I'm new here. Have stage 4 Breast cancer metastasized to my bones and liver. Was diagnosed May of 2019.
Had a CT scan last week and am going to my Oncologist tomorrow to go over my CT results. I went online to look myself, like I usually do, so I can be somewhat prepared for what the Doctor will say. Just about everything is stable, however, one of the masses on my liver has grown from 1.1cm to 1.7 in 5 months. Pretty bummed about this. 😔Was hoping for further reductions. I know in this thing we call cancer I will have ups and downs. Prayers🙏 for reduction of this mass and for my mental well being. I will update tomorrow what the Oncologist says.
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GinaAngel
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I'm so sorry that your scan results are not what you'd hoped for...but I do respect/admire you looking at them in advance. I'd do the same...
Is this your first scan since the new treatment? Might the tumor have grown early on and now is possibly controlled (or even improved, after early growth)? This might make a difference in terms of how it's interpreted...
And I do think it's "good" news that you don't seem to have any new tumors..."just" growth in one. Maybe they can radiate that one or keep an eye on it, allowing you to remain on the same treatment....
I hope it goes well with your doc tomorrow....Please do let us know...
It has been some time since I was on this site. My cancer is on the run again. Now have it spread to liver and bones. I see that is your situation. When I heard this last week, I felt it was a death sentence. I don not want to think that way. Amy encouragement will help. Also, what treatments did they do for you for this journey?
I did just scroll through your posts/responses to try to get a feel for your situation, but I'm still unclear (due, no doubt, to my inability to read/comprehend, I blame the meds).
If you've recently learned of spread to your liver, personally, I'd take that mostly in stride. I'm going to assume that it started in your bones and has grown there, too, although I don't know if this is the case...
So, absent any clearer understanding of your situation, my thinking is that you are not facing an imminent death sentence. There are some drugs, maybe Xeloda?, that work particularly well against liver mets. I've seen so many women here who do well with liver and even brain or lung mets, it gives me great hope. Like, when we're dealing with "systemic" treatments, how much does it matter where in our "systems" is it? I don't know the answer...Of course I'm familiar with and often use the phrase "bone is best", but I don't know to what degree this is actually true...so I should stop using it.
In response to your question re: me/my situation, as far as I know (almost five months since scan, mostly because I'm procrastinating) my cancer is still just in my bones. But I assume liver is next. I'm determined to take this inevitable progression in stride, we'll see how I actually do re: that....I know/imagine it's a challenge..
Our friend girlspitz/Sandra, on this board, has used the phrase "Keep on keeping on", which is what my dad said to me and my sis just after we were diagnosed. At first I took it as a platitude, almost shallow, but it has grown on me! My advice is to just move forward - keep on keeping on - as hard as that might seem at any given time, like now...
Hi Gina; We're on similar paths...I was diagnosed in Oct 2017 with bone and liver mets. The bone mets have remained stable but liver mets have bounced around, sometimes growing a lot, then shrinking back. I try to remember that the liver is a huge organ and can function well even if some of it isn't working up to speed. It also is one of the few (only?) organs that can regenerate, so healthy tissue can grow back. My oncologist keeps close tabs on my liver labs like Bilirubin and AST/ALT. They haven't been "normal" for a few years but I'm still here and don't have any symptoms of liver disease. I try to keep my liver happy in other ways....no alcohol, a green juice drink daily, and getting exercise.
I also like to read my scan reports before I see my onc. I had one a few weeks ago and it was the first time my oncologist showed me the actual scan photos and compared it to the previous one. I was encouraged at how big my liver is and how much of it was healthy tissue compared to the cancer. She was also able to show me that the liver mets are shrinking a bit. Until now I thought I'd be freaked out looking at the actual scan but it helped me to see it. (I do not, however, ever want to see my bone scan!)
No progression or tumor regression is always what we hope for, it's a bummer when it goes the other way. Just wanted to share my own liver story in the hope that it will encourage you. Please let us know how it goes tomorrow. And glad you found this site - it's been a lifeline for me!
Thank you for sharing your story. My on cologist was pretty happy with all my results just pointed out the one mass that has grown a little bit. He said it's very common for certain masses to not respond to treatment. Hence him wanting to do 5 rounds just on that spot to eliminated or shrink it significantly. Somebody on this thread mention Turkey tail so I'm going to get that to try to help. I'm on about 20 different herbs and supplements as it is to fight the cancer and I think that's the only reason it hasn't spread anywhere else forgotten worse anywhere else. It's nice to have somebody who has the same cancer as me to be able to talk to
Which medicine are you on as I have Same Mets liver lymph bones and spleen. My spleen and liver seem to grow and shrink and grow. On a side note I have bones in spine pelvis right arm and skull and I exercise in pool but I get tired easily and my body hurts and I hear about people being active and travelling and working. I am not that person. I work but only hobby work online on a store I started with my son and after 3 hours I just want to be in bed relaxing. Maybe I am not pushing myself enough ?
Okay everything on my MRI for my back looks great (had titanium rods put in because a tumor took out my T9, and had had 10 rounds of radiation on it May of last year while hospitalized). Regarding my CT scan everything looks good except for the lesion that shows some growth on my liver. He advised for me to get 5 rounds of radiation just on that growth to kill it or at the very least eliminate its size. That will be happening sometime this month pending insurance approval.
Please continue to pray for me. I'm only going to have 5 rounds of radiation this time. When I had at last year, I had 10 rounds and it was the last 5 rounds that got me really sick so I really don't want to repeat that process in getting sick. Thank you all for your continued prayers love and support. If anyone has any tips about staving off getting sick while doing the radiation I'm all ears.
Hi Gina,
Welcome! You have come to the right place for information, support and encouragement. I hope the radiotherapy helps with your liver metastasis and you do not experience any adverse side effects. I agree that supplements can help with the fight against cancer. I take quite a few things too.
I have the titanium rods fitted 1st and then 10 rounds of Radiation. I think my oncologist thinks that it's best that I do radiation on the one lesion that's not responding. I was kind of thinking that he would do that anyway cause I read my reports before I went saw him so I knew he would bring it up.
I was told by Ongologist when it’s a small increase like that sometimes it depends on who is reading the scan I wouldn’t be too worried about it well yeah I would but we shouldn’t be wait for next scan.
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