I have been living with breast cancer for 13 years. During this time I have not had 5 years cancer free. Therefore, I have been through a lot of surgeries and treatments which have lead to my most recent dilemma.
I started my journey with a lumpectomy, radiation, and chemo therapy (A/C) and started on Tamoxifen. Three years later the cancer came back in the same breast. At this time I had a bilateral mastectomy, chemo (Taxotere), reconstructive surgery, and changed to Femara for the hormone therapy. Approximately one year after my last chemo treatment we found the cancer had metastasized to my bones. My hormone treatment was changed to Aromasin, I had my ovaries removed and I started on monthly I.V. treatments of Aridia for my bones. I enjoyed a little over 4 years of remission with this treatment alone. Unfortunately, in Jan '08 we discovered that the cancer had spread throughout my spine, hips, skull, pelvis, etc and several spots were seen on my liver.
This was devastating news but, the doctor was very hopeful that a pill form of chemo (Xeloda) would do the trick. They warned me of the possible side effects of the burning hands and feet. Well, these side effects were more than I could handle. They were so severe that I could not walk or function normally. The treatment was reduced several times to get to a level where I could tolerate it. After about 4 months we repeated the scans only to discover that not only did this treatment not work in reducing the cancer that was there, the cancer spread like mad. My liver now has extensive disease and the disease in my bones has spread as well.
In June I started on Abraxane and Avastin with three weekly treatments of Abraxane, two weekly treatments of Avastin and one week off. After one completed round (three weeks) and one additional week of treatment my tumor markers have doubled. It appears as though the treatment is not working. While I know some people experience false negatives and positive from tumor marker tests mine have been a pretty good indicator over the last 13 years.
So, I know it is a long shot but I am wondering if there is anyone out there that has had a similar experience and have gone on to find something else that has worked. I have read a few things about Cancer Treatment Centers of America on this message board and for the most part it sounds rather promising. Many well intentioned friends and family tell me to get another opinion or to go to MD Anderson or the many other cancer centers. It is so hard to start all over with doctors, tests, and scans! But, I know it is probably the best thing since to this point I have only had very traditional treatment.
If anyone has information that might help me I would greatly appreciate you sharing it with me.
I remain hopeful!