I was diagnosed a few weeks ago with cancer in one vertebra and more recently with liver. I have about 6 tumours of between 5 & 7 mm. I had been warned that if cancer was found in my liver I would get chemo. My onc now says he wants to put of chemo until I am scanned again in Aug. He has not suggested any other treatment apart from changing from Exemastane to Arimides. This really worries me as it makes me wonder whether he thinks there is no point giving me chemo or suggesting ablation or any of the other options.
I am also very concerned with my life expectancy. My GP implied it would not be very long and immediately contacted palliative care. Are they hiding things from me or is it my imagination? Any advice or information gratefully received.
Kelley
Hi Kelley,
Sorry to hear of your diagnosis. If you need a good listening ear then please do give the helpline a ring, they’re here to support you. Calls to the helpline are free, 0808 800 6000 lines open Mon to Fri 9am - 5pm and Sat 9am - 2pm.
Hope this helps. Kind regards,
Jo, Facilitator
Hi Kelley,
What a terrible shock for you - you must still be reeling. I was diagnosed with bc and liver mets 2 years ago, and got the same thing - an immediate referral to the macmillan nurses - that was more of a shock than the diagnosis!
I don’t really understand the choice to not use chemo immediately, but maybe others will enlighten us, who know a bit more about exemestane and arimidex. I had chemo (FEC then switched to taxol) and herceptin, with a good response in my liver tumour. Now I’m on tamoxifen and herceptin, and so far things are being held at bay. I had RFA in March too.
I know of others with multiple small liver tumours who have responded well to chemo, too.
Anyway, I just wanted to encourage you that it’s possible to still be here after 2 years. I don’t think they’d be hiding anything from you, but I think they have to prepare for the worst case scenario, and this is a foul disease.
I am so sorry this is happening to you.
love Jacquie x
I was diagnosed a few weeks ago with cancer in one vertebra and more recently with liver. I have about 6 tumours of between 5 & 7 mm. I had been warned that if cancer was found in my liver I would get chemo. My onc now says he wants to put of chemo until I am scanned again in Aug. He has not suggested any other treatment apart from changing from Exemastane to Arimides. This really worries me as it makes me wonder whether he thinks there is no point giving me chemo or suggesting ablation or any of the other options.
I am also very concerned with my life expectancy. My GP implied it would not be very long and immediately contacted palliative care. Are they hiding things from me or is it my imagination? Any advice or information gratefully received.
Kelley
Hi Kelley
As Jacksy says - a dreadful shock when you get a secondary diagnosis and I’m so sorry you had to get one. I have bone mets but not liver and was dx last year. At the time my onc wanted to go the hormone treatment route initially but the decision eventually was up to me. OH and I decided that chemo 1st then hormone treatment was the way we wanted to deal with it and my onc agreed so I had 6 x FEC last year then went onto hormones. Maybe you want to ask your onc the reasons behind the decision not to have chemo? I’m very hormone positive and the hormone treatment is meant to be as effective - however I wanted to hit the BC hard to begin with and did feel that this was the best thing (for me) to do. I hope you get some answers and this helps you understand the course your onc has taken.
Nicky x