Hi all,
i am not actually suffering with secondary breast cancer, my grandma is who is 73 years of age. at the moment we are at the stage where we have been told of where her cancer has spread but havent been given any other info, or even if they are going to treat her 
its such a difficult time with feelings of hope and despair coming and going within minutes of each other!
we have been told that after months of agonising pain and suspected gallstones her liver is covered with tumours (3 actually but referred to as covered), there is one on her kidney, pectoral and lesions in her lungs. this is such a shock as she is 5 years all clear so we thought and was dischgarged in feb.she is being referred to the Christie in Manchester but has been discharged by the breast centre, the doctor seems to think this may indicate that the primary is not the breast and is in fact the liver maybe. its such a a horrid time for her, as she wants desperately to be offered some treatment or hope, it has been doom and gloom for the past 6 days since we found out! however she has put on the weight she lost after being in hospital for 2 weeks, half a stone has no jaundice and is being discharged tomorrow as there isnt much they can do for her in hospital now.i have been reading this forum since the day she was diagnosed and found it so hopeful inspirational and realistic as the hospital appear to have written her off already!!is there anybody out there who has similar secondaries or can shed some light on what will happen next? as we are in limbo and that is so hard for everyone, especially my poor gran.
any reply would be apreciated xxxxx
Hi Gav86
So sorry to read about your Grandma’s recent diagnosis, and wanted to let you know that there are a lot of us in her position, who have tumours in more than one site/organ, and are having treatments to deal with them. I have been supported by my oncology team at Christie’s for 8 years, since my liver and bone secondaries diagnosis - it’s a fabulous hospital, with great information, resources, experience & expertise in dealing with the widest range of cancers - I’m sure your Grandma will get good care there.
Her “plan of action” will depend on a lot of variables: the type of cancer affecting her, the location of her tumours, her general health, etc., so it’s not possible to determine at this stage what she’ll be offered. But here are some things you can do right now, for yourself and for her: press for her to have her appointment at Christie’s sooner, rather than later; have a look at the information about cancer and treatments on this website and/or the Macmillan.org website; if you’d find it useful, you can ring the BCC helpline (number at the top of this page) - they’re there for anyone affected by breast cancer; ditto the Macmillan helpline: 0808 808 0000.
Hope you find this forum useful, and that your Grandma gets the care she needs as soon as possible.
Marilyn x
Thank you Marilyn for taking the time to reply!
it is nice to hear something positive, that u have been recieving treatment for 8 years at the christie!i have heard wonderful things about them , my auntie was treated there 6 years ago and has told us that wont give up on her so that has also helped a lot, and although every case is different, it is still nice to hear that you ladies are going strong after all that time! my gran is fit as a fiddle apart from the obvious i think that is why its so hard for us to be thinking that there is nothing else anyone can do, she isnt ready to go yet and we are not ready for her to either!but she is pain free at the moment and is being discharged today so maybe a bit of normality whatever that may be now! will be resumed. I am just praying that someone will want to try something for her!
Thank you again and i hope u continue to do well and live for many years to come, treatments are always progressing and i hope one day that a cure for this blasted evil disease will be found xxx