My mom is 53 years old and she got diagnosed with triple positive metastatic breast cancer spread to lungs, liver on 25th Feb 2018.
After her 3rd Chemo we had PET Scan yesterday and the results were pretty good. Her breast lump was around 3 X 2cm, which is no longer traceable in PET scan.
These are the other findings on PET scan -
* Both lungs show diffuse ground glass opacification and
multiple small nodules. The largest is in upper lobe
measure 1 cm. The others are sub centimeters.
* Left adrenal is bulky, It measures 1.6cm (previously 2 cm
before chemo.
* Previously documented hypermetabolic right breast
lesion, liver and lung nodules are not evident on the
present scan as compared to previous scan.
(before treatment)
* Prominent tracer concentration noted in bilateral adrenal
gland, (no significant change in SUVmax of the left
adrenal gland with new right adrenal uptake as compared
to previous scan(before treatment)
We are very happy with the new scans after the treatment as it shows response to the treatment (Paclitaxel,
Carboplatin, Trastuzumab).
Since its stage 4 there are thing I am worried about.
Our doctor said we will continue with the rest of the 3 chemo sessions and scan again.
No surgery is needed, since the breast lump is gone.
However there are things I am worried about -
1) Diffuse ground glass opacification is this something to . be worried about?
2) Adrenal glans uptake? My oncologist said its nothing to worry as breast cancer dont spread over there.
Anyone with the same experience with adrenal glands?
Is this report good?
Can we think of NED?
Can the lung lump be shrinked any further? Oncologist said its dormant right now.
Any help will be really appreciated.
Stay strong everyone the journey is hard, but it made me and my family more appreciative of the life and people around us.
Written by
Nikita1806
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My heart goes out to you in more ways than one. I was 15 when my mother was first diagnosed with BC and 26 when my mother died at 52 years old. But that was in 1976. BC treatment has come a long way. Some of those moments with my mom around her illness were the hardest of my 68 years of life. My BC cancer came when I was 48, stage 3 in 7 lymph nodes and very aggressive. I had been in remission for 20 years and just diagnosed with metastatic BC spread to the lining of my left lung creating pleural fluid build up (how I discovered the problem). I am not triple positive but strongly estrogen positive, extremely aggressive (once again) and negative progesterone and HER2. So, for me, this go around, I am on chemo pills. While there are advantages of that, they are no easy fix and have their own serious problems and side effects.
With all of this said, EVERYONE can go into remission, NED! The docs don't play that up much but it happens daily to others so why not us!!
Hi , Apologies for replying so late, for some reasons I didn't get any notifications for this app.
It feels good to hear positive things from you, we really need it right now.
My mother is now done with all the 6 cycles of chemo, she will be on herceptin for an year. Along with that she has started with Anastrozole (1mg) for 5 years as she is strong ER positive. I am not sure if that helps for mets. Read mixed reviews on the internet. The next PET scan is on September so I might need to wait till then.
It makes me both happy and sad that her chemo is over. As sometimes it scares me will it spread now. But then I read comments from you people who make everything positive and easy to handle.
Take care of yourself. Everything is fine and will be fine. Stay positive
It sounds as if your mom may have signs of either bronchitis or pneumonia of some kind in her lungs. She should definitely ask her oncologist or radiologist about this finding. Not sure what your mom's oncologist meant regarding her adrenal glands, saying that cancer "doesn't spread over there." I believe that to be untrue. The "uptake" is a value assigned to the adrenal gland to determine if there is a malignancy. She may want to have the oncologist clarify his statement.
Nikita, there are many women on this blog who were Stage IV, like your mom, upon their first breast cancer diagnosis. With Stage IV, your mom, like all of us, will likely stick to a treatment protocol until it appears that the cancer may be progressing. Then, there are many treatment options available and, based upon your mom's BC type (you don't say whether she is hormone receptor positive, estrogen receptor positive, or HER2/neu positive), her oncologist should be able to recommend the best protocol for her.
God bless you for looking out for your mom! You are a wonderful daughter! XO
Hi , Apologies for replying so late, for some reasons I didn't get any notifications for this app.
It feels good to hear positive things from you, we really need it right now.
My mom is triple postive and we had 6 cycles of chemo (Paclitaxel, Carboplatin, Trastuzumab)(last one was yesterday), she will be on herceptin for an year. Along with that she has started with Anastrozole (1mg) for 5 years as she is strong ER positive. I am not sure if that helps for mets. Read mixed reviews on the internet.
Thank you so much for finding out the details. It's a relief to read something like this.
We checked with her oncologist and they want to repeat the scans on September. So we will wait till then to find out if the ground glass opacifications have progressed or reduced.
It makes me both happy and sad that her chemo is over. As sometimes it scares me will it spread now. But then I read comments from you people who make everything positive and easy to handle.
First let me say how sorry I am that your mom has this lousy cancer! My own mother had lung cancer, not breast cancer, and for me, that was soooo much more difficult emotionally than having cancer myself has been! Our moms are such important people in our lives! And I felt so helpless--at least with my own cancer, I can take the meds that do something against the cancer. Do take care of yourself! Something alot of us women have a hard time with. If you don't take good care of yourself, you will have nothing to give to your mother.
If your mother were to ask me for suggestions, I would strongly recommend that she see a bc specialist onc for a second opinion if she isn't already seeing one. The top cancer centers in the US are called "Comprehensive Cancer Centers" and those are listed on the website of the National Cancer Institute. They have highly specialized oncs, who both see patients and do research and are really up to date on the latest and best thinking about bc treatment. You mentioned that your mother's cancer is triple positive. The benefit of that is there being alot of treatments available that often get a very good response. About the ground glass opacity--that can mean alot of things other than lung mets. I have had hay fever allergies most of my life and had pneumonia a number of times and have had that ground glass opacity in scans and no lung mets. Do you go to your mother's onc appts with her? Asking about that and the mention of adrenal glands in the reports. It's been my impression as a mbc patient that sometimes radiologists are so determined to not miss anything on our scans that they go a bit overboard in the other direction! My onc and I have gone on more than one wild good chase after a radiologist has expressed concern about something.....later, when my onc has looked at the films herself, she has seen nothing where the radiologist reported some issue of concern. So I've learned not to get upset about those reports and wait to talk them over with my onc. She's more knowledgeable about cancer than the radiologist is....... I hope your mother does really well. A number of us do...more and more of us all the time!
Hi , Apologies for replying so late, for some reasons I didn't get any notifications for this app.
It feels good to hear positive things from you, we really need it right now. I understand your situation, I was not able to sleep for months when my mom got diagnosed. I even had dreams that the cancer cells are surrounding I will just wake up helpless. But the good thing is we do have options right now to atleast hold it for years. Which is a relief as of now.
We checked with her oncologist and they want to repeat the scans on September. So we will wait till then to find out if the ground glass opacifications have progressed or reduced.
It makes me both happy and sad that her chemo is over. As sometimes it scares me will it spread now. But then I read comments from you people who make everything positive and easy to handle.
Look up tapping on you tube. It will help you and your mother! Bad Yates is one of the best. Type in whatever you feel at the time, fear, anxiety, depression, healing, etc. This is an invaluable tool to not only deal with things but help heal.
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