Mother Recently Diagnosed With Liver And Bone Mets: Confused, Worried, Sad.

I have found this webpage very helpful and decided to join.

My mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer with mets to bones and liver. This came as a huge surprise because she had non invasive breast cancer in 2004 and had a lumpechtomy and radiation. She has been taking tamoxifin, getting 6 month check-ups, and all was going well

Then just a few weeks ago her doctor discovered the invasive cancer and scheduled a masectomy and said he would do an MRI to see how far it had spread. He noticed some places in the bones but said we would need an MRI to know for sure.

However, we soon found out (from another doctor, an oncologist--its a long story, but we trust this doctor) that she actually did have mets to bone.... and to the liver. This second doctor said she needed to do chemo ASAP. Without chemo he said she had about 3 months to liver. With chemo he said her life could be extended. So, the breast surgery was cancelled and she began chemo this past Thursday.

Before chemo she had no symptoms of liver mets, however she was experiencing some bone pain on certain days.

So far she is tolerating the chemo well. The doctors are hopeful that the liver tumors could decrease and she could perhaps treat this kind of cancer as a chronic illness. Of course we hope so too. My husband and I had already planned to come back to the area in the summer, and we had hopes of spending time with my parents, perhaps having children, etc. This news of her diagnosis is heart breaking. She is 63 years old. The good thing is that we had already planned to come back and be near my parents. Of course, it would be wonderful if we were able to have even a few good years together.

I have so many questions I don't know where to begin. I would love to hear from other breast cancer patients with bone and liver mets. I know the prognosis is poor, but I also know that some people are able to go on and live for at least a few years with this kind of cancer. I am scared, overwhelmed, and sad. I don't want false hopes, but I would really be interested in knowing other people's experience with liver and bone mets.

Also, I am so unsure about the whole concept behind chemo. I know this is the form of treatment we have right now, and that it can sometimes help. However, I can't help but wonder how breaking the body down is a form of sustainable healing for an illness such as cancer. My mother is very interested in alternative therapies and would have never agreed to chemo if the situation and diagnosis had not been so dire. Is there anyone out there combining alternative methods with chemo?

I know you all have discussed liver and bone mets on this list before, but if anyone has any thoughts to share about what I can expect, hopeful stories of living with this form of cancer, or any other related information, I would love to hear it.
All of this is so new. Any information is appreciated.

Also, if there are any adult daughters caring for their mothers, I would love to hear from you too. I want to be a good caretaker and be there for her as much as I can possibly be.

Thanks to everyone for this wonderful page. I can't tell you how much help these message boards have been to me.

Thanks.

Hi:

I have a breast mass and have chosen not to have conventional treatment.  I am using a large number of supplements that boost the immune system and others that help destroy cancer/abnormal cells.  I have spent hundreds of hours on the net researching, but there is a large body of information available at LifeExtention.com.  They have a really good article on breast cancer and both the conventional and alternative treatments.  The only areas they didn't seem to cover well was the area of immune stimulation.  Using alternative treatments with conventional is possible and a lot of people do it.  It usually improves the outcome, especially if you are using the ones that boost the immune system as the chemo and radiation destroy the immune system as it is full of quickly dividing cells which is what the chemo and radiation are targeting since cancer cells are in that category.

For immune stimulation, check out the medicinal mushroom supplements.  Shop around because there is a large difference in costs on site to another.  AHCC, MaitakeGold, Aquarius (sp?) are some of the best mushroom supplements for building up the immune system.  CoQ10, Curcumin (from Turmeric), Vitamin D3, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, B complex (in the right combination), and several others are good.  Also, get her off all white sugar, white flour, any refined carbohydrates as cancer cells require glucose and those food release a LOT of glucose into the body very quickly.  If she is able, exercise at least 15 minutes a day, preferably outside as sunshine (without sunscreen) is important for the body to make its own Vitamin D.  Vitamin D is converted in the body into a natural cancer fighter - can't remember the name right now.

So, don't give up hope.  There are many things to try.  Chemo is up to your Mom, but if she decides to quit taking it, that should be her decision. And, there are many other things she can try, it is not her only choice.

God bless you and your family.  Prayer and a healthy emotional outlook is a critical part of the healing process.  If there are any emotional traumas in your mom's live that she has not dealt with, it is very important for her to do so as soon as possible as that can really interfere with the healing process.

AKT