Mother's Breast Cancer

GraceAster

I am 23 years old male currently studying in one of the local universities in my country (doing a degree in medicine, though I am not that "knowledgeable"). I have a mother (52 years old) who's been diagnosed with breast cancer 9 years ago (close to 10 to be exact). The first time she was diagnosed 9 years ago, her diagnosis was stage 2 breast cancer (unsure about the type) and later she underwent complete mastectomy of her left breast. Her doctor further suggested for adjunct chemotherapy and lymphadenectomy to "complete" the treatment. However, sadly she refused because she was afraid of the side effects. If I could turn back time, I would probably convince her to undergo the treatment.

Right now, the cancer came back. Completely unaware of its presence, my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer (hormone positive) with metastases to the lungs and bone (her spine). I am unsure about her "metastases", I mean whether the cancer has spread to her lungs "cellularly" or whether it only causes an obstruction to her lymphatic system as to produce those lung symptoms (pleural effusion secondary to obstruction of axillary lymphatic drainage). This is only my impression because she said the doctor told her that there's fluid within her lungs. She would feel breathless and cough a lot. Becoming fatigue easily once she walks in only mild distance. Can't sleep due to breathlessness. Troubled by her problems, she cried often and was depressed about it.

Being her son, I feel completely useless because I couldn't help her a bit. Currently, she's taking Tamoxifen to treat her cancer (again she refused chemotherapy because of the side effects). Having no clue whatsoever about breast cancer either from medicine's perspective or as a layman, I would like to ask help from those in this forum to at least lend me some help by offering any suggestions (any interventions like dietary intervention that could improve my mother's survival or anything at least, something that I could help). Any experiences from the members that are deemed useful for me to ponder. God bless.

MinusTwo

Sorry to hear about your Mother. There is a good thread here for CareGivers that will have some information. Also you should know that much of the chemo done for Stage IV is much milder. It is a maintenance dose that often doesn't cause the horrible side effects. If she has been formally diagnosed with Stage IV, there are likely metastases. There isn't a "cure" at that point, but she could live many years with the correct treatment.

If your Mother is on Tamoxifen, she must be ER/PR positive. Do you know her HER2 status? I'm sure others will respond with other ideas.

My main recommendation would be to stay away from Google. There are lots of scare stories and much of the information can be old & inaccurate.

Christina313

I'm sorry to hear about your mother. My mom was also diagnosed with breast cancer that spread to her liver. It hasn't been an easy year that's for sure. My mom is 57, relatively young like yours. She is on chemo because she is triple negative. She doesn't have many side effects from it. In fact taxol the chemo she is on is made from a plant. She still teaches full time and tries to lead a normal life. So if you can convince your mom that chemo is not the enemy. They give you anti nausea drugs. So people are no longer throwing up like they used to.

I have tried to change my mother's diet. She drinks beet juice every day. Her last scan they couldn't find any cancer. Which I'm hoping this isn't short lived. Other food that is great for cancer is onions, garlic, leeks. I make leek soup occasionally. I've also bought dried golden berries from Costco. They are supposed to stop the spread of cancer. Try to get her to stay away from refined sugar. A good book to read is anti cancer a new way of life. It's about a man who has a brain tumor that changed his lifestyle. He ended up living 20 years.

If you want to chat I'm here.