Question about my mom's ibc

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marypage
marypage Member Posts: 20
edited June 2014 in IBC (Inflammatory Breast Cancer)

Can anyone tell me if this common? my mom was diagnosed stage 4 ibc with mets in her hip and spine. she has had radiation which has taken care of the pain in those two areas.  she is also on chemo...continuously.  she is currently on chemo pills due to heart damage done from taking the traditional chemo thru her port. 

she had a really rough 5 months initially...we really thought she might not make it, but thanks to God she has made amazing improvements and is able to have some decent quality of life again.

she went to the radiologist today (follow up..every few weeks). Her breast is inflamed, red and tender again. (she say's it started this past week)  the radiologist gave her meds for infection and they are making an appointment with her surgeon. 

My question is...is this common? could the cancer be getting worse even though her pet scan in feb. showed the tumors were shrinking?  I have a call into to her dr. to get his thoughts on this, but i am wondering if anyone has had a similar experience?  what can i expect?

thank you in advance for any words of wisdom and hope!

mary

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  • marypage
    marypage Member Posts: 20
    edited April 2010

    Thank you so much for your response.  i did not realize that the pet scan would not show tumors if they were smaller than 1cm.  in my mom's case they have said that surgery is not an option,,i am not sure why.

    Anyway thanks again and i will add you to my prayers!

    have a great weekend!

    mary

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  • lorieg
    lorieg Member Posts: 802
    edited April 2010

    Mary,

    I am sorry to hear about your mom.  I think the breast could potentialy worsen although the bone mets are improving.  Unfortunately it is not uncommon for one area of cancer in the body to respond better than another area.  It took 8 months of chemo for me to get to the point of haviing surgery (which I did last week).  My pre-surgery T showed no FDG activity anywhere including in the breast,but my path report from surgery revealed a large area of cancerr still in the breast although all my lymph nodes an skin were clear (yea!).  There is controversary about removing the primary tumor in stage IV patients although studies have shown improved survival rates if the original tumor is removed.  You may want to consider getting a second opinion at a comprehensive cancer center.

    Best of luck,

    Lori

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