How are people with liver mets doing?
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Starlover, i am sorry about your mets, even though you were in good health and all. However tofu is not advised for any person who had or has cancer tumors as it is made of fermented soy, and soy makes tumors grow. However, i am happy you have someone who stuck by you it is really good . I wanted to telle you that i had gemzar but it was combined with carboplatin for my liver mets and it gave stable and 25 % shrinkage ask your doctor about it. Wishing you the best results.
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Hello Penny ,i am so glad i heard from you at last , i am not catholic but i am greek orthodox,will that do?
, in two days it the celebration of our Lady of Dormition so i am going to the mess to pray and and celebrate. I will be praying for you , linda, blondie specially and the rest of us. By the way i pray for you and some other ladies every day. I hope that the power of prayers will help us inthe name of JesusChrist , his holy spirit and his heavenly father amen. Good luck and keep us informed . Big hugs and may the lord be with you .0 -
Saw Onc today. Change in meds, Better I think if it works. So Good bye to Abraxane and Hello Megace?
Anyone heard of this or taken it? He had 3 options, I let him chose which one. Hormonals worked for a long stretch when first diagnosed stage 4 so hope it works again. The other choices were Tamoxafen or CMF . Which I had back in 1991 and he had forgotten. So new pills in the morning. Oh yeah side effect is weight gain. Just what I don't need. Oh well. I just hope it works.
Redroan
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Red , i know little about megace, it isused for aneroxia and people who have AIDS and also in other forms of usfor uterine and breast cancer . I hope is choosing the right mrds for you . Keep us informed , wishing you good health and continuoty,.
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Definitely will be praying for wonderful results on the 18th Penny. Hope you're feeling strong!
I've had some neck & rib aches & when I saw the onc yesterday, relayed it to her. I sometimes think she may consider me a bit painful, needy...but I read my body quite well. She is ordering a scan for my neck and us for a lump in my recon area (she said probably just tissue buildup). I also shared that my eyesight had taken a dive in the last year, new glasses are three grades stronger. They hadn't changed in over 10 years. Her comment was that it's aging. I left her office feeling like a whiny child, although not all appts are quite as full of questions. I'm thinking maybe once a month is too often for onc visits. After 19 months, she'd probably welcome a break from me. She's an awesome dr and we've been through the trenches together so maybe this feeling is to be expected. More and more I feel like living with stage 4 is totally PTSD...but the p stands for present. Cooler outside in the NW...going for a head clearing walk
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I missed the last page of posts! Red...good luck on your new regimen. And yes...prayers for all!
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RonnieKay - I sometimes feel like that with my oncologist, but not always. I think they just have bad days, like everyone, and give off "bad vibes" even though they don't mean to. I won't tell you how you "shouldn't" feel, but I'm sure you didn't sound like a whiny child. I know from extended talks with my oncologist (at our good appointments) that they (those in her field) feel we all have a right to complain as much as we want.
Penny0 -
Thank you, Penny. Thinking back on it, I think she reads me the moment she walks in (and before she comes in, she reads what I've written on my update paperwork), and so she probably has a bit of shared anxiety
. I'm glad to know it's not unusual....and as of this moment, am giving the concern up...and it feels good 0 -
RonnieKay , sorry for your neck pain , i hope it is nothing but a stiff neck. You know MO also get a little depressed just like us, because of what the endure too. At my first dx , one time i went to routine visit and my MO was out of his mind and so upset and yelling and got out on me. It turned out he was treating a lady with breast cancer and thing suddenly went bad for her. At the end of the day they are humans too loll ( sometimes) and most of them treat people who are never really cured. This is tough. You like your MO this is already very good. And you are not whiny all of us go through different kinds of pains and we get edgy. This is stage IV. one day at a time
Have a good one. 0 -
Well, I will be having my 12th(yes 12th) treatment of taxotere, perjeta, and hercipten. Last scan doc didn't know if it was scar tissue or tiny cancer cells. We will do a pet scan next. If it lights up, we all know what that means. I believe he plans on taking me off taxotere reguardless. I hope to lose the wig by Christmas.
