For those of you wanting a bit of hope and inspiration.
The american author Kathy Russell Rich has now notched up 18 years after being told that she had bone mets and was given 2 years. She is one of the lucky 2% that responds so well to treatment that they go NED. I read an article (somebody here, possibly Belinda? posted a link to it) about how she re-posts on an american site every year on the anniversary of her secondary diagnosis to inform people that she is still here and to inspire others that it can be done!
I’m in contact with a lady called Bev from the Patients Survivor Network at MD Anderson (The University of Texas). She was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer 21 years ago, and is still around to tell the tale.
She had cancer in her bone (spine), liver and bone marrow. They put her on a trial, involving a very aggressive chemotherapy supported by stem cell transplantation. Also as she had the BC gene, they removed her other breast, and her ovaries - but no other treatment since.
Unfortunately, our medics seem to have a different approach to the Americans. Here they say less is more (which is probably code for less is cheaper), while in America, they say more is more - which is probably why there survival rates are about 15% better than ours.