Hi I’m just a little lost as I haven’t been able to talk to anyone due to the covid
I was diagnosed with breast cancer triple negative 13 years ago so had a double mastectomy and 6 rounds of fec All went well and I was signed off 10 years later
4 years ago I got cancer in my vocal cord Not related I had radiotherapy and all went well for 2 years then it returned I refused a voice box removal and had laser surgery very successfully
At one of my check ups they discovered a lump in my neck Just under my chin The biospy came back negative which was great but it was causing pain so they removed it
When I woke from surgery I was told that it had been cancerous and was in my lymph system after investigation it was return of breast cancer not throat
I was offered chemo of which I have just finished 4 doxel
The only thing I was told was that it was uncurable and due to covid having been able to speak to anyone
I had scans organ and bone all came back good
im not really sure what this means for me
When I look at the posts here I think I have been very lucky and I have no other tumours
But if it’s in the lymph nodes and has been there for 13 years am I just waiting for it to turn up somewhere else ?
Dont even know what questions to ask when I do finally get to speak to someone
Sorry for long post
Hi Lommey,
I’m so sorry to hear about your experience, it sounds like you have been through an awful lot, especially on your own due to Covid as well! Its a lot to take in xx
I don’t know much about breast cancer spread to the lymph system unfortunately, hopefully there will be people on here who do.
Once the breast cancer has spread to other parts of your body, its classed as incureable but that doesn’t mean that you can’t live with it for many, many years. If your other scans came back clear that is one bit of good news!
It sounds like your Oncologist already has a treatment plan in place for you as you mentioned you’ve just finished 4 cycles of chemo. They’ll tell you what the next steps are in terms of treatment but usually it means that you’ll need to be on some form of medication for the rest of your life (not necessarily chemo).
I was told by my Oncologist that cancer that has spread outside of the breast area always progress at some point in the future (ie. other tumours will grow) and the most common place for breast cancer cells to go is bones, liver, lungs and brain, in no particular order. However, the rate at which it grows is different for each person. Many people are able to live with it for very many years thanks to a whole lot of advances in breast cancer medicine over time. Some people can go into complete remission too.
It would be worth asking your Oncologist about what you can generally expect and what your treatment plan will be, as they will be able to give you that information based on their knowledge of your type of cancer.
Sending best wishes to you, don’t hesitate to ask more questions or ask for help xxx
Hi Lommey,
I find myself in a similar situation to yourself. Diagnosed 8yrs ago with bilateral bc and secondaries in my spine,rib & pelvic area at initial diagnoses. Been on hormone treatment after having bilateral mastectomy’s and disease been stable. Just before Christmas 2019, ct scan picked up “multiple tumours” in my lymphnodes in my neck,biopsy revealed it’s triple negative, it had initially showed on a scan april 2019, but i wasn’t told!! i had ultrasound done as scans are back logged due to covid. it showed largest tumour has grown by 4mm, i know that’s not a lot but it takes the tumour to 35mmx16mm anyhow i’m now waiting to start radiotherapy…don’t exactly know or understand what it will do but I know it’s worrying and scary!