Best Of
Re: Bone Mets Thread
@iacmelis11 These numbers fluctuate all the time, and maybe you are just in a perfect storm of fluctuations. My CEA can go up to 2 and then back to 1 and then below 1 but nothing at all is happening. My C15-3 fluctuates several points up and down all the time within normal range. I don't think the lab results are always perfect. I doubt your oncologist would panic over one set of tests and would look for trends. Not to dismiss your worries, since you know your own body best, and I hope your oncologist can give you some reassurance.
Re: Are you currently (or have you been) in a Clinical Trial?
NewGardener, That is all fascinating to me! I think with completely normal bloodwork (!!!), even the red cells and white cells all in normal range, the tired-ness is not due to anemia, which is such a relief.
Its interesting that you think the drugs have stopped working but the cancer has yet to progress, whereas it could be the cells were put to sleep and are haven't awakened yet, but when they do they will of course still be responsive to the drug.
Do your tumor markers track with progression? If so you could easily just wait for TMs to jump up and go back on Enhertu, and have a backup plan in your pocket in case they no longer respond, but if they are inactive on scans its not likely they are mutating away to develop resistance, right? What does your MO have to say about such a crazy thing as this? Six months is a LONG TIME!! Hopefully you gradually drift back into normal shape, is there any bloodwork that could be missing (like thyroid or other hormones) that could give them an idea about what is causing the fatigue, because normally I guess that would show up somewhere on the CDC (immune cell) panel they do… Although, it could also be some residual effects from inflammation, or mitochondria are slowly recovering, hopefully you are sleeping well because taking away all the stresses on body and mind could lead to much deeper sleep and repair of whatever is causing it. I will be really interested if this goes on, how long it might take to feel fully recovered or much closer to normal! What a great year for you!!
Re: My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer
@mara51506 Glad all worked out with your transit issues and you were able to keep your appointment. Multiple sticks stink for sure and you have such a good attitude about it. Fingers crossed all remains stable.
@intolight Glad you also added in a lunch date after access. Certainly nice to treat yourself.!
cookie54
Re: Thinking about refusing chemo...anyone else?
Thank you all so much for your help and research that you have posted here. It is going to be really helpful once I get my score back.
Dorothy-Thank you for such a detailed account of your experience so far with radiation. That was exactly everything I was wanting a first hand account of and I appreciate you sharing!
Re: Thinking about refusing chemo...anyone else?
Dorothy, that chart on page 6 is a perfect example of the apples and oranges comparison.
The top chart shows a significant difference between the orange (hormone therapy + chemo) and grey (hormone therapy only) lines at a 25 score. But when you shift to the bottom chart (which uses the newer TAILORx results), that difference is gone and suddenly at a 25 score, the orange and grey lines are right on top of each other. Also notice that the grey line, hormone therapy only, represents about a 12%-13% metastatic recurrence risk on the top chart, but only about a 7% metastatic recurrence risk on the bottom chart.
The problem for the Genomic Health people is that with the TAILORx results, while they know more about the 18-25 scores, they now have a huge and obvious gap in information for the 26-31 scores. Those scores used to be "intermediate" but were reclassified as "high" for the TAILORx study. Now the question is whether those scores are really Intermediate, or are they high? Genomic Health are using pretty and complicated charts to hide the inconsistency in the data. But the inconsistency is right there on the page.
Re: how about drinking?
I asked my surgeon about taking both off. She said NO. She felt that would be too much for me after what I'd already gone through. I had the lumpectomy, then she didn't get it all and after lumpectomy I had an infection.
After seeing how difficult the single mastectomy was, I can see why double would have been pretty bad as far as recovery.
mary9999
Re: Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
Ketchikan show and clan house interior.
betrayal
Re: Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
Endicott Arm Fjord and Dawe's glacier.
betrayal