Liver Mets
Liver Mets Hi
Iam new to this site. Iam 35 years old with small child.
I was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. All was fine. On Tuesday found out that I have liver mets.
I am just so so scared.
Has anyone else had liver mets? How was the treatment?
Dear maxwellsmummy I am sorry to read of your recent diagnosis of liver metasteses, I am sure you will receive valuable advice and support from the other forum users very soon.
In addition, you are welcome to contact our freephone helpline on 0808 800 6000 for further support and information about other support services which you may also find helpful. You are able to talk to someone in confidence about how you are feeling at the moment, our helpliners are either breast care nurses or have had experience of breast cancer and will support you through this difficult time.
The helpline is open Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm and Saturday 9am - 2pm.
You may also find Breast Cancer Care’s factsheet on secondary breast cancer in the liver helpful to read. You can read it via the following link or ask our helpliners for a copy when you ring:
breastcancercare.org.uk/docs/secondary_breast_
cancer_in_the_liver_0.pdf
I hope this is helpful to you.
Kind regards
Forum Host
Breast Cancer Care
My partner has liver mets… … and when it was first diagnosed and looked up what info there is on it, it all seemed terribly bleak and that whatever future she had would be rather short. However, joined this site and found so many people in similar circumstances, very much alive after many years. Also reading about Jane Tomlinson was a great help too.
There are various treatments available and have learnt that if one doesn’t work, that all is not lost. My partner had 6 x FEC cheno last year, finished in Oct. Largest mets shrunk considerably and have rmained stable. Bone mets diagnosed in January, and just recently an ultrasound showed the mets that were the smaller ones originally have increased so she will soon start on Taxotere chemo.
The irony is, the treatments are what make her feel really ill and interfere with her life. We have recently returned from two weeks away in the Dominican Republic where after several days thorough rest, she was able to take part in snorkelling, trekking through the jungle, wading across a fast flowing river etc.
Today she has barely been able to stay awake, pain meds, radiotherapy etc taken it out of her, and the the thought of going through chemo again.
Of course it varies from person to person, but this is a great site and i am sure you will hear from others in your situation and that the real people living with it will make the facts and figures you can read about seem almost irrelevant.
Wishing you the very best of luck,
Swizzelstick
Me too! Hi
Like you I found out very recently (less than 2 weeks) that my cancer too has spread to the liver. It’s 4 and a half years since my original DX and all had been fine in between, so this came as a huge shock.
I just have one secondary in the liver so they are planning to do a liver resection - ie cut away that bit of the liver (around 40% in my case). I gather from the surgeon they can remove upto 75% and then the liver to some extent will regenerate. He expects me to be able to eat (and drink!!) normally afterwards though I think he expects it to be about 6 weeks recovery time. I’ve been trying to make contact with someone else who has had this operation but no success yet. although a lady who has recently had liver ablation offered me some good advice.
Then I gather it’s more chemo but I don’t yet know what sort.
What are they suggesting as treatment for you? Having been doing some research ever since I got the DX, there do seem to be a huge number of different treatments being offered depending on the number, size and spread of the mets. I don’t know about you but that does reassure me in a way although it is still pretty scary at the moment.
Let me know what the plans are for you and how you are going. How old is your child? My 3 are at least all grown up - youngest is 20 and away at uni.
Take care. Love Kay
i have liver mets I finished treatment for stage 2b breast cancer in September 2006. Two months later I was diagnosed with liver mets.
I, too have young children, aged four and nine. I was 38 when I was first diagnosed with cancer and am now 39.
My quality of life is much better than expected. I am pain free and the chemo is much easier to tolerate than the treatment I under rwent when I was first diagnosed with breast cancer. Except for the few days following treatment, I have lots of energy.
Please take care (and feel free to contact me, through my blog - notjustaboutcancer.blogspot.com).
Laurie
Hi Laurie I read your blog. Your family reminds me of mine. Young children 5&7, country life, liver mets, knitting… and much more.
I wish you, maxwellsmummy and Kaye, the very best with your new treatments. Liver mets is a horrid diagnosis to receive and it will take you a while to get used to. There are many of us on this forum living very well with them so don’t give up hope. I got my diagnosis 2 years ago this month, and I am feeling fine.
Any questions, we have a wealth of information between us.
Thinking of you all, and sorry to have to ‘meet’ you under these circumstances.
Love Jenny
xx
Me Too ! Hi
I was diagnosed in April 2005, aged 41 with both bc and liver mets. The liver mets was covering 15% of my liver. I had 6x FEC chemo and since then have been on arimidex and herceptin. I have not had any surgery due to the mets. I have bc in both breats - although one is her2 positive whilst the other isn’t !! Apparently I’m a phenonemen !
Everything will be awful at the moment - just take one day at a time. We decided to try and keep our normal routines for the sake of our young daughter who’s now 9. Except that I have given up work and am loving the time spent at home.
Don’t get too bogged down in the different treatments since it can vary widely. My onc explined that this is because there are about 50 ‘strains’ of breast cancer, each with different characteristics and each with different approaches to treatment.
Take care of yourself