STage 4 Breast Cancer Male

crfogal
crfogal Member Posts: 1
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Hello everyone,
My name is Chad Fogal I have been diagnosed with stage 4 BC hormone responsive. I have gone through Chemo and radiation I am told the cancer is responding to treatment. This is hard I currently have a fracture in my neck because of the cancer and it has limited my life substantially. I wonder if there is anyone on here with stage 4 and how long you have been battling. I have been at it since march of 2010.

Comments

  • Marsha Mulvey
    Marsha Mulvey Member Posts: 597 Member
    #2
    Hi Chad
    Hello and welcome! I too am Stage IV, having been diagnosed in February 2010. My mets are to the nodes, liver, bones, and skin. Surgery was not an option for me because of the extent of the disease, so chemo has been my "lifeline". I had 43 consecutive weeks of chemo before finally having last week off. We're going to try 3 weeks on and one off until more scans are done later in January. I've not had radiation either.

    I see that your cancer is hormone positive, mine is ER/PR- but HER2+. Regardless the type, we know there is currently no cure, but we must "manage" the tumors for as long as possible. Who knows? Something may be found to help treat Stage IV in the near future. We can hope!

    I'm very sorry to hear of the fracture in your neck. Which chemo have you received for the bones? My spine, ribs, and pelvis are involved and I've received Zometa once every 4 weeks since 2/26/10 to help with that. As of mid October (my last scan), these have been stable. It's the tumors in the liver and breast that have been harder to maintain. So far, Taxol worked well then I did just Herceptin (and Zometa) for a few weeks, then there was growth and I had to start on Taxotere. I had no luck on that as the tumors continued to grow and spread, so after 9 weeks of that, I started on Navelbine and am still receiving that, along with Herceptin and Zometa.

    This is a very scary and relentless disease. I wish you the best and hope your fracture heals quickly. Stay strong and hopeful. You will be in the thoughts and prayers of many here. Let us hear from you again.
    Marsha
  • ladyg
    ladyg Member Posts: 1,577
    #3
    I just want to say Welcome
    I am sorry that you had to find us but glad that you did. Although I can not comment on stage 4 since I am not, I can tell you that you will get some good information here. When I was first diaganosed I was lost and confused and of course in shock. Everyone here is very supportive and will answer your questions. Please know that we are all in this fight together. You can come here anytime and ask a question, make a comment or just vent.

    Hugs,
    Georgia
  • roseann4
    roseann4 Member Posts: 992 Member
    #4
    ladyg said:

    I just want to say Welcome
    I am sorry that you had to find us but glad that you did. Although I can not comment on stage 4 since I am not, I can tell you that you will get some good information here. When I was first diaganosed I was lost and confused and of course in shock. Everyone here is very supportive and will answer your questions. Please know that we are all in this fight together. You can come here anytime and ask a question, make a comment or just vent.

    Hugs,
    Georgia

    Hi Chad.
    I'm so sorry you are having to deal with this. There is another website that has a discussin topic just for men on their board. It is breastcancer.org. I am glad you found us but you may be able to find other men going through this. It also has a discussion topic for Stage 4 bc. Please don't give up hope. Many people live well with Stage 4 bc.

    Roseann
  • Ritzy
    Ritzy Member Posts: 4,381 Member
    #5
    Marsha Mulvey said:

    Hi Chad
    Hello and welcome! I too am Stage IV, having been diagnosed in February 2010. My mets are to the nodes, liver, bones, and skin. Surgery was not an option for me because of the extent of the disease, so chemo has been my "lifeline". I had 43 consecutive weeks of chemo before finally having last week off. We're going to try 3 weeks on and one off until more scans are done later in January. I've not had radiation either.

    I see that your cancer is hormone positive, mine is ER/PR- but HER2+. Regardless the type, we know there is currently no cure, but we must "manage" the tumors for as long as possible. Who knows? Something may be found to help treat Stage IV in the near future. We can hope!

