Hi
I had Breast cancer in 2006 and had a bi-lateral masectomy. In April I had my right lung drained (they took off 3 nlitres of fluid ) and was told it was secondaries.
My problem is that I have no faith in the treatment I have been offered. I oroginally had chemo for my breast cancer, but had to be taken off it as my body did not cope with it. I could not cope wth the Tamoxifen or Arimidex either. The sweats were horendous and to be honest I would rather be dead than go through them again. Sounds pathetic I know, but I know what I can and can’t cope with. I have been offered Letrozole, but the Oncologist said it would cause sweats, so I am not accepting it.
On another thread on here ‘Cyberkife’ was mentioned. What is this please?
I should probably mention that I am blind and rely on a screen reader to ‘read’ everything to me. Works on some sites not on others. Hence my difficulty in finding out some stuff.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Margaret
Hi Margaret and welcome to the BCC forums
In addition to the support you will soon have here you are welcome to call our helpline, lines are open 9-5 weekdays and 10-2 Saturdays on 0808 800 6000 and our team can help you with your queries and concerns
I am posting a link to the BCC secondaries information page which I hope you will find helpful:
Take care
Lucy
Hi Margaret and whilst I want to welcome you too the forum I also am sad that yet another lady has secondaries. As far as the treatments are concerned I’m affraid its a case of seeing how you respond to them, I also suffer with massive hot flushes and night sweats on tamoxifen as well as other side effects but as time has gone by (nearly 2 years this sept) they have toned down and instead of having a hot flush once an hour I only get them every 3 or 4 hours (I’m 45 and have been thrown into early menopause with chemo/tamoxifen) as for the Letrozole I have no experience of this drug but even though your onc told you that you would suffer with hot flushes and sweats your body might just tolerate this drug without the horrible side effecs, remember we are all different and respond differently to the treatments and drugs. I would give this drug a chance before you decide to drop it. I understand your worry and stress over the lung mets as I also have lung mets to both lungs as far as cyberknife is concerned you should ask your onc about this I don’t know that much about it other than its highly targeted form of radiotherapy which can be very effective if you dont have multiple micro mets to your lungs like I do (maybe just one or two).Hope this helps, sending you lots of love and light Sarah xxx
Hi Margaret,
Sorry you have had to join us but I think you will find the site very helpful as I did when I discovered that I had lung mets in October/November 2011. I had been on Letrazole for three and a half years but was changed from this though I know there are people on this site who have remained stable on Letrazole for a long time.At the moment I am on Evorilmus and exemestane. I have been stable for the past 18 months though I had to have my reconstruction removed just over twelve months ago as I had skin mets.
The Evorilmus has a lot of side effects but I am getting used to them and they aren’t as bad now as when I first went on the drug. I never had hot flushes when I was on the Letrazole so you may not either. At first when I found out I had secondaries I wanted to have chemo but now that I have been stable on hormonal treatment for a while I prefer to carry on down this road whilst it is working for me.
I hope you find the right treatment for you and don’t have too many side effects.
Take care Sheila x
Hi Margaret, Sorry to hear about your problems and not having faith in your treatment. I have had Tamoxifen and now I am on Zoladex and will be starting Letrozole too. I don’t like the sweats and hot flushes either. I have learnt to breathe through them when they come on and I also have an electric fan and ice cold drinks to help. I am getting a chillo pillow soon, which can help with night sweats. Unfortunately, most hormone treatments, will cause menopause symptoms and of course it’s your choice whether to have them or not. I hope your oncologist can help you with some other treatments that might be available to you. Take care of yourself.
Sarah xx
Margaret I’ve been on letrozole and have had very little by way of hot flushes. Just been a bit hotter on mild nights. I would at least give it a try.