I have started this thread for new user Carol
Jo, Facilitator
Hi Is there anyone out there who has success stories for women who are diganosed with secondry breast cancer. My Friend of 23 years has had breast cancer twice, one 15 years ago and the second 7 years ago where she underwent a mastectomy. She has now been diagnosed with cancer of the spine and cancer of the liver.
She is undergoing chemo again and I see very few if any success stories about this. Is there anyone who can write back soemthing positive.
Hi Carol,
I was diagnosed with secondaries from the start.I have spread to my lymph system,liver,lung and spine.I went on Taxotere/Herceptin first,which shrank my liver tumour down.Unfortunately my lymphs in axilla and breast kept getting bigger so was put on Xeloda (now on 3rd).My breast/lymphs shrank dramatically within the first four days of taking it.My Oncologist is amazed as she has never seen it work so fast.I can’t feel either tumours at all now!
Just waiting for more scans to see how lung and liver are doing.
So it is helping to keep my cancer under control so far and I feel very well(apart from fatique/aches)so can’t complain and have a positive outlook which keeps me sane for the moment.
I hope this is of some help.
Alli x
I also was diagnosed with secondaries in liver from the start. Have been on chemo for well over a year. Started with FEC, then Taxotere, Xeloda and now Navelbine. I don’t think you will find success stories if you are looking for a cure. But there are quite a few stories of women who have been going for years now. I think once you have secondaries in liver success is the chemo working, hopefully for a long time. There are some amazing women on here who can tell you much better than I can. I have found a lot of support here, hope your friend will be able to join us and find help here too
So do you have to stay on the chemo now for good. Everytime I look on the web i come up with alternative remedies to turn the cancer around and do not see people writing wonderful stories of success for the chemo victims. How is life for you, are you able to have quality of life with chemo after one year on. How much more do you think you have to have.
XxX
Carol
Secondary breast cancer is not curable…and certainly not by the wild promises of alternative treatments on the internet.
Depending on the kind of cancer your firend has there are a variety of tretaments which include several types of chemotherapy, herceptin and hormonal drugs (herceptin is used for her2+ cancers…wich have a growth factor called her2, and hormonal treatments are used for cancers where growth is stimulated by the hormones oestrogen and progesterone: er and pr in the jargon.)
Your friend’s oncologist will suggest a treatment appropriate to her kind of cnacer. This could well be chemotherapy. Someyimes secondary tumours respond well and shrink quickly during chemotherapy, sometimes the chemo doesn’t work. When one tretament fails there is often another one to try. Some people choose not to have treatments but I think if they do its imporant they are awar of the difference this may make to their life expectancy (could be very little or a lot…cancer is unpredtictable.)
There are good news stories of people living well for several years with bone and liver seconbdaries and other not so good stories of people not doing so well.
I hope there will soon be more replies from some of those women doing pretty well who use this site. But sadly there aren’t any miracle stories of secondary breast cancer diappearing.
As Maroke says what you consider ‘success’ may chnage. Being diagnosed with secondary breast cancer is a huge shock as is getting used to the idea of a foreshortned life…but that doesn’t mean there can’t still be good times for your freind ahead or that it is an immediate death sentence.
I have been living with bone (to my spine) and liver secondaries for the past 4 years and have been on chemo (Xeloda) for the past two years. (Was first diagnosed in 1995).
There is no ‘cure’ for us but hopefully the treatments that are around will keep a lot of us stable for longer than they used to. Sometimes when I have my results of my CT scan I’m pleased that it’s still stable - not improved but certainly not worsened (at the moment).
It’s about being realistic of living with this disease at this stage and while I can live ‘well’ with it I certainly do.
I am another diagnosed with secondary breast cancer to the liver and lymph nodes from the beginning. That was over three years ago and I have been on pretty constant chemotherapy since then (as the hormonal treatments do not work for me). I have been on xeloda for almost two years now and have an excellent quality of life.
As others have said, there is no cure but it is possible to live well with this disease. I hope this is the case for your friend.
Hi…just to echo everyone else, sadly there is no cure for secondary bc but yes it is possible to live well sometimes…I was diagnosed with secondaries from the beginning…5 years ago and life, at the moment, is good.
Belinda.
Just echoing what has already been said, I was diagnoised 9 years ago with primary and secondary cancer and treatments kept me very stable. It has just been this year when the cancer spread to my liver and I had to change to xeloda (oral chemo) that things are a little rougher. By rougher I mean in terms of how I deal with things mentaly, but (touch wood) I am responding to the xeloda and I am still here.
People (especially on this site) keep upsetting the odds. I found out in Feb that my onc thought I had about three weeks when he first saw me last October (and that was before I developed lung clots). Still here and still being awkward!
Lots of stories on this site of girls with secondaries who are still around years after first diagnosis.
Never goes away but there is no reason to let it drag you down. Best wishes for your friend.
yes I will be on chemo (hopefully with a few breaks) for the rest of my life. There are no alternative remedies that can turn cancer around. If anybody should tell you there are don’t believe it. They are doing a lot of research into different things and once my doctors tell me it’s ok to try I will, but I won’t take a “miracle cure” fromthe internet because that could work against the chemo I am on. Being diagnosed with secondaries doesn’t mean I don’t have quality of life. Yes it’s a drag having to go for chemo every week, but otherwise I still do most things I always did before bc. With certain limitations as one of the side effects of chemo means I get tired very quickly. Carol, one of the most important things when you have this c…p disease is to keep your spirits up, try to do things you enjoy, make plans for fun things, etc. A positive attitude is what you need most. Easier said then done I know, especially when you are first diagnosed. Anyway, I hope your friend responds well to treatment and will be with us for a long time
Hi Carol
I was diagnosed with secondaries to liver and bone in 2003 (original primary in 1994). I am not on chemo but on a drug called Herceptin, that is the drug given to HER2 type cancers (referred to in JaneRA’s post above). I have ‘no evidence of disease’ - that doesn’t mean I am cured, only that the cancer isn’t active at the present (but we all live in hope!). I live a pretty normal life, I just have to interrupt it every 3 weeks for a transfusion of Herceptin. Life is good.
Good luck to your friend
blondie
My wife was first diagnosed with secondaries ( bones, liver, lungs etc ) in 2006, they said, at the time, no more than six months to live. Well two and a half years later she is still here. Most of the modern Chemo´s seem to be amazing for most people, although of course I realise they do not work for everyone.
My wife is now on a cocktail that includes Avastin so we will hope that carries on working for us.
Hi Carol,
sorry to hear about your friend. As you have now seen on this forum there are lots of us with secs to bone and liver we are all different and treatments vary but if we have any questions it does not take long for someone to come along with an answer. I was diagnosed 41/2 years ago prognosis was not good but I am still alive and very grateful for all the treatments that have kept me here. Introduce your friend to the forum I am sure it will help her as much as it has helped me.
I was diagnosed with secondaries to my liver in 2005, its pretty much been one chemo treatment after another since then, I live a normal life with tired days and down days, but Im still here, as Debs has said Im sure your friend will find great support if she gives us a visit. There are lots of ladies here with similar stories ready to offer help,advice and a friend to chat to.