Metastatic Breast Cancer to Bones

Hello, Jane-I am so sorry to hear about your difficulty. I will be hoping and praying your treatments will go well. Love, Betty

Your treatment seems right on the mark - similar to most in your circumstances. My treatment is similar with Zometa for bones every three weeks and navelbine instead of taxol - my choice on that - and I get herceptin weekly because of the HER2Neu 3+. My chemo has more to work on as I have mets in the lungs and liver and had those nodes in the chest that you mentioned. they have diminished with the chemo.

It is good you found the bone mets before any other spread as mine had done. with your aggressive treatment and the fact that it returned after a five year period, your prognosis ( according to statistics! ) is very good.

Keep in touch with us as your continue your treatments - bone scan will be sometime soon I would guess to check on progress.

Good Luck,
Jean

Treatment questions

My tumor was ER+, PR+, and HER2+ with met to sacrum. I got Taxotere every three weeks for 4 months to try to kill any cancer cells. I'm currently on letrozole (aromotase inhibitor) for the hormones and herceptin for the HER2. My oncologist expects me to be on these two drugs indefinitely (meaning until they stop working) I had breast cancer once before (Stage I that time) I was treated with cytotoxin and adriamycin that time, plus took tamoxifen for five years. Kind of surprised your wife didn't do chemo. I had radiation to the sacrum to help with the pain. I also get Zometa every 12 weeks for bone strengthening.

I guess since her mets are so wide spread they can't radiate it all, but they might be able to do spot radiation to the ones that are most painful. It only takes about 10 treatments to get some relief. I wouldn't worry about when the tamoxifen stops working, you've only just started on it. There are several other options if tamoxifen doesn't work. It's the first drug of choice for pre-menopausal women.

btw...my treatments currently have me at NED (no evidence of disease) Something all of us Stage IV's strive for. Been NED for 12 months now!

Bone mets too...

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Hi Tyebo007

I have bone mets too. I was diagnosed in 2012 with what was thought as Stage 1 Breast cancer. I had a lumpectomy and 1 out of 7 sentinel nodes showed up positive. My Oncologist didn't recommend chemo but said radiation and Arimidex would be my treatment plan. I was fine for 1 1/2 years when all of a sudden I had pain in my ribs. Tests and a bone biopsy confirmed that I had metastisis to the ribs, spine, and pelvis. I switched Oncologists and my new doctor was shocked that NO bloodwork was done on me in that 1 1/2 year period from 2013-2014. Also no other tests. My current Oncologist sees me every month. I go in for bloodwork on Monday and see him on Wed. My tumor markers are followed very carefully to see if the current medicine I'm on, Xeloda, is working. Even though I'm 95% Er+, the hormone blockers did not help me. So I was put on the Xeloda which is an oral chemo drug. This was 14 months ago and so far, with adjusting my dosage every so often, the Xeloda is keeping my BC in check. I haven't had a CT scan in over a year but feel one is coming up soon. My previous Oncologist did not look at tumor markers at all and didn't see that the Arimidex wasn't working. But my feeling is that I was Stage 4 to begin with. A bone scan before my lumpectomy was never done, nor any other screening test.

Right now I'm feeling pretty good though I have my tired and achy days if I overdo. At times I get really exhausted. I think it's the medicine that's doing it. I finally decided to get a little more proactive in my own treatment of this situation.

I'm doing a lot of reading about anti-Cancer diets and trying to make changes in what I'm eating. I try to stay away from sugar, especially candy bars! I also am taking a good multivitamin from a health store near me. I take extra vitamin A, C, and E when I think of it. I recently purchased a juicer and am drinking freshly made carrot juice and other combinations of carrots with apples, or oranges. They say that carrot juice has a special ingredient in it which inhibits Cancer growth. I would recommend getting some books on diet, such as The Cancer Killers by Charles Majors, or The Conquest of Cancer by Dr. Virginia Livingston-Wheeler. It'll give you some ideas of things you can do to help you get into remission. At my last doctor's appointment I was told that I could take a breather from the Xeloda for 2 weeks. My markers have been going down substantially. I'll be anxious to find out how my bloodwork came out this month. The doctor did say that it looked like I was in partial remission. So I felt very good about that! Being Stage 4 means that we have a chronic condition and will need to be monitored for the rest of our lives. Besides the Xeloda, I'm being given infusions of Zometa, a bone-strengthener, after each appointment. Some women get Xgeva which is given as a once a month shot. That's the newest bone-strengthener out. All I can say is that the Zometa has helped immensely with healing my fractures and easing my bone pain! The doctor said that I need these infusions for 2 years, once a month. The 2-years for me will be up at the end of November. Then, I believe, I'll get one infusion every 3-4 months or so. 

I have days when I get very scared too. You're not alone in that feeling. I go to a couple of support groups in the area but am the only Stage 4 person at them. It still helps to be with others going through Breast cancer.

I went for a second opinion to see if I was on the correct treatment plan. I went to Dana Farber in Boston. The Oncologist there said that yes, I was indeed being treated with the right drugs. I asked her for advice and she said, " Eat nutritionally and stay active." Our prognosis is uncertain but she said that those women with mets to the bones can live many many years. So, that's encouraging.

I hope this has helped you Tyebo. You're in the "nightmare" stage right now. As time goes on and you receive treatment, you'll start feeling a little better. But start making changes in your diet, lifestyle, and in any way that can bring you peace of mind. I try to do meditation and visualization also. I'd like to get back to the Y but don't think my body is quite up to it right now. I do go to our high school track and walk around it when I feel up to it. It's outside and the sunshine and fresh air is good at taming those Cancer cells! Walking raises your serotonin levels...the feel-good hormones, so I highly recommend it. That's it for now. 

Wishing you courage and strength and most of all peace. Think positive thoughts as much as you can throughout the day. They say you become what you think. So think: "I am well. I am healthy." And you will be!

         Kats2