Stage IV Breast Cancer??? Questions

My sister is 36 and we found out in the beginning of Oct 08 that she has stage IV breast cancer.  The only reason we found it was because she has pain in her tummy and they discovered the tumors in the liver...it has now spread to her bones and is on several of her vertebraes on her spine. 

She was very ill in the hospital because her liver wasn't working and now she is getting Taxol weekly and Herceptin every 3 weeks...the doctor has given us no prognosis.  She has 3 daughters and we want to know what to expect as far as a timeline?  When she was in the hospital he told my other sister he gave her 6-12 months we didn't tell anybody and now that she looks better we are glad because maybe he was wrong and he said that becuase she was very ill.  Everytime they check her blood they tell us the liver is working better because of the biliruben results.  But what do we need to expect with it on the spine and in the bones.

Hi so sorry to hear about your sister. after a long time i came back to this site. i use to write regularly when my mother was battleing breast cancer. she left us marh 7 this year. Her cancer also spreaded to her liver for that she was having xeloda. than it went to bone. she was 63 when she died. i know what people go through when some one you love is fighting with cancer. But be positive always that helps to battle the disease. good mental streangth is very important. all my prayers wiht your sister and her daughters. sonia

thank you we are all scared there weren't any signs it just happened so quickly. we believe God has a plan we are just waiting to see what it is. God Bless you and thank you for replying On 11/30/2008 Sonia_329 wrote: Hi so sorry to hear about your sister. after a long time i came back to this site. i use to write regularly when my mother was battleing breast cancer. she left us marh 7 this year. Her cancer also spreaded to her liver for that she was having xeloda. than it went to bone. she was 63 when she died. i know what people go through when some one you love is fighting with cancer. But be positive always that helps to battle the disease. good mental streangth is very important. all my prayers wiht your sister and her daughters. sonia -----end quote------

Hi, I am 41 (actually my 42nd birthday is today, as it is after midnight my time!) and I was diagnosed with stage IIIC breast CA this June. Thats one step away from Stage 4, it was in 11 lymph nodes but no other body part thus far.  I will tell you what my oncologist told me.  Dont think about statistics, or prognosis.  If it is YOU who has cancer, then you have a 50/50 chance, either it will metastacise or it wont, either you will fight it or you won;t, either you will live or you wont, you get the picture. 

I believe at least 80% of the battle is mental and spiritual.  My cousin, who is much older than your sister, was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer and told she had maybe a year.  She is now in remission, and doing great, and that was about 5 yrs ago.  Sometimes you beat the odds.

Having said that, my mom was diagnosed with breast ca at age 54, and before she died 5 yrs later, it was in her lungs, lymph nodes of the neck, spine and base of the brain.  She did well until the last 2 months, when her lungs became so congested with fluid that it made breathing difficult.  She did have some pain from the bone mets, but she handled pain much better than the difficulty breathing.  Ive never seen anyone fight harder to live than my mom.  The only reason I am telling you this is, we as a family just knew when she reached a point where only hospice care was appropriate, there was no guesswork to it.  And cancer care has come such a long way in the yrs since she died, it amazes me.  From diagnosis to treatment, to management of side effects, to pain management, to end-stage palliative care, it has improved drastically.

Tell your sister I am praying hard for her.  I have 6 kids, from ages 17-5, and I know the fear of thinking that I wont get to see them finish school, or have babies, etc. I hope we both are on God's "miracle" list...

Thank you for responding, she is having a lot of pain from having the cancer in the bones other than that she seems to be doing fine. Her daughter is a senior this year after the doctor told us that short timeline it scared us to think she wouldn't see her graduate . Thank you for the positive info she is a fighter so we should get through this fine. God bless you and be with you through this storm in your life.

Hi. My name is Quinshondra, and let me first say that I am sorry to hear about your sister. My mother, who is 39 has Stage IV BC with mets to the liver. She is sometimes in pain, but not as much as before when we first found out about the cancer. That alone gives us hope that treatment is working. I really wanted to tell you the same thing that I told my mother and maybe you can share it with your sister. This battle is more than physical-- which mean she has to fight more than just the physical stuff. 80% of this battle has nothing to do with the cancer itself... but how we approach the fight. Please do not let what those doctors say scare you, Not sure if you believe in a higher power, but if you do trust in that and know that GOD can still say YES when everyone else says NO! No doctor on earth can tell you how long you have left here. A cousin of ours was given a 2% chance of making it through the night-- that was eight years ago and she's sitting next to me now!!! Look what GOD can do! Be encoouraged and stay strong!