    I'm very sorry to hear of the fracture in your neck. Which chemo have you received for the bones? My spine, ribs, and pelvis are involved and I've received Zometa once every 4 weeks since 2/26/10 to help with that. As of mid October (my last scan), these have been stable. It's the tumors in the liver and breast that have been harder to maintain. So far, Taxol worked well then I did just Herceptin (and Zometa) for a few weeks, then there was growth and I had to start on Taxotere. I had no luck on that as the tumors continued to grow and spread, so after 9 weeks of that, I started on Navelbine and am still receiving that, along with Herceptin and Zometa.

    This is a very scary and relentless disease. I wish you the best and hope your fracture heals quickly. Stay strong and hopeful. You will be in the thoughts and prayers of many here. Let us hear from you again.
    Marsha

    Hey Chad and welcome to the
    Hey Chad and welcome to the club no one wants to join. I am not Stage IV, but, wanted to say hi and to wish you good luck.


    Sue :)
  • Aortus
    Aortus Member Posts: 967
    #6
    Sorry you have to be here, Chad
    But you have come to the right place for support. As other posters have noted, you will probably find more specific information about male BC in other places. On the other hand, the love and support and care you will find here can not be beat. This board has been a lifesaver for my beloved Moopy (two-year Stage IIIC triple negative BC survivor) and me. You can ask questions or make statements or just plain vent... whatever you want. Just please come back often and stay in touch.

    Best,
    Joe
  • debra ann
    debra ann Member Posts: 4
    #7
    Stage IV too
    Hi Chad I am stage IV like you, invasive lobular diagnosed in February 2010 with bone mets diagnosed about two months ago. I haven't gone through chemo but have had radiation and am taking Tamoxifen since I was/am ER/PR + . My doctors didn't feel that chemo would make any difference. I also receive monthly Zometa infusions to promote bone strength. Always good to hear when somebody responds to treatment, hopefully you will stabilize for a good long time. I completely understand when you say this is hard and that your life has been substantially limited, I too feel exactly the same. I had been a very active 48 yr old and feel as though I have lost half of myself to this disease. My doctors tell me that my bones may stregthen a bit more, perhaps yours will too with treatment. I don't have any wonderful advice to offer you, I wish I did. I just try to live day by day, finding new normals along the way. One of my oncologists tells me that she is treating a woman similar to myself for going on 15 years now. We must live a hard line, everybody tells you stay active, but like you say you've got a fractured neck so obvious that is easier said than done. I try not to think of this as a battle and look around and see that I am lucky compared to others. It's not fair and it's not easy but I keep my friends and family close and that helps more than anything.
  • mom62
    mom62 Member Posts: 604 Member
    #8
    Me Too
    Hi Chad,

    I have stage 4 myself. I originally had bc in 2003 with masectomy and chemo. In 2008 I started having pain in my chest. I have recurrence with mets. I've had 6 surgeries in the past year and a half and currently only have two bone mets for 1 year. I had a terrible infection problem but that is now gone. I am on hormone therapy and have constant scans. I just broke two ribs a few months ago, so I know how you feel. Just try to get on with daily life and try not to think about the long term. I have three kids 18, 14, 12. I live every day as if it were like any other day. Don't dwell on how much time you have but how much life you have left to live. Best of luck.

    Terry
  • sbmly53
    sbmly53 Member Posts: 1,522
    #9
    Hello, Chad
    I have nothing to offer but my heartfelt wishes that the cancer continues to respond to treatment and that your quality of life increases substantially as a result.

    Sue
  • DebbyM
    DebbyM Member Posts: 3,289 Member
    #10
    Aortus said:

    Sorry you have to be here, Chad
    But you have come to the right place for support. As other posters have noted, you will probably find more specific information about male BC in other places. On the other hand, the love and support and care you will find here can not be beat. This board has been a lifesaver for my beloved Moopy (two-year Stage IIIC triple negative BC survivor) and me. You can ask questions or make statements or just plain vent... whatever you want. Just please come back often and stay in touch.

    Best,
    Joe

    I am sorry you are here too
    I am sorry you are here too Chad, but, you are surrounded with lots of survivors in different phases of surgery and treatment.


    Wishing you good luck.


    Hugs, Debby

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