Questions about my 80 yo mom,s Stage 4 breast cancer

Tellie

My mom is 80 years old. She was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in 2016. Her cancer has now spread to her lungs and abdomen. I would appreciate any of your experiences with this and what can we expect to happen. She has started spitting up phlegm, extreme coughing, appetite decreasing, hoarseness, weak, hearing loss. She is been taken off chemo for 2 weeks due to her health worsening. This is her 2nd time to begin chemo treatments due to the new diagnosis of the cancer spreading to her abdomen.

Moderators

We are really sorry to hear what you and your mom are going through! It may be that they will do a scan to see if the chemo is working, and re-evaluate which chemo could be most beneficial. Does she have any help in her home to make sure she is getting enough fluids and small meals? Have you, or another family member, had a discussion with her medical oncologist?

We're all here for you!

Sadiesservant

Hi Tellie,

I'm so sorry to hear about your mother. I can't provide much advice regarding the stomach mets. While it looks like I do have some metastatic disease in my perintoneum, I don't have a lot of symptoms at this time (I had some pain from the mets pressing on my liver capsule but this is under control with pain meds). I had a right pleural infusion which caused a lot of coughing and shortness of breath. This was relieved, initially through a thoracentesis (to drain the fluid) and then through the insertion of a PleurX Catheter which allowed them to drain the lung a couple of times a week. Does you mom have fluid? If yes, these procedures can really improve her quality of life. The fluid also made me lose my appetite (everything tasted awful and I had a lot of nausea) which led to quite a bit of weight loss.

There is a thread on the site called peritoneal carcinomatosis (I think I'm spelling this wrong) with ladies who have belly mets. You may find more information there.

I hope your mom's situation improves. Sending positive thoughts to you and your family.

Tellie

My sister is really good about making sure she has her meds, fluids and meals. She is over-bearing and wants to be the one to do everything for my mom. This has been a problem in the past since my sister and I have been estranged for almost 5 years due to her alcoholism (It's a long story). We made amends a couple of days ago since she is on the road to recovery. This will hopefully allow me to be a part of my Mom's recovery process now. I feel so bad for my mom. She is so weak and has really gone down recently due to the cancer spreading to the lung and abdomen causing problems with her second round of chemo. She will not be on radiation this round due to the scar tissue damage from the last round of radiation treatments. Thank you so much for your reply. It is really appreciated.

Tellie

My sister is really good about making sure she has her meds, fluids and meals. She is over-bearing and wants to be the one to do everything for my mom. This has been a problem in the past since my sister and I have been estranged for almost 5 years due to her alcoholism (It's a long story). We made amends a couple of days ago since she is on the road to recovery. This will hopefully allow me to be a part of my Mom's recovery process now. I feel so bad for my mom. She is so weak and has really gone down recently due to the cancer spreading to the lung and abdomen causing problems with her second round of chemo. She will not be on radiation this round due to the scar tissue damage from the last round of radiation treatments. Thank you so much for your reply. It is really appreciated.

Tellie

Thank you so much for your advice and recommendations. It is truly appreciated.