Life does not end with a stage IV diagnosis (really!)

Hi my name is Yvette I was diagnosed with malastic breast cancer stage 4. I had radiation and chemo on feb 11 the dr told me that the cancer has spread more in my bones.And that my chemo would be stoped so i can take Ibrance and some other medication that is suppse to stop the estrogen in my body to starve the turmors.I admit i am having a hard time dealing with it.I am a mother of an 18 year old autisic son and i have 2 girls a 7 and a 5 year old. They keep me going but everyone tells me that is should rest and take my meds.Thank you for reading

that looks like a beautiful Japanese maple Divine. What a lovely garden you have to lift the spirits and enjoy. Thanks for sharing

I'm glad to hear you're feeling rejuvenated, Divine, and thanks for sharing your lovely garden. Spring is my favorite time of year, too, although at my house, we're still buried in 3 ft. of snow, so I really appreciate seeing photos of flowering plants, trees and green grass! We're having warm temps now though and I heard a hummingbird buzzing by this morning, so I'm getting out the feeder. I love when they return!

Hi Tina. Yeah, they come back quicker than the snow melts; pretty hardy! Sometimes they're back even when it's still cold and snowing, but luckily this year, it's blue sky and warm temps for them.

nbnotes, what a shame about your Fiji trip and cruise, but definitely not the time to be traveling. The only sort of "big" trip I was planning this summer was driving out to Vegas and Calif to see friends, but even that may be on hold now.

Beautiful garden Divine. Spring is finally here in New Jersey. It makes everything more bearable even in the rain. I started to cut branches from a 50+ rhoderdendron that I rescued 40 years ago but cutting it back to almost nothing. It’s now 10 feet tall. I started from my deck and my husband thinks I’m nuts. But it had some fungus on it. I was determined to save it again. This made my day. I just love playing in the dirt. I planted lavender seeds with the hope I see them by September. My thyme and rosemary are growing after a very mild winter. I take such pleasure at these little miracles of spring

I cancelled a cruise to Normandy beach,trip I wanted to do for a very long time. Also cancelled was a trip to California to see my grandson and his parents(who I love so much too), Finally cancelled 2 weeks at a beach house with all my children and grands and my sister. Disappointing yes but I just want my family to be safe.

I hope all to enjoy the spring, the birds singing (even if they wake us at 5 a.m. ) and the love of family near & far

Having the hardest time wrapping my head around ‘how long can I live with brain Mets? Or when will the next one show? Because once it’s up there, it will only keep on spreading like fire. I feel so anxious/defeated. Maybe it’s the hair loss going on from radiation, or the anxiety from the being in quarantine for almost 2 months now, but my days feel heavier. I have been exercising daily, cardio, yoga, walking, biking. Anything to keep me feeling okay, but when nighttime comes, the dark thoughts just creep in. I had my first TDM1 treatment this week. I feel great, really. I just wish I could be at peace at least 5 minutes during the day. Thanks for reading. Xx

Big huggs from over the pacific in Australia

Your fitness level is awesome..for me its a 31/2 km beach walk every second day

Lots of gardening and cooking n sew projects as I am retired

In the past I have been on anti anxiety meds when working so the benefit was very important to ability to manage..so can recommend commencing if you have not all ready.

Mindfullness apps for breathing and relaxation are wonderful...lots of families are even doing them with kids during this crisis

king parrots green female

All the best

Bright in hope

Bright, you certainly have some cool fauna down under. I would flip if a bird like that turned up on my patio!

My little ray of sunshine today was being able to pull up bags full of highly invasive garlic mustard from our yard and a swath of park behind our house. My back hurt, my feet were numb, but I went slowly and persisted. I'm glad I did.

We must value our small victories over cancer and quarantining!

Tina

Hi all, I've been around on the bone mets and verzenio threads for a bit but am new to this group. I think I found my way here looking for some hope. I had a rough start to the year with a stage 4 diagnoses in November of 2019 and a couple of emergent surgeries in December to stabilize my right hip and femur. I feel better now. I'm walking and the mets in my back don't really bother me a lot. Mostly I just feel like I've aged 20 years in the last two. My initial diagnoses was in 2018 so the stage 4 diagnoses at the end of 2019 was a shock because we all thought it was gone. I'm now wondering why I didn't advocate for a bone scan or something after I was done with all my initial treatments but I guess the rear-view mirror is always clearer in these cases. I do my best to try and live as normally as I can for as long as I can and on the good days I don't feel like someone with metastatic cancer. On the bad days I find myself praying that God will just let me outlive my parents and I will figure it out from there. My MO is positive. She keeps reminding me that people live normal, functional lives for years with this diagnoses. She says she can't promise 10 or 15 years but that it isn't unheard of either. I'm 42. It's my goal to make it to 62. I figure that would be a good run. What is your best advice for keeping a normal routine? I try to be positive but I also realize that there is an emotional continuum that goes with this diagnoses so I'm just trying to roll with the rough days as well as I can. Thanks.

Thank you Divine! An above ground pool sounds amazing! Hooray for 9 years too! I am still so new to this that I keep having to remind myself that I could have a lot of years of living left to do. It will be important that I figure out how to prioritize them. I am planning to travel to AZ more to see extended family for sure.