My, your sister is so young, but cancer has no age limit. Here is just a brief bio on my cancer. I was diagnosed with colon cancer in June 04, had surgery and then chemo. I was allergic to the chemo, but the doctor did not listen to what I was telling him so I ended up with pulmonary fibrosis. That is a serious lung disease that you can die from. Only 1% of people on oxaliplatin for cancer in the world get this lung disease. Rober Goulet died jan. 08 of pulmonary fibrosis from colon cancer chemo. I was put on prednisone for a year and oxygen 24/7. I gained 70 lbs, from the prednisone and therefore got diabetes and osteoporosis. Sooooo I am telling you this for one reason.....I WOULD NOT GIVE UP!! It has taken 3 yrs, but I only use oxygen for exercise and I am off all lung medicine. Now, my lungs are permanently scarred, but somehow my breathing has gotten a lot better. My pet scan still shows a great deal of scarring.I am now 3 1/2 yrs cancer free.  So what I want you to do for your sister is to tell her to be happy, laugh a lot, think positive thoughts, and will herself to get better. I really believe attitude is more then half your battle. Rent funny movies as laughter is the best medicine. So many people have told me that they are inspired by my attitude. I just look at the glass as half filled not half empty. Oh one other thing. I have read many times that cancer feeds on sugar, so she should avoid sugar. Also ask about the stem cell therapy being done at the Cancer Centers of America. Good luck!!!!

Barbara

I am sorry to hear about you sister. I too have stage IV BC. for 8 years. Have you looked into Cancer Treatment Centers of America? I went to the one in Chicago. ( they paid for the flight for me and my friend) I did some research and the Chicago branch has the best BC Dr.s. They treat the whole person not just with drugs but with nutrition, counseling, and much more. I did go for the consult but decided to try a study drug here in Florida. Leaving them for my ace in the whole. Your sister still has many options and if anyone gives her a time line left for her life then she needs to see someone else.

I am sorry to hear about you sister. I too have stage IV BC. for 8 years. Have you looked into Cancer Treatment Centers of America? I went to the one in Chicago. ( they paid for the flight for me and my friend) I did some research and the Chicago branch has the best BC Dr.s. They treat the whole person not just with drugs but with nutrition, counseling, and much more. I did go for the consult but decided to try a study drug here in Florida. Leaving them for my ace in the whole. Your sister still has many options and if anyone gives her a time line left for her life then she needs to see someone else.

I am very sorry to hear about your sister.. My mother also has stage IV Breast Cancer and the doctors told us that is basically everywhere in her body.. Bones, lungs, pancreas, etc.. They told us her prognosis was not very good and all we can do at this point is pray that the ONLY good news was that it was not in her hormones or her brain... So they put her on Herceptin every 3 wks and Tykerb (without Xeloda because it had previously given her bad side effects)4 tabs. every day.. Anyway.. Her lungs kept filling up with fluids so they had to do surgery on her so insert a tube so they wont fill up anymore but it didn't go as expected.. the doctor said "her lungs are not responding the way they should" and she was put in an induced coma for a week. It was the hardest thing seeing my mother in such a state, They just took her off the coma 3 days ago and she is doing better.

I am now however looking for alternative medicine to give her because i have NEVER been a fan of western medicine and have done a lot of research and found something that I am def. going to give a try and that is safe to give with chemo although to my understanding Herceptin is not categorized as chemo, it is just another type of cancer therapy.. Anyways I also found many testimonials on this website for the alternative that I am going to start giving my mother.

 My mother has been fighting breast cancer for a little over 4 years now and I can honestly say that I have never seen anyone fight for their life as hard as I see her do it day by day, breath by breath.. So I urge you to keep your sisters spirit positive because I really believe that it has something to do with it..

 

Goodluck and bless you and your family