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mokenagirl....my scans are also confusing because of capsular retraction....a big word meaning dimpling of the liver. When my tumors shrunk, they caused a sort of dimple that shows up on the scan, which means they can't determine if all is clear. From the reports noting size of tumors, along w/markers, enzymes & blood, she rated me as stable. She said I'll never be considered NED...sad face
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Oh RonnieKay-how did we get into this mess?
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I am living with a liver mass that isn't growing or shrieking. Its not very big. So every scan I am happy if it just stays the same. I wish I could get a PET scan to see if it is " alive " and active cancer, but my insurance won't pay for a Pet scan because I am stable. They just don't get it. Best I can do is be happy I am stable.
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leftfoot, stable is good , i am living with 7 tumors in the liver. They were 10 shrank a little. After one cycle of chemo i got a pet scan they went down to seven but my cancer still active highest onthe largest tumor 2cm which the closest to my stomach. I am sorry your insurance is refusing to pay , they are idiots, they could actually save in treatment if they get a better diagnosis. Your MO should give them an imperstive reason to accept. Since it is neither growing nor shrinking, it is not bad. Try not yo worry a lot about it. Stable is good in our case. Since mine came also stable. Go figure...
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We are all in the same boat (a funny analogy...I can envision us all bailing water out to stay afloat!!)....my onc won't scan either. She says it's not necessary when markers, enzymes & blood are all good, says she couldn't justify it for insurance.
Mokenagirl...I had taxotere (w hercep/cytoxen) first go-around & it worked great! Tough stuff ... I only had 4 sessions (hercep for a year). My guess is you'll have curly locks for Christmas & hoping the PET shows all clear!
Woody...I've often wondered if you're in the medical field...I value your words...as I do all of my friends on this journey! Have a beautiful weekend!
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I have been lurking on this thread for the past week and I was happy to see some optimistic news (yay leftfootforward!) I was just diagnosed with IDC a little over a month ago and here I am with liver mets and a spine met. My head is spinning a bit. I had my mx scheduled for tomorrow but instead I'm on weekly Taxol. I am so thankful for this board and you ladies here- I wouldn't have had a clue what to ask my onc. I do have a question, my onc's original plan before mets was AC >T dose dense, now it's just T. Her reasoning is that it's just as good but softer on the SEs. I'm having trouble reconciling that. I have a one year old and taking care of him would be harder with heavy SEs but I want to be doing everything I can. I guess her reasoning is just not sitting well with me.
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Harrysmom- sorry for your news. Your original treatment plan is what I did with Herceptin when I was diagnosed. Two years later I had mets and began new treatment. My oncologist told me that if I had been stage 4 from the beginning they wouldn't have done the original treatment plan. so the change in treatments is conisistant with what my oncologist does with stage 4 diagnosis out of the box.
AC has permanently damaged my heart and really put me out for 4-5 days. It was hard as I had a brand new baby (3 months) and 3 other kids. I really lost about a week every three weeks while on this treatment. Taxol is a strong drug that is used in stage 4 treatment very successfully. Having lived with Stage 4 now for 19 months, less SE are good. Quality of life, especially when taking care of a little, is really important. You are at the scary time of iniital diagnosis. but as someone who is living with stage 4, it can be done. Once the shock is over, you will settle into a rhythm. You will have your up days and your down days. But I hope for you that you have many more ups than downs.
Hugs
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Harrysmom, i am so sorry for your recent diagnosis, believe we feel with you as no one really asks for this. I also i understand your concern about the course of treatment. But your oncologist is right. If you were dxd with stage I,II, or III, then the treatment will be in the intent to cure, and they hit it with full force, because it will be only for one time, followed by maintenance meds. But once the diagnosis is stage four , treatments are long and different and it would depend on your cancer activity so they try to spare your body as much as they can while stabilizing the cancer, otherwise your body gets very tired and your quality of life declines. I know it is a very hard news to take but keep in mind that the treatments are more advanced and better targeted than before. After the initial shock, things will get better and sometimes worse but it becomes a part of your life and we all live with and be happy to be alive. Keep your strength, and a good spirit this will help. You will find here a lot of support whether it is emotional or educational. Everyone here is wonderful and extremely supportive. I hope very soon you will get to a stable state and like leftfootforward i hope your ups and much higher than your downs.
