Hi everyone
As I’m an active member of the forum I’m sure many of you have come across my posts and odd snippets of my ‘story’ but I have never written it down. I thought I would as, like blondie’s recent post, I feel it gives hope to those who are newly diagnosed.
I will make it as short as I can, but it’s not been that straight forward!
I was diagnosed with hormone positive BC in 2003. It was low grade, caught early and no spread to lymph nodes. My treatment was WLE, radiotherapy followed by zoladex (for 2 years) and Tamoxifen, I was 41.
A routine mammogram in 2008 showed a local recurrence and subsequent bone and CT scans showed I had 1 bone met and another hot spot on my spine. This was on April Fools Day 2008 - some joke! I had 6 cycles of FEC chemo followed by anastrozole (an Aromatase Inhibitor)
After I had finished FEC I developed Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation (PAF), a heart condition. Over the next 4-5 years this was sort of treated with medication (but I now understand the wrong sort!). About the same time (4-5 years) I had a scan which showed the mets had spread to my liver. I asked for a biopsy to be done and it showed I was now HER2+, having been HER2- up until now. This was a complete surprise but meant I would need Herceptin. However my heart function was so bad I couldn’t have Herceptin. I started on Capecitabine and, after suffering a TIA (mini stroke caused by the PAF) I was referred by my then oncologist to a cardio-oncology unit in London. After many months, lots of medication and a couple of heart procedures they managed to stop my PAF and my heart function recovered enough to have Herceptin. Over the next 4-5 years my liver mets shrank or disappeared all except one ‘rogue’ one which seemed to grow every time I was on a hormonal treatment but shrink on chemo. Last year my current oncologist suggested a liver resection to remove this lesion, plus a couple of very small other ones. I had this done a year ago and since then have had no evidence of disease in my liver. A biopsy of the removed lesion showed it to be triple negative - no wonder it hadn’t responded to targeted treatments! My bone mets, after having spread a lot in 2013, have remained stable since. I am currently in a hormonal treatment, Fulvestrant, and a bone strengthener, Denosumab. At some point I will need to change treaments which I am well aware of but for now I can honestly say I feel far healthier than I was 6 years ago when my liver mets were 1st diagnosed and my heart function was dangerously low.
I wanted to write this as it shows that not all secondary breast cancer follows a particular path, we are all different but I am hoping it helps to show that you can actually feel better even years after your SBC diagnosis.
The one lesson I, and my family, have learnt is Carpe Diem - Seize the Day
Nicky x