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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Breast Cancer / August 2004lung mets for me too
Well hello to everyone. It has been a few years since I posted here. It is good to see familiar faces such as Allan and Tim. In May 1994, I was diagnosed with Stage II B (left breast), estrogen receptor positive with no lymph node involvement. I had partial mastectomy, chemo, radiation and five years of tamoxifen. A few years after completion of radiation I was diagnosed with asthma which was a result of scaring from radiation. Asthma was usually worse during winter and spring, but controllable with inhaler. This spring it was worse than usual, and by July I was having a strange wheezing sound. So physician ordered a cat scan. It showed a "nodule" on the left lung. Long story short, a PET scan showed area around the lining of the lower part of left lung as possible cancer. A subsequent biopsy confirmed BC was back. I had 10 years between initial diagnosis and this one. I never used the word "cured" in terms of myself, but I can tell you I got to the point where I didn't dread the annual visits to oncologist. As a matter of fact, I had just been to see him in February and blood tests showed tumor markers as normal. He thinks we caught this one early, as such stuff goes. To say I am terrified is an understatement. At this point, he has put me on Arimidex with no chemo. I am hopeful this will keep it from spreading or even better make it go away. The actual cancer area is a half-moon shaped area around lower part of left lung. Thankfully it is not anywhere else. I stop posting for several years as I needed for myself to not dwell on my cancer, although I have been involved for 8 years as a Reach to Recovery volunteer with the American Cancer Society. Its so strange because last time after diagnosis, I read up on all information I could get my hands on. This time, I have not done quite as much research. I think I'm simply too scared. I hope you guys will let me be a part of you again. I really need to talk to others who are in same situation or have been in the past. Robin > Well hello to everyone. > Long story short, a PET scan showed area around the lining [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > has put me on Arimidex with no chemo. I am hopeful this will keep it from > spreading or even better make it go away. Hello again Robin. I'm sorry you had to come back here, but of course you are welcome. I suppose the good news is that if it took 10 years to appear, then it is pretty slow growing, and it may be possible to keep it in check for a good long time. Good luck Tim <snip> > I stop posting for several years as I needed for myself to not dwell on my > cancer, although I have been involved for 8 years as a Reach to Recovery > volunteer with the American Cancer Society. Its so strange because last > time after diagnosis, I read up on all information I could get my hands on. > This time, I have not done quite as much research. I think I'm simply too > scared. I hope you guys will let me be a part of you again. I hope you will. > I really need > to talk to others who are in same situation or have been in the past. There's another aspect though, some of us might well be in your situation in the future, we need to hear about your experiences. they show that none of us must ever be complacent and that the word 'cure' should never be used in terms of bc. Thank you for posting, I hope others who have had your experience will respond for the sake of all of us. Hugs, Mary > Robin Tim is right, that the time between initial and diagnosis are far apart meaning it is slow growing. Also it seems that your cancer responses to hormones ( which is excellent). Hopefully this will keep you symptom free. I'm hoping this second cancer is slow growing. Because the tumor markers were not elevated at annual checkup in February of this year and as it was not evident in cat scan conducted in January 03, oncologist said this reoccurrence probably had only been there a couple of months. Since I'm ER positive I'm very optimistic that the arimidex will slow this thing down. If not, I'll try something else. Annie, I hope that I can be of help to someone else. When I was diagnosed the first time, I really wanted to do just that which is reason I become volunteer with the A.C.S. I certainly remember all the questions I had the first time around and knew others would have them too. I saw in reading through posts that Catherine past away this year. Didn't Catherine live in Hawaii, or am I confusing her with someone else? If it is the same person, I am so sad to hear she has passed on. I remember her battling her cancer for quite some time even before I joined the board previously. Thanks for all your posts. I'll be around for good this time. :) Robin > I saw in reading through posts that Catherine past away this year. Didn't > Catherine live in Hawaii, or am I confusing her with someone else? If it is > the same person, I am so sad to hear she has passed on. I remember her > battling her cancer for quite some time even before I joined the board > previously. Yes indeed, sadly Catharine died in April. There