stay to find out calcium levels plummeting. . Again hospice strongly suggested..Is there NO hope? Are all the stories i read of stage 4 metastatic breast NOT triple negative? It's been said that this is like a bear that's out of the cave. .others seem to put the bear back in hibernation. .. is that NOT possible with triple negative? ..do we have the RIGHT doctor?

Add to that deep depression that has been left untreated. ..except at my urging to put her on a ,medication. ..and the give me the lowest dose of zoloft?

My name is Kimberly... desperate loving daughter to Donna ( Aka. Chickie )

Any advice or shared stories are most welcome.

Moderators

Dear mamachickie,

Welcome to the BCO Discussion Boards. Sorry you had to be here but you are now part of a kind and compassionate community of women and men who 'get it'.

Unfortunately, this thread has been dormant for 2 years so you may not get many responses but we've seen that you posted in another thread where member KT sent you a link to the TNBC Stage IV thread. We hope you visit it and talk with others who will be able to support you.

Sending big hugs your way,

The Moderators.

dlb823

Kimberly, if I was in your situation, I would absolutely seek out a second opinion at an NCI-designated cancer center where they will have oncologists who not only specialize in breast cancer, but have specific expertise with TNBC. While there is no cure for metastatic breast cancer, and while treatment options are more limited for TNBC, calling hospice may or may not be giving up too quickly. I would certainly want to meet with a true expert in TNBC who will have much more experience than any local oncologists will, and who can possibly offer more indepth testing on your Mom to determine which meds might work for her.

Years ago, tx for TNBC was far more limited. But the larger institutions can all point to women living much longer with TNBC than they did in the past. I would want to afford your mother the benefit of that kind of expert and input before simply calling hospice.

Here's a list. If you're not within a few hours drive of any of them, maybe call the closest one and see if they offer a long distance consultation. Off the top of my head, MDAnderson is especially known for their TNBC expertise, but I don't know if they do long distance consults.

http://www.cancer.gov/research/nci-role/cancer-cen...

Good luck, and hugs to you & your Mom! Deanna