Hugs
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Thanks leftfoot for the reassurance and thanks Woody1b for the great explanation! I needed to understand why things changed and what you say makes perfect sense - I just wasn't putting the pieces together. I'm happy to end the day with at least one concern cleared up. Feeling the hugs!
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Welcome Harrysmom. So sorry you have to be in this stupid club. We're here for you.
MRI today 2:30! Will keep you posted. Thank You, Lord for hearing our prayers and:
Thank You, Lord for allowing me to be alive and well this long. You have blessed me far more than I deserve or expected. You are My Rock.
Thank You, Lord, for trusting me with these sufferings, although with You as My Strength, the load has been lightened, and I feel that, with You at my side, I "can do all things" since you strengthen me.
Thank You, Lord for bringing me and my family closer to You. Our eyes have been opened and we understand so much more.
Thank You, Lord for loving me so much. Thank you for all the Blessings, especially the Gift of Salvation. You have loved me and my family so well that I feel no need to have a "bucket list", I feel no urge to "go there, do this". The only place I earnestly await is Your Presence in Heaven. I pray I'm considered worthy, that my sins, of which there are many, are forgiven, that I am welcomed by You and Your Mercy.
I pray, Lord, that you will forgive me for wanting a little more time here with my family before going Home, but I also pray for the desire to accept Your Will for me, even if that means flying to Your Arms before I'm ready. But I know that if I'm blessed with acceptance of Your Will, I will always be ready. And since I've been blessed with otherwise-good health and a symptom-free existence, I know there will eventually come a time when I start to deteriorate and will desire only You. I pray you accept me.
All these things I pray in the Mighty Name of Jesus, my Lord and Savior. Amen.
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What a beautiful prayer! You are a wonderful child of God, Redwolf. May He hear your words, bless your body & give you peace during your scan today.
Harrysmom...agreed that we wish you'd not have to be in this club...but we will all care for you, always! Nothing too big or too small to discuss.
I'm glad many of your concerns were answered by Leftfoot & Woody. Five years into bc, 19 at stage 4, I'm still fitting pieces together! This is a time for gathering information, keeping up your strength, relying on those who love you, and LOVING THAT BABY!
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oops...19 months at stage 4...but, not so secretly I guess, hoping for 19 years
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Redwolf,
Good luck on your MRI today please keep us informed. It is a beautiful prayer which pretty much says and expresses what we all feel. Thank you and may you always be blessed along with your family with all the gifts that our lord bestow upon us. Hugs.
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Redwolf,
Your prayer is beautiful, and says just what so many of us think and feel on a regular basis. I hope you get good results from your scans! (((Hugs)))
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I was diagnosed in November with BC, already metastatic with a lesion on my liver. After 6 rounds of dose-dense Taxol, the lesion shrank down to 0.2cm. I find out this Friday how it's doing, and if my cancer's staying stable on Zoladex and Femara or not. First scan after leaving chemo on Tuesday. Not looking forward to this.
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Prayers, Kuchenhexe. Keep us posted.
- Penny
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Kuchenhexe...I know scans are so unnerving, we all feel it!! What's crazier is when we aren't scanned...and you just wonder if all is well...or stable...or whatever! We are all thinking of you & hoping Tuesday's scan shows treatment is working!!!
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Kuchenhexe, I'm thinking of you. Good luck with the scans and keep us posted.
I have the CISH results - HER2 is negative. The second lab gave me different results for PR - it is positive as the ER - the same as the primary cancer characteristics, but unfortunately Ki67 is changed - it is 30% now. It was less than 15 on the primary cancer. Not a good news but I can't change anything about this.
I started chemotherapy yesterday - weekly taxol and Avastin. My onc said that we are going to clear all meths with the taxol and then continue only with Avastin....Wish me luck!
She will discuss with me the other options for the liver therapy (ablation etc.) after the end of the taxol treatment. Fingers crossed she is right and we can clear all this nasty stuff from my liver.
Christina
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Praying for you, Christina.
Today's the day for my MRI results. Please have Mercy on me and my family, Lord. In the Mighty Name of Jesus, my Lord and Savior, I pray. Amen.
Penny0 -
In my prayers
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