mets to the liver on recurrence

elmwood
elmwood Member Posts: 22
edited June 2014 in Just Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastasis
mets to the liver on recurrence
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  • elmwood
    elmwood Member Posts: 22
    edited May 2012

    did anyone have mets to the liver on recurrence stage IV.

    Just saw one surgeon today for an opinion and he said they could not operate on the breast if it spread to the liver.  They would treat the liver cancer by chemo only.  Awaiting CT and bone scan to know for sure. Not anticipating anything but  It seems that everything depends on the scans??

    elmwood

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  • hydeskate
    hydeskate Member Posts: 297
    edited May 2012

    I had liver mets at dx 2008 and had a double mastecomy a year later after having chemo. My doctors orginaly wanted just to remove the effective breast I made them take both.

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  • CoolBreeze
    CoolBreeze Member Posts: 4,668
    edited May 2012

    Normally they do not do mastectomies on stage IV women. They do a mastectomy to remove the cancer before it spreads, and once it spreads, they don't see the reason for surgery.



    There are always exceptions, but that's the norm. Why do they think it might be in your liver?

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  • elmwood
    elmwood Member Posts: 22
    edited May 2012

    They don;t  think that.  I asked him what would happen if??  liver- bones- lung etc.

    I have been diagnosed with recurrence last month.  One doctor told me I could have a mastectomy but the other said what you did.  If it spread,  he could not due it but treat by chemo.   He said he cannot make a decision untill i go for a Pet  Ct and bone scan +mri, which I am sheduled for Monday.  I  asked him about the liver just because I heard that was serious.  He doesn't /wont commit until he sees the scans.  I am a nervous wreck.  I hope there is help out there .  I always expect the worst and I suffer for it.

    Thank you both for replying to me. 

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  • greenfrog
    greenfrog Member Posts: 269
    edited May 2012

    Elmwood I am so sorry that you are having a tough time at the moment. A close friend of mine was dx-ed stage IV from the start. She was told that the breast surgery was not advisable for a variety of reasons - most importantly being able to commence chemo immediately without having to wait for surgery recovery times. Also the tumour in her breast was an easily measurable indicator of how she was responding to different treatments. (eg - as soon she started Tamoxifen her breast lump shrunk by 2 cms). Once her onc felt her cancer had stabilised he suggested that they could operate to remove her breast tumours and nodes. There is also a school of thought that believes removing source tumours in Stage IV patients can lessen the overall cancer load. Have a Google for a paper called "Primary tumor resection may improve prognosis for nonoperable advanced breast cancer". Best of luck.

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  • elmwood
    elmwood Member Posts: 22
    edited May 2012

    Greenfrog

    Thank you so much.  I am so totally scared right now- worse than when they told me about my recurrence but I have to do what they say and have the scans done to determine what and how/ the dr. said he can't say anything without the scans and mri.  I am doing all next week.

    I asked if there was hope and he said of course there is.   I am in the situation and will have to deal with it.  I have my family crazy with thoughts. 

    I will update as soon as I know.  Im just learning the computer and  forums and trying to figure them out.  Everyone is wonderful

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  • greenfrog
    greenfrog Member Posts: 269
    edited May 2012

    Hang in there Elmwood. The waiting and not knowing what is going on and scanxiety is the worst bit of all of this (in my opinion.) When I was in the thick of it someone said to me "You do know it is perfectly normal and ok to be scared and anxious and confused." I found that giving myself permission to be scared etc made it just a bit more tolerable. Your doc is on top of the situation - they are going to get to the bottom of exactly what is happening in your body and then deal with it.

    Let us know how everything goes. All the best to you.

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  • elmwood
    elmwood Member Posts: 22
    edited May 2012

    Thanks again   I am constantly on this computer looking for help/advise.   The surgeon I went to yesterday scared me saying if it's stage IV, we cannot do a mastectomy but agressive chemo.  I am hoping he generalized as I am not having my scans until Monday.   I am also hoping it didn't spread. I am so scared ..   I was clean for 14 years and now this recurrence.  What a nightmare. 

    I guess I am normal.

    elmwood

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