About my mum

My mum recently got diagnosed with stage IV BC mets (bones only). And all our lives have come to standstill since.

Her onc hasn't made any detailed treatment plan and wants to go step by step as things progress. For now he's prescribed 6 chemos in 3 weeks interval. She's done with one. The prescription also says "may require radiation if no improvement is seen". Medicines include Herceptin, Taxotere and Zometa. He has discounted any idea of having a surgery. He says he'll assess the progress after 6 chemos are completed.

Now my questions are:

1. How important is it to have a treatment plan beforehand? What do you think of step by step approach?

2. What do you think of the medicines prescribed? Are 6 chemos enough? I don't understand "if no improvement seen" thing. Is that possible?

3. Is surgery an option in mets case? Or never an option?

4. How soon does chemo drugs start kicking in, as in if we can see if the tumor has really startedto 'shrink'?

I want to hear some words of encouragement and some success stories

I'm not ready to lose my mom yet.

(The profile below is my mum's)