evie
evie says on 26 Apr 2009 15:36
My mum has recently been rediagnosed with breast cancer. She had it about 8 years ago and was treated with a lumpectomy and radiotherapy.
This time the cancer was found when her voice became hoarse and she was referred to ENT. They also found a neck lump and thought she had lung cancer. Various scans and tests later and they decided it was a primary breast cancer with secondary spread. However the neck lump is on the other side to the breast cancer which is more unusual apparently (it is on the same side as the original breast cancer) but pathology shows the neck lump to be related to the new cancer on the other side.
She has now been for lumpectomy and clearance of nodes under her arm. She is to be referred back to ENT to see if they want to remove the neck lump prior to radiotherapy starting. Her voice is increasingly weak.
She has just had a second op to reexcise the breast lump and remove another lymph node in the breast.
It is all so confusing and complex and the consultants don’t like to give a definite answer as they say it is complex.
Any ideas if we should be asking for more or different way forward. Would love to hear from you as we feel fairly helpless .
Hi Evie
I’m so sorry to read about your mum. I too have a recurrence of breast cancer in my neck and one of the effects of the tumours has been damage to my left vocal chord. I completely lost my voice for about 8 weeks and could only whisper/croak. I have had a minor operation under general anasethetic which has strengthened my vocal chord with bioplastique and since then my voice has been better though only half the strength it used to be so I have difficulty making myself heard in busy places with background noise. Its very upsetting at times.
I have had a lot of chemotherapy treatments to try to reduce the tumours in my neck and chset wall. I was not able to have radiotherpay as I’d already had it in that area when I had primary breast cancer. Surgery was also not possible for me as I have several areas of tumour, some wrapped round muscle.
You are right…your mum’s illness is confusing and complex…and relatively unusual (though not rare as my oncologist has repeatably said) Has she had bone and CT scans to check for spread elsewhere? Her doctors may well be being cautious about her prognosis until they are sure how far the cancer has spread.
This must be a hard and worrying time for you…hope you soon get a clearer picture of your mum’s treatment plan.
Best wishes
Jane
Thanks Jane. You sound as though you have a tough time.
Yes, initially when my mum lost her voice they thought she had lung cancer - she had all sorts of scans, inc. bone scan and endoscopy - nothing showed up. However that was 21/2 months ago - the neck lump is bigger - she now says she can see and feel it whereas before she didn’t know it was there ,and her voice is worse. I am concerned that something could have developed since that time - should we be asking for more repeat tests?
hi have they said what type it is as it came back as triple negative on my sister after 12years. my advice to you is don’t just listen ask aswell and if your not satisfied say so because they state that the best patient is the one that moans, don’t sit back and wait because that’s what happened with my sister…ask and keep asking it’s very important that you know all the facts. good luck to your mum and her family x