Has anyone heard of Metaplastic Breast Cancer?

just an update....I had BMX on Aug 23rd.  The final path from surgery did not say Metaplastic in it but I am meeting with and oncologist tomorrow for more info.  I did indeed have 3 nodes positive which is frightening.  Really hope the Metaplastic thing is wrong.  The surgeon said the lymph nodes did not show any signs of vascular invasion which is good I guess.  Now I just want to get on with chemo b4 it goes anywhere else!

Maggie

No port yet.  Do have to have rads according to onc case manager but not met with rad onc yet either.  Moving fast.  Recovery is going well.  Did nothing for first 3 days as I could not stand up or sit upright without nausea..anestesia I suppose.  No pain meds except tylenol since the hosp. Worst complaint is limited arm movement and burning down arm where nodes were taken.  Only sentinel gone from other side so just a numb armpit.  Gotta take tylenol pm to sleep or the mind gets the best of me.  How life can change in 30 days time huh?

luvmy2kids--how far into treatment are you?  just curious prob in previous posts but I am feeling lazy tonight.  anticipating the meeting with MO tomorrow in Orlando MD Anderson Breast care clinic...hope they are good!!

Same treatment the MO recommended for me.  Seeing another local Mo--in Melbourne instead of an hr and half away--to see if she offers the same chemo.  Had my first pet scan today--hope it comes back clear..should know monday

The first MO I went to in Orlando said there is no benefit-in his opinion-to doing dose dense.  I am meeting one here in Melbourne on Monday early and will see what she says.  I am recovering well from the double mast. Started going out of the house on day 10 post op.  The incision causes little discomfort.  My problem is my arms.  I had ALND on left with 18 nodes removed and SNB on right.  Staples came out 1/2 on day 8 and the other half on day 10 along with 2 drains on 8th and other 2 on 10th.  I am suprised at how quickly you can recover from this surgery.  I did have a wicked bout of nausea for the first 3 days.  Probably a combination of anestesia and morphine.  Ask them for anti-nausea before they inject the pain med.  I am allergic to the "codone" and Codeine family of drugs so they gave me morphine.  I have not taken any pain meds since I left the hospital except tylenol so do not stress to much about the surgery.  My daughter--she is 19 had to clean parts of me that no 19 yr old should even have to look at as I could not get my hands down there for a proper clean.  She is a trooper!!

As far as the pet scan goes---my MO said it is the only real way to stage the cancer.  Maybe they are not doing it on you yet as you had chemo and not surgery first.  Anyway I will post my results on Monday hopefully if I find out.  Praying for a clean scan and holding my breath all weekend.

Maggie

Hi ladies.  Hope all is going well with you both.  Just wanted to repost our Facebook link.  We now have 150 women there with MBC, it is a very active page, and is private as well.  Here is the link if you want to join us there.  I truly hope you are both doing well.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/124869030878992/

OMG - I just posted a reply to another topic concerning this! I had a lumpectomy on 9/26 - negatvie SNB! I am triple negative, Stage II, Grade III tumor. I was told by BS and Onc that the pre surgery chemo worked great as my tumor shrunk 90 percent! But, when I received my after surgery path report, it stated my Nottingham score is an 8 - high prob. of recurrence and that changes in the tumor may indicate metaplastic. I did find some information through Google. You are correct - it is very rare. I will be thinking of you. 

Sher 

luvmy2kids:  glad to hear that you are already a member there....it is hard for me to know who has already found us on FB since we tend to use 'nicknames' here, and our real names on FB, lol. 

KareyK, what is your name on Facebook so I can accept your request?  I send messages to all new requests, but if they don't reply to it, we don't accept them since it is a private page.  Many people who are new to facebook may not notice the message (they have to check their messages, it doesn't post to their wall).  There is also another thread here on bc.org, there are a couple of them, do a search for metaplastic and they should all come up.

I hope your mom's surgery went well and she is recovering.  I also had chemo but not rads.  I am sorry I didn't see your message sooner, but I do not visit here as often anymore, I am usually over at our MBC page.  I am glad your mom decided on mastectomy first, it really is the best thing to do, get it out quickly since it is a fast grower.  To help her through chemo, I would say to keep her preoccupied, funny movies, taking walks, etc.  Listen alot, and do not hesitate to call her doctor over anything she thinks is unusual...the doctors/nurses need to know everything, and she knows her body best.  I ignored a pain in my elbow, which went away, but then I was having pain under my right ribcage...I called the oncall nurse, who thought it was nothing, but I went to the ER anyway, and it turned out to be a blood clot in my lung, which probably started in the elbow.  So always trust your own instincts.

bump for the newbies

Christina,

My doctor has only said that I have TN, but like you my report came back squamous also. It's metaplastic, gee. Just listen to your body. I know that probably sounds trite, but my recurrence occurred in my lymph nodes on the same side as my surgery.

Metaplastic just means that the cancer cells are different looking from "normal" breast cancer cells. They can look like skin cancer cells or other types instead.

Best of luck,

Pam