Left a comment on another thread re the ‘Susan Love’ stats…got no response…
Can someone/ anyone tell me…Have I really gone through all this ghastly 9 months of treatment just to find out that I have a 70 % chance or secondaries…? I cant get my head round that, I thought I was going through this nightmare for a strong chance of a cure. Please help I’m so depressed.
Hi Judy
I am sorry to read that you are feeling so worried and down, please call our helpline in the morning where you can speak to one of our specialist nurses about your worries, the number is 0808 800 6000 weekdays 9am-5pm and Sat 9am-2pm.
Take care
Lucy
Hi judy
I don’t know your position - didnt catch your earlier post - but BC is so unpredictable you dont really know where you will end up is my feeling. There are plenty of people here with a terrible prognosis who are still going strong 7 or 8 years later NED and then there are people who looked to be fine and bang 6 months later secondaries. Maybe it will happen, maybe it wont, maybe your treatment will buy you many extra years before it happens.so it will have been well worth it even if you do get secondaries. I hope this doesn’t sound depressing acknowledging the possibility - but really statistics just dont tell you where You are going to end up, You have thrown the book at it with 9 months treatment so you have given yourself the best possible position to face the future,
Catherine
Judy we have to remember with statistics they are generally out of date once they are available and they are averages which none of us are. So yes someone with your facts and figures comes out with 70% risk of getting secondaries at some point - some will have much lower risk and some a higher risk! no one or very few 
are ‘mrs average’. With my initial diagnosis my prognosis would have been lousy but I never asked and 18 years on I am still here. On our bcpals (breast cancer site) we have a forum for those who have been 5 years since diagnosis and that is very encouraging as there are 50 of us there - ok some have had recurrences etc. but many of them are 10yrs past dx as well. It is a shame we cant have a place like that here so that new folk joining could be encouraged. We also need to remember there are many out there who have never had a recurrence so have no reason to visit these forums.
dawnhc
Hi Judyw47,
Statistics don’t tell you anything about you as an individual, only about a tendency in the breast cancer population as a whole. You may or may not be lucky and I hope it is the former for you.
I developed secondaries in 2002 after having no node involvement when initially diagnosed in 1990 and still remain reasonably well 6 years later, most of my current problems are related to the side effects of medication not the cancer itself.
Cancer treatments are improving all the time both in diagnosis and effectiveness, even in the 6 years since my secondary diagnosis new chemotherapies, herceptin and aromatase inhibitors have been introduced. Let’s hope that a cure can be found for the s****y disease soon.
So please don’t beat yourself up over this. It may not happen to you and even if you develop secondaries, all is not lost.
Hope this doesn’t sound too nannyish.
Good luck.
Wendy x
Thank you lovely ladies for your encouraging words…reading those stats just didnt measure up with the 5 year prognosis the onc gave me. Looking at the longer picture they make more sense but did come as surprise.
Best wishes to all
x
Where did you get your statistics from? According to my Nottingham Prognostic Index, I have a very poor prognosis with only a 13% chance of being alive in 10 years. But hopefully, this is now out of date. My Adjuvant on line prognosis is 63%. I’m just banking on statistics changing and treatments improving. I’m still fit and healthy 3 years after treatment. So fingers crossed!
Kelley
I read the thread ‘Have many had secondaries after clear nodes’…very interesting thread. Read it whilst feeling extremely depressed as being tested for Multiple Sclerosis this week too which perhaps wasnt the best idea in the world. Due to finish my 9 months of BC treatment next Monday
I just asked the question ‘Are the figures really true?’ as I thought stats were on average a lot better than that these days. I wasn’t moaning about reading it…or it being there…just asking the question and saying how it made me feel. Seems that some people on here feel their voice is more important than others and basically it was my own fault for reading it!
Some really good points made and have learned alot from it but very depressed at some peoples threads and have now removed mine from the discussion. So pleased you are doing so well 3 years down the line.
Best wishes and thank you to the ladies that gave me support x
Judyw47
You really are going through the mill just now ,I hope your MS tests come back clear.Try to feel positive about coming to the end of 9 months of BC treatment.You have come through it all!
Statistics are scary aren’t they,I haven’t asked for mine as I don’t want figures .
I know my prognosis is good,that will do me.
Its always difficult reading information about BC as you always risk reading a bit of info you didn’t want to know or weren’t ready to know.For me the main thing I have learned is that there is life after secondaries and sometimes many years.I am a healthcare professional and even I thought a secondaries diagnosis meant very lttle time. So although the secondaries threads are depressing (Can’t think of another word sorry) they are also informative and give hope to those who worry about a future diagnosis.
The other thread has gone off in a tangent ,please don’t let it upset you.
Good luck with the MS tests,let us know how you get on
Hugs
Dot
xxx