Estrogene/Progesterone + Stage IV BC

I was diagnosed with this the lst. week of Oct. 08.  I had no lumps/bumps..nothing.  What I did have was a dry cough that wouldn't go away.  I went to have this checked out and an X-ray show some pleural effusion, etc...from this I went for a cat scan..etc...this showed some slight swelling in lymph nodes.  A biopsy showed estrogen/progesterone positive cancer.  A pet scan showed mets to lymph nodes throughout body with mets to bones throughout body.  The tumor marker was 980.  Since then I have been taking Arimidex and Zometa IV infusion.  Last week the oncologist said my tumor marker has gone from 980 to 250 as a result of the meds.  I have had only good side effects from both of these medications, and I am liking them a lot.

I was wondering if anyone else has this same kind of cancer, and if so, how you are doing?    The Dr. says that for me this is "treatable", but not "curable", so I have no dilusions about what is ahead.

 I am very athletic, and I work out 7 days a week.  This is something I have done most of my life, so I am in pretty good shape.  The Dr. says this makes a difference.  

 BTW, I love this place.  

 Hugs & best wishes,

Meg....

Hello, It has taken me a long time to get to this point.  I was a mess this past October.  My whole life when something bad would happen I would say, "stop complaining, it's not cancer!"....well, now it is....   

 I have come a long way from October, and it is this place, Cancer Compass, that has made that happen.  I was very frightened to come here at lst. and read the posts, but I forced myself to come every day.  It has helped me to read the posts, and now I am posting myself (just started today).  This is a big step for me.

 Hugs & best wishes to everyone,

Meg

Hey Meg,

I'm sorry that you had to join our club, but I think it's great that in just a few months you seemingly are on your way to an attitude of "living with cancer" rather than "dying with cancer."  No, the type of involvement you have is most likely not curable, but it certainly can be held at bay, hopefully put into remission,  and let you have a good  life ahead.

While I do not have the diffuse metastasis that you are dealing with, I was diagnosed with mets to the lungs not quite a year ago.  I am unable to take the anti-estrogen drugs, so I did a lot of research on natural alternatives, and was able to get myself on a regimen that worked to put my mets into remission.  I think a lot of the foods, herbs and supplements I have used could be supportive to you as well. You can take a look at my blog - see how you feel about using some of these things yourself.  (Please check with your dr before adding things - make sure they will not adversely interact with theArimidex,  Zometa or other medications.)

http://motherearthtreasurechest.blogspot.com/2008/09/my-pers

 My cancer is estrogen-receptor positive, but progesterone negative, so my regimen focuses on depleting estrogen only.  You might do a web search on natural alternatives to progesterone depletion - there might be things that would be effective that aren't on my list. (My list is by no means all-inclusive on the estrogen front either - I focused on simple things that are inexpensive and easy to take.)

The exercise will stand you in good stead.   Also focus on laughter and humor, mirth.  Everyone can benefit greatly from 10 minutes of good belly-laughter a day, and it really can bring about very positive bio-chemical changes in the body.  Also, plenty of pure, fresh water to both nourish your cells and flush away the by-products of the  arimidex and zometa.

Take care,

Tre