Breast Cancer Mets To The Lungs.....

As the header states, my breast cancer that the doctors thought they got all of in a mastectomy and radiation, at stage one....went directly to my lungs and set up house. 13 spots altogether were found at my yearly follow up CT scan. I was 37 at the time, 39 now. Was put immediately into menopause and take Femara. It has slowed the growth well, no changes on my last 3 CT scans. Spots still there, but not growing. I refuse to let my doctors give me a "time line" because all of their studies and numbers have never included my will to live and my faith in God. What I want to know is....has anyone else out there been successful in carrying breast cancer mets to the lung for a respectable amount of time? I know sugar feeds cancer, and I try like crazy to stay away from it, is there something else out there I may not know about? I have an 11 year old daughter who has been forced to grow up quickly because of this disease. My cancer is slightly hormone receptive, should I demand that my ovaries be removed? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help.

Dear Justjodi, Are you by any chance her2positive? If so there is a wonderful website where people exchange ideas and encouragement for this version of breast cancer mets, which is treated remarkedly by a monoclonal antibody called "herceptin", truly a miracle drug. If you are interested I can give you the site or just type in "her2+" to get on it. I also have BC mets to my lungs, stage IV. It was discovered a year ago when I had a heart attack and they did a CT scan in prep for heart surgery. It is my third "go-round" with cancer: BC first in 1985 with double mastectomy, nothing more, then met to my spine in 1990, treated only with tamoxifen. Now here it is again in my lungs, 3 small nodules, after all these years. I also have a very strong, positive outlook, with a lot of faith in God. I have also used positive mental imagry, and have changed to a Ph-balanced, vegitarian diet. I seem to be licking it again. The nodules have not grown in a year. I was on navelbine, herceptin and femara for 6 months, now only herceptin and femara. The only reactions I have had to chemo is a total loss of taste for sweets and my fingernails are in terrible shape. You sound like a fighter! Hang in there! Best wishes, Tricia--

Tricia,

Thank you, fellow warrioress in this war on cancer!! I have never even heard of HER2, but will call my oncologist tomorrow and ask. I just had bloodwork and she said my tumor markers have increased slightly, so we're doing the old PET scan next week to see if anything has traveled. It's a scary time, that's for sure.
God Bless you for having gone through this three times and are still here to inform people like me! Strong will and stronger faith are my two best tools!
I just don't know how long a body can carry this stuff around. I'm going back to the natural diet, no refined sugars to the best of my ability, plenty of water and leafy green stuff!Do you happen to take any extra vitamins or minerals? Again, thanks for the encouragment and information!!

Jodi