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Confused about my mom diagnosis

fathea
fathea Member Posts: 33
edited August 2022 in Older Than 60 Years Old With Breast Cancer

Hi ladies


I am posting on behalf of my mom

She is 78 and 12 years back she was diagnosed with breast cancer and did left breast mastectomy followed by hormonal therapy for 4 years


2 weeks back they found a lesion in her right breast


now the plan is


they recommend PET scan to do staging

Then they are evaluating her if she is fit for surgery due to age and also they are evaluating her heart as they discovered low heart rate


I was told that her cancer is slowly growing as the Ki-67 is 10% proliferative index


I was also told if she cannot do the surgery due to her heart issues then they will just give hormonal therapy pill


I am worried and thinking is it ok to live with a tumor in your breast and only take hormonal therapy with no surgery ? Is the hormonal therapy enough treatment ?


also they will do PET scan to check other parts of the body

Comments

  • parakeetsrule
    parakeetsrule Member Posts: 605
    Yes, that is a valid treatment plan for someone who isn't healthy enough for surgery. There are lots of different non-surgery treatments now. Someone who is 78 with a slow growing cancer only in the breast is pretty likely to outlive the cancer.
  • moderators
    moderators Posts: 8,740

    Fathea, welcome to Breastcancer.org. We're so very sorry to hear of your mom's recent diagnosis, but we're so glad you've found us. As you can already see, our community is made up of some super helpful individuals, always willing to offer advice, information, and support -- we're all here for you and your mom!

    As ParakeetsRule mentioned, this does sound like the treatment protocol for someone in your mom's situation. However, if she thinks she may have the desire to have additional treatment, she may want to consider Getting a Second Opinion.

    We hope this helps. Please keep us posted with how she's doing!

    --The Mods

  • fathea
    fathea Member Posts: 33

    thanks a lot for your reply ♥️

  • fathea
    fathea Member Posts: 33

    thanks a lot for your welcoming message


    I felt much more better and I have a good feeling that I am not alone anymore

  • moderators
    moderators Posts: 8,740

    Hi fathea,

    Just following up with you to see if your mom's doctors have found out more information and if there's been any change in plans? How is she feeling about everything?

    Thinking of you both!

    --The Mods

  • fathea
    fathea Member Posts: 33

    She did a PET scan and we are waiting for the results

    We are both scared and we are waiting for the phone call


    I am the one who is taking the news first and then transferred to her. I am hoping she will be eligible for the surgery and dose not have Mets .

  • parakeetsrule
    parakeetsrule Member Posts: 605

    Hi! I've been away from this site for awhile but just signed in again today. How did the scan go?

  • fathea
    fathea Member Posts: 33

    Hi parakeetsrule


    so the PET scan showed 2 nodules one in each lung (suspected Mets)

    They decided not to do biopsy and they put her on Letrozole, they said due to age and other health care issues she is not fit for surgery

    They also have concerns about heart health and general anasthesia, being obese and short neck etc..


    the doctor said he dose not think that the nodules in lungs is cancer but if it's cancer then Letrozole will take care of it since the tumor is high positive


    she dose not have symptoms so far


    And they will repeat the scans in 4 months


    thanks for checking on me, how are you doing ? I hope you enjoyed vacation

  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 5,316

    fathea,

    Good to hear that the doctors don’t think the nodules are bc mets. I do have a biopsy confirmed bone met and have been on an AI only for 11 years without progression. While this is not typical, it is possible. Take care

  • parakeetsrule
    parakeetsrule Member Posts: 605

    My trip went well! I also have a lung nodule that's probably not cancer. It hasn't changed size at all. I'm just glad my pleural effusion hasn't returned because I probably wouldn't want to travel.

  • fathea
    fathea Member Posts: 33

    Parakeetsrule

    How you got to know about your lung nodules