Not wanting to ask questions of mom before she's ready

Jstalter

My mom was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer back in 2004, at only 42 years old. She had an aggressive tumor in her left breast and a "starburst" (unsure of the actual term here) that went across her chest and into her right breast. She had a double mastectomy, eight lymph nodes removed, and intensive chemotherapy/radiation. After 2 years and 4 months of treatments, her cancer was officially in remission.

Life happened.. 6 years later, we had a scare.. We found out she had a reoccurence in her tissue near her original chemo port; also near where lymph nodes had previously been removed. Tissue was cut out, she was back on hormone therapy, given more radiation, and told that she would start receiving cat scans every 6 months.

Cut to 2 years later... 2 weeks ago something showed up on a cat scan.. Which led to MRI, cat scan, blood test, bronchoscopy. Yesterday she received a call from the Doctor that her breast cancer has returned... To her lungs. I have questions but don't want to bombard her before she has answers. Right now she is in a really good place spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. 

First: what is the difference between a reoccurence and metastatic? If it's in her lungs, is this already considered metastatic? What does that mean as far as treatment options?

Second: does anyone know anything about a combination pill (hormone and chemo)?

Third: if the cancer was hormone receptive before and we're being told this is the same cancer, will hormone therapy work again or does this mean that the hormone therapy never actually worked?

Thank you in advance for any responses.. 

Sincerely,

Jessica

Holeinone

Jstalter, 

Sorry for your mom & you. I could rattle off what I think it all means, but breast cancer is complicated & sometimes you don't know those answers unless they biopsy it. 

Lots of wonderful ladies here on BCO way more knowledgeable than I. 

I hope you get some response, weekends can be slow. 

exbrnxgrl

I am sorry to hear about your mother. A local recurrence would be in the breast. Metastatic disease is Shem the cancer spreads to areas beyond the breast. In the case of breast cancer, bones, lungs, liver and brain  are the most common sites. So, if your mom has had her bc spread to her lungs, she has metastatic disease. As for treatments, there are quite a few variables so without specifics about your mothers situation, it would be hard to speculate. I will say that we have many members who have lung mets and are doing well. Wishing the best for you and your family.