Just diagnosed with Metastatic Breast cancer to liver.

Sierrasue123

I am not sure how you all put the details at bottom of your page. I did see a part of my profile for details however how do you post more then one episode ??

Anyways, I am new here for now. Was on here several years ago.

I first had breast cancer in 1997 stage 2 estrogen + . Lumpectomy and Radiation and several lymph nodes removed.

Had 2nd breast cancer in 2006 . Came back to same breast . Stage 2 again. Mastectomy and chemo.

Now, just last week I was diagnosed with Diffuse metastatic breast cancer to the liver. Meaning 4 small tumors and 30 lesions in liver

Here is the pathology.

1. LIVER, NEEDLE/CORE BIOPSY, :
METASTATIC ADENOCARCINOMA, CONSISTENT WITH BREAST PRIMARY.
ER POSITIVE, PR NEGATIVE.

have not yet had petscan so dont know if it is in other places too. I will see the oncologist on the 26th of this month.

So, hoping for some new therapy to help control it. I do not plan to do chemo again as in the Red devil ! Had the bad stuff before and I was one of the very sensitive ones who vomited a lot and felt sick most all the time thru treatment. I will not do that again just to get a few extra months. However, I am open to taking some form of oral therapy to shrink the cancer. Or some great new treatment. I hear there are many new things out there these days. What are some of you taking for mets to liver with estrogen positive?

I will say that I am not is as much shock as I should be maybe? I have felt sort of crummy for awhile now as in last 10 months. Kind of even worried that I may have cancer somewhere. It was discovered when I had Pnumenonia last month. Xray of chest showed some small spots in chest and a tumor on top section of liver. Ct scan showed the 4 tumors and 30 lesions in liver. Then biopsy for diagnoses.

Maybe it has not fully hit me yet. Or I was prepared. I really don't know but feel sort of in shock still. Can not even describe my feelings at the moment.

At the moment I am doing a lot of natural immune building stuff and am also thinking of seeing a holistic dr. as well as the oncologist.

SandiBeach57

Hello Sierrasue123.

I am so very sorry you are dealing with breast cancer a 3rd time.

I had AC..yes, it was awful.awful.awful. But looking back, thankful I survived the chemo as it killed a lot of cancer in my liver. My lesions were too numerous to count. ( Sometimes the MOs have to use "the big guns" to stop aggressive cancer). Once I was stable, I was placed on Ibrance and Letrozole. Been fine ever since.

So...once your MO goes over your treatments, you may want to confirm with a second opinion. The do your research. Google is really not current with survival rate, so try to stay away from those stats. We have good survival rates with effective treatments.

There are many good topics/threads in the Community BCO. I would start with the liver thread and once you settle on treatment, read those threads. I follow the liver and Ibrance topics. Start reading maybe the last 6 months for the active threads.

Also, an excellent resource is Bestbird's Guide to Metastatic Disease. Free to download, but also available in Ebook, paperback on Amazon.

I will try to attach the links with the next post.

blainejennifer

Sue,

I am so sorry you find yourself here. I see that you have a strong reaction to Adriamyicin for chemo. The only semi-good thing about Stage 4 treatment is that one isn't bombarded by chemo. It is dosed at levels that keep the mets gone or quiet, but don't impair your quality of life.

I did Doxil for 14 months. It's how one gets the same sort of drug that is in the Red Devil, stage 4 style. It is one infusion every four weeks, and was one of the more pleasant treatments I have had.

You are just starting this process, so you have tons of treatment options available. The only tip I'd give is to make sure your teeth and mouth are in good shape. For some reason, chemo has been hard on my teeth. It doesn't help that I'm a fierce night time tooth grinder, even with my oh-so-attractive bite guard in, but chemo has cost me two molars, and it looks like a third will be thrown on the pyre soon. Get a full dental check up, if you can. The state of dental insurance in America makes it hard to access dental care - diatribe over.

I am in my third year of liver mets, and only just recently had a liver scare. A new chemo is taking care of it, and I'm honestly feeling better than I have in a long time. You are lucky in that new treatments are all over the place, and you will be well enough to get them.

SandiBeach57

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topics/...

for Suesierra123

SandiBeach57

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/8/topics/...

Someday, I will learn to copy/paste multiple topics!

SandiBeach57

Keep us posted what treatments that you and your MO decided to start with to tame those liver mets and any other sites that might appear after all your scans are complete.

Sierrasue123

Thank you everyone !! I will let you know what we decide. I am terrified of doing chemo again. So, hoping for other stuff to be presented to me. Also, I have read that chemo does not get mets in liver that well.

I have just been seeing the dentist. In fact appt. on 4th for some fixing of teeth.

Susan

B-A-P

Sue ,

I had a met to the liver and my chemo took care of it. I have a scan soon. Hoping it stayed that way But chemo can take care of them. It’s easy to get caught up in the reading ... I have myself , but I try to remember that things don’t always have to apply to us. And I try to remember , statistics apply to a group, not an individual. So many of us here are defying our doctors expectations. I’m still early in it but so far I’ve responded better than they ever expected . It’s all possible :

pajim

Sierrasue, welcome to the club no one wants to join. Only the best ladies are here.

The treatments for Stage IV disease are as gentle as possible. Even if they gave you Adriamycin (which they won't), they'd give about 1/3 the dose. The idea is to have the best quality of life for the most amount of time. Every woman gets to decide what "best quality of life" is and I promise you it does not [usually] consist of throwing up all the time.

As you have ER+ cancer your doc may start you on anti=hormonals. Or ask you to take Xeloda for some period of time then switch you to anti hormonals. Remember that YOU get to decide. And even if you agree to take one dose of a medication you have not [yet] agreed to take a second dose. You're allowed to say no.

And yes, you're in shock. It's what I like to call the "shock and awe" period. We've all been there. I was lucky enough to drown mine in percocet recovering from a back operation. Once you get started on a treatment you approve of you'll feel more settled. And once that treatment knocks those liver mets into oblivion you'll feel MUCH better.

Sierrasue123

I have more then a met to liver. My liver is full of mets. It is in every lobe of the liver. I am now on my second line of treatment. First one failed. Still feeling pretty good tho. I have been active all my life and eat well so that helps.