Hello

[Vflebla]

just wanted to pop in and introduce myself. Iam currently dealing with Stage IV metastatic Breast Cancer - spread to the bone. I am always glad to hear others’ experiences with this journey and happy to share what I have learned.

[Discocat]

Hi Vflebla...I'm also spread to bones....from skull to hips, diagnosed since June 2021...a few months after my 50th birthday.

Hope your responding well to your treatments and staying as active as possible. Welcome to this site....

Happy to help in any way I can.

All the best

Zoe

[NPmary in reply to Discocat]

me too.

[Colacancer]

Welcome

[Dragonfly2]

welcome to this group of mighty warriors… but so sorry that you are dealing with this terrible scourge. Every day is a gift; every challenge is an opportunity to help others who share a burden. I hope you find some relief and comfort as we answer others’ questions.

[Nocillo]

Welcome! Hopefully you will find inspiration and knowledge that you need from us to make your living with MBC a bit more tolerable. There are many knowledgeable people here and such varied stories, you should be able to relate to some or all. Hoping your journey is a long one and that you have a great quality of life.

[bikebabe]

Welcome to our wonderful community

[love2golfwell]

Welcome to this group but sorry you are on this journey. Was diagnosed in October of 2020. MBC spread to bones. Currently on Ibrance and Letrozole and stable. Doing well so far, staying active, changed some eating habits to healthier choices and doing other healthy things. Hope you have a great oncologist and are on a good treatment protocol. This is a great site for support, information and suggestions. Sending you hugs and prayers.

[Figletf]

I have been dealing with Stage 4 breast cancer since 2016.It metastisized to my liver and bones in 2018.My prognosis then was 14 mos but here I am in 2023 due to all the drugs available to keep me alive.Some of the side effects have not been desirable but I am still alive to share my life with my husband and family😊

All the best to you ,and I pray you still feel well enough to enjoy your life❤️👍

[Granny333]

👋 hi, I try and take one day at a time. Yesterday is no more and tomorrow is yet to come so I look forward to today and not worry about tomorrow. I found out the first year is a big adjustment just knowing I have mbc and now in my 2nd year adjusting to doctors and the medications. That is why I say take one day at a time. Hope this helps you.

[Totheriver]

Welcome to this journey 💕. I have been on it for 41/2 years. Metastasized to my bones (spine and Femur). Stable for noe and am doing ok.

[PJBinMI]

Welcome to the group nobody wants to "qualify" for! I'm a long timer on this journey, diagnosed with metastatic BC, extensive bone mets, in March 2004, 19 years ago. My initial way of handling this was to learn all I can. For about the first 14-15 years I had only bone mets with no symptoms from them. Then cancer cells showed up in two places, the left ureter (connection between kidneys and bladder) and a small mass on the outside of my right cerebellum. I had a procedure for the first and stereotactic radiation for the brain met, which seems to have gone away. A year ago, a number of cancer cells moved to my abdomen and we only realized they were there when my intestine became blocked, a long ugly storm but treated well with surgery and meds. If you saw me out and about you would never guess that I am 77 years old and living with so-called "terminal" cancer! There is so much crazy stuff going on in the world today we have enough stress from that without adding MBC to the mix! Again, welcome.

[Gingerann1 in reply to PJBinMI]

Your story is inspirational and provides comfort and hope to the rest of us that long overall survival is possible once diagnosed with MBC. My neighbor was diagnosed 25 yrs ago and now declining due to other health issues that will probably end her life, she happily proclaims “at least it won’t be BC that takes me” ! I’ll be celebrating 3 years next month with the battle w/ the beast and can only pray for many more. To those early in their journey and those long in theirs, praying you’ll have many more years until there is a cure.

[fancydog]

Welcome, you will find much support in this group. I was diagnosed metastatic in 2014 and currently have no evidence of disease for now. So yes take it day by day and count all your blessings.❤️🙏

[Mumberly]

welcome to the group. I visit the chat everyday. I don’t often have advice to contribute but I’m always amazed with the questions and responses. They always provide hope.

I was diagnosed in June 2021 with liver mets and three spots on my bones - two spine and one rib. I started with IV chemo and am now a year into ibrance and almost two years on letrozole, and zelodronic acid every three months.

Back to work full time. Feeling great. And inspired daily by our long-timers ♥️☺️

I wish you the best.

Kim

[Widdershins3]

Hi! You're in the right place. I was diagnosed with Stage IIA invasive ductal carcinoma just over 10 years ago--9/30/13--and it came roaring back in my liver and lungs in 4/5/21. By 8/2022, it was also in my brain, spine, ribs and the tops of my femurs too.

My oncologist treated it aggressively each time with cyber surgery, radiation and various chemos. So I'm still here and now on Xeloda, having gone through many drugs in the meantime, each of which stopped working after a while.

By some miracle, I still have almost all of my hair and, until the Xeloda hand/foot syndrome kicked in, I was very active. I'm 76 and, to my utter amazement, everyone I meet--and old friends living with cancer, too--stare at me and say they cannot believe I have Stage 4 cancer...

I don't tell them that the color in my cheeks that they admire is actually inflamed capillaries full of toxic Xeloda (like my poor feet)! LOL Oh--and I smile a lot. Dark humor in the face of this nasty disease comes naturally, thank heaven. I'm a big believer in the power of Gratitude too, since things could be way worse...and probably will be before long.

But in the meantime, I'm enjoying my friends, my elegant kitty named Grigio (after the favorite wine I can no longer have) and the wild birds and thieving squirrels that I feed outside my keeping room window. Now and then I sneak away to the retirement home on a river that we bought before realizing that it was too far away from my big city HMO's oncology team and just enjoy being in the country, far away from crime and stress and scans and appointments. I'm learning to live in the moment and that's what I wish for you.

[Shafight]

Welcome Vflebla, As you can see from the responses, this is a very supportive group with wonderful people! I have had Mets to my bones and now liver for 2 1/2 years. I’ve tried several drugs and they only last awhile. Right now I’m on Xeloda.

[Beebopp]

hi vflebla, I am fairly new, last year I had a lumpectomy, triple negative, nothing in the lymph nodes, thought I got lucky?

One year later on a mri for something else, 2 nodes, one in each lung were found, a needle biopsy confirmed metastatic breast cancer to the lungs. I have been on zeloda for approximately 3 weeks, 2000 mc a day for 7 days on and seven days off. Can you tell me what your experience with this drug has been ?

Also I am 82 yes old!

[Widdershins3]

I wrote about my Xeloda experience above. It's the toughest of the chemo drugs I've gone through over the past couple of years, but as long as it works, I'll hang in there and take it regularly...mainly because the next ones I could be switched to have worse side-effects.

I'm 76 and my attitude is that it's worth fighting for more time in my case because I have a couple of big projects that I really want to finish up before my exit. The fatigue I have on Xeloda is making that surprisingly difficult, but I do have good days and try to really accomplish a lot then.

If you get a severe case of hand/foot syndrome like I did, ask your doctors if your dosage can be reduced slightly. That did help, though I still have it and it's a real pain to deal with....until I look at the alternative chemo drugs that are coming up next, when Xeloda begins to fail to work. In my case, they're worse, so....!

I do wish you the very best of luck--we're so fortunate to live in a time when there are so many new drugs for our cancer. I lost my only son to pediatric brain tumors over 40 years ago and the treatments were all very, very toxic. I remind myself of that when the Xeloda side-effects are bothering me.