is a brief obituary on her bio page at www.cancersupporters.com. Tim >Well hello to everyone. It has been a few years since I posted here. It is >good to see familiar faces such as Allan and Tim... Hello to you, Robin ;-) Sucks that you're here, but I'm happy to see you. My wife Deborah and I have been fighting with lung mets for more than five years - right now her tumor markers aren't much higher than they were postmastectomy - and life is good. Herceptin put her in remission for 2 1/2 years and we ended up being not in remission any more last Christmas Eve. So - we're back on Herceptin + Navelbine and if things continue the way they're going now Deborah will be off chemo and onto straight Herceptin next month. Her markers continued to climb on straight Arimidex so it was back to chemo for us. We're living proof there's life after a Stage IV diagnosis, kiddo - and treatments have changed even since our dx. Stick around - we can all work through this stuff together. hugs - allan  Signaturewe don't see things as they are, we see them as we are. -- Anais Nin Allan, thank you so much for your post. I really needed to hear that I may be around for awhile. I have always been a very upbeat, positive type person. However, the return of this cancer has really thrown me for a loop. For the most part, I'm still that same person, but maybe with a little more dose or reality thrown in. As to tumor markers, even at time of diagnosis mine were only slightly elevated in one area. I go back on Friday to see oncologist. I'm not sure what else he will be doing but I'm assuming he will take blood again for tumor marker check. He said we will do another cat scan about 8 weeks after I started the arimidex. Yesterday was my 3 week mark. I was not a candidate for herceptin as I'm her2 negative. You're right about the treatment options. In the 10 years since my initial diagnosis, so many new drugs are on the market. Its funny because I have always told everyone that the medicine is so much better, now I'm having to remember what I always tell everyone else. Please give my regards to Deborah. Tim, I read Catherine's biography. I so remember Catherine. One thing I had forgotten is that we are both from Texas. I'm in Huntsville which is about 1 1/2 hr north of Houston. I go to Austin several times a year as we have offices there. She was so courageous and I'm sorry I lost touch with her. I'm glad she is at peace. Robin i'm sorry to hear about your reccurrence. i too am stage 4. i was diagnosed at that stage in october of last year. i'm er/pr+ and her2 -. i'm doing only hormonal therapy with femara and zoladex (i'm 38 pre-men)..so far so good. lung mets have stabilized and some have even dissappeared. no shortness of breath anymore. i take zometa for bone mets and have some that are indeed healing. i have been reading this board for a couple of months now and i check it every day. i am in austin myself. i'm treated at SWRCC. i hope your treatment gets you another 10 years. that's what i'm hoping for myself. i think i can get it too. :) i love austin and texas in general (i'm a transplant from the NE). home of lance armstrong and some of the best darned oncologists around. perhaps i will run into you sometime in the park... taking in a nice long walk on a beautiful day. hang in there. :) -christina > Allan, thank you so much for your post. I really needed to hear that I may > be around for awhile. I have always been a very upbeat, positive type [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > Robin One caveat about hormonal treatment - your tumor markers are likely to rise initially after the start of treatment, so your oncologist may not do tumor markers or may not make too much of them. The CT scan is where the real information comes from with lung mets. Chris > Allan, thank you so much for your post. I really needed to hear that I may > be around for awhile. I have always been a very upbeat, positive type [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > Robin yep - my tumor markers went up initially - so did the bone pain. it's called a "flare". i knew it was coming so it didn't friek me out too much. it only lasted a couple/few weeks. then the numbers dropped like a stone and have stayed that way for 10 months. -c. > One caveat about hormonal treatment - your tumor markers are likely to > rise initially after the start of treatment, so your oncologist may not [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > > > Robin Hi Robin, I was diagnosed with lung mets at my initial diagnosis of breast cancer in January 2001. For the most part, it has been fairly well controlled with alternating chemo and estrogen inhibitor treatment. I actually loved Arimidex. I found it easy to take, easy to live with and fairly effective. I am sorry to hear that you have joined the club. I understand, too, about your lack of interest in more information. It waxes and wanes for me too, but for the most part, I don't look for a lot of information unless during treatment decisions. This is a chronic disease, so why waste too much time on it. I hope this group is as helpful to you as it has been for me. Chris |
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