My mom just had a recurrence after 30 years.

Ltiwdt

So glad i found this forum! Glad for any advice/help. My mom had a double mastectomy 30 years ago-no lymph node involvement. Stage one. No radiation after, just tamoxifen for ten years. No reconstruction, either.

It just returned, with chest wall involvement and a small mestastis on her spine. 4 months of Tamoxifen didn't help-she's just starting femara, then radiation (which she's never had). She has no symptoms except for a chestrash, and feels great. Tumor is very estrogen receptive-not sure why tamoxifen didn't help. Surgery not an option, I guess due to age. She's 77-doc says tumor is so slow growing (but stubborn) she'll eventually die of something else. Survival rates for this are depressing, though. Has anyone ever heard of something like this? Thanks so much for listening, and God bless you!

Moderators

Hi Ltiwdt, welcome to Breastcancer.org. We're sorry that you have to be here for your mom's recurrence, but glad you found this great community full of support, information and great advice.

We hope her new treatment works well and fast to help reduce mets. You can take a look here to learn more about the Benefits of Femara (just click on the link).

Hugs, and best wishes for you and your mom. Please let know how she is doing.

The Mods

sandilee

Hi Ltiwdt,

So sorry your mom is going through this. It's wonderful she was able to hold back the cancer for 30 years, though. What a testament to Tamoxifen. Her tumor is probably Tamoxifen resistant at this point, having taken it for 10 years, but there are many other options. And her doctor is no doubt right that she can hold this off, as her tumor is obviously very slow growing and hasn't ever been hit with all the new therapies. It sounds like she discovered her recurrence before it did any real damage. Don't believe survival rates on google- they are based on old data before the many new treatments. Listen to her doctor, as he knows her case and her specific cancer.

There are a lot of women on the board who were in remission for years before it came back. Cancer is a sneaky disease. I'm sure once she is on the right therapy for her disease, she will get her life back and have many more years with her family. She's lucky she has you for support, and good medical care.

Hugs and best wishes to you both.

bevin

I there, I am not stage 4, but my Moms was. She was 78 and with kidney cancer that caused mets  to spine  and then eventually brain. She also had lymphoma.  Her  doctor said age is not a reason not to treat and perform surgery to remove her tumor ( kidney tumor was 5.8 cm- caused pain) if she was healthy everywhere else. Maybe a  second opinion is in order if surgery is something your Mom wants ?

I get not wanting to give chemo to someone of that age, but surgery should not be denied , age is not a reason to not treat properly..., all else being healthy. Just wanted to share my families experience with something similar.

Ltiwdt

So grateful for all the kind words, everyone! I think they're not operating because the chest wall recurrence is diffuse-lots of little spots, not one big thing to take out.