Thought would introduce myself. I have recently been diagnosed with stage 4 secondary breast cancer now in the bones, (thigh, rib & skull )
I am devastated as have had 10 years of cancer free life after the primary bc in 2015. Double mastectomy/chemo/radio/tamoxifen.
Felt an excruciating pain in my right thigh mid August and after several X-rays & scans got told it’s S4 sec cancer .
I am on letrozole , zoladex and Ribocyclib . Day 8 of Ribocyclib and I have been so tearful past 3 days .
Usually a glass half full kinda person, but the past 3 days have been pretty rough and I worry , that the road ahead with these meds is not going to be great . Wanted to ask if anyone else is on these drugs and what have the symptoms been like ? Does it get better ?
Apologies for this downer but feel really lost atm.
Welcome to the forum @sonz16 . I’m so sorry you are having such a difficult time .I think there will be plenty of ladies on the forum who can share their experiences of this treatment regime and hopefully help you feel a little more positive .
There’s lots of support here .
I was on Ribociclib and letrazole and yes the side affects did get better, I’m no longer on the ribociclib as I kept needing antibiotics, I hope you feel this helps my secondary is on my lungs x
Hi Sonz16, I am sorry to hear that you are going through this. I was also diagnosed with stage 4 Metastatic Breast cancer last February after 13 years from my primary cancer.
My experience has been that I felt mentally in a mess for the first couple of months just completely overwhelmed.
I was prescribed Riciclib and Letrozol which I have been on since. The symptoms of the medication settled after a couple of months and now I am doing well. I have CT scans every 3 months to check progress and at my last one my oncologist said there was no spread.
I was over the moon as you can imagine.
I recommend being kind to yourself and only doing what you want to, If you need a day in bed take it guilt free.
Side effects have gradually improved and now hardly noticeable. The worst being I have had a lot of hair loss so have recently started to experiment with wigs.
It is a devastating diagnosis but these new drugs are literally buying us Metastatic BC many extra years.
Sending you lots of hugs. Xxxx
Thank you for your message. Very reassuring to know that the side effects can settle in time.
A lot to take in the first few months so a bit overwhelmed but I do appreciate how fortunate we are at this point in time when there’s been so much research and medication available to help us live longer with our diagnosis.
I hope you are doing well and thank you once again for your message which has given me hope .
