Hi, lovely ladies,can any one help with my two questions? I started letrazol just over a week ago and zolodex injections two weeks ago. As I was diagnosed with primary and bone mets at same time I have my breasts.
After about five days my breast with the cancer is so sore and the other one is tender. I’ve had to keep my bra off. I was wondering if anybody else has experienced this.
Also has anyone had a masectomy with secondarys ?i did ask my onc and he said "we"don’t. But I’ve been googling and a lot of countries do offer them,all which seem to have a better long term prognosis than the UK?
Hope all the lovely ladies on here are all okay ,huge hugs to you all,Helen xxx
Hi Helen
I am sorry you have had this double whammy of a diagnosis but very glad you are being looked after now and that treatment has started.
I have now been on Letrozole for 11 months now (primary diagnosed in 1994) and have had a great response with it. Yes, I have plenty of aches and pains, and my breast where the original tumour was and another one has popped up is also sore. I gave up wearing a bra a year ago. I get scanned every 3 months now as my Onc is monitoring the effectiveness of the Letrozole.
I asked about a mastectomy but was told that I have other places affected. Well, I know I have extensive bone mets which are stable for now. I accept that.
I have monthly Zometa. I think the Denosumab is more expensive but see that plenty of others are getting it. It’s done a great job too and hopefully you will feel the benefit before long.
xx Susan
Hi Helen, just saw your post.
Letrozole is a very good treatment, it was my first treatment after being dx with bc and bone mets in 2006 (yes, more than 7 years ago). I have had quite a few different treatments since then including several courses of chemotherapy but… at the moment the disease it stable and I’m back on letrozole again! Hoping you have a good response to your treatment.
Also I wanted to mention that I still have my primary breast tumour, it’s not caused any problems except the odd ache from time to time. I’ve been told that if I needed breast surgery I would be offered it.
Hi… Cant really comment on your specific question about Letrozole as it was the only treatment I had which I really couldn’t tolerate and had to switch (to Aromasin). But in answer to your second question: I was diagnosed with primary and secondaries (“extensive” bone mets) at the same time in 2009 and did have a mastectomy. At the time, the choice was left to me …
Hi, I’m another diagnosed with breast cancer and bone mets together ten years ago. I haven’t been offered a mast and I’ve never wanted one. But just my choice, we all feel different and anyone who wants to have a mast I hope you are able to. Years ago it wasn’t usually considered with a secondary patient but times have changed. My primary is still very small. Have you only just started Zolodex injections Helen? I had one period 2 weeks after my first injection, so you may be about to have one too. I used to get very painful breasts just before my periods. It’s quite normal for this to happen, so don’t worry if it’s the cause of your tenderness. After the one I never had another period while I was having injections to stop them.
I hope the combo works very well for you…x