PLEASE HELP

My oncologist told me when I was diagnosed with metastases that the statistics for stage IV survival aren't really meaningful right now. The average survival is supposed to be 2-3 years, but 20% live longer than 5 years and some have even lived as long as 30. My oncologist says that because so many more therapies are available now than were available 5 years ago, we really can't say yet how many additional years the new therapies will give us. Plus, scanning technology has gotten a lot better, so some of us who are diagnosed stage IV now might have been diagnosed stage III five years ago - the metastases might not have been found with the old technology. So the stage IV survival statistics from five years ago included more people whose metastases were widespread. 

A lot depends on the type of cancer she has - whether it's hormone-positive or not, how fast-growing it is, and how well it responds to the therapy she's on. There are also some lifestyle things she can do that will help her treatment work better - diet, exercise, sleep, etc. Two good books on that subject are Anticancer: A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber, and Life Over Cancer by Keith Block.

You mentioned that you have a very young brother. Stage IV breast cancer patients and their dependents under 18 are eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. Receiving these benefits would help with any financial concerns your family might have, which would reduce your mom's stress, which would help her treatment work better. You can find out more about this under the "Disability" link on the social security website, ssa.gov.

My heart goes out to you and your family. I hope this info helps.