I was diagnosed with bone and liver mets in 2008. I have had tax and am now on tamoxifen and herceptin. They stopped the bisphosphonate as I have been on it for 2.5 years and don’t have symptoms.
My onc is due to retire in March so I asked for another one rather than get stuck with loads of different locums. I saw new onc on Wednesday. He had obviously read my file and looked at scans etc. He asked me a few questions and then said he has a different approach to previous onc. He said no point in doing any more MRI scans on my liver as a lot of people don’t think what showed up is cancer. He said I definately have 3 spots in my bones so therefore is going to do bone scans.
He also said I was ‘lucky’ (This is the first time an onc has used this word to describe my situation) because it is now evident that my cancer only has two types of receptors that make it grow oestrogen and HER2. He said this is why I have remained stable for nearly 3.5 years. He said I could develop resistance and this would reduce effectiveness over time. He said if that happens he will change hormonal and change hercpetin to one of the newer monoclonal anti-bodies i.e. lapatinib or Persumabab (wrong spelling). He described it as lining up all his bullets.
I think new onc is excellent. I know I should feel happy or even elated with change in diagnosis but instead I am left feeling a bit confused and not sure what to believe. I also feel a bit angry because it has taken years for someone to tell me this stuff. I know it does not change the treatment plan so I guess it may not be seen as important however it does make a difference to my prognosis.
Anyone else had a similar experience.
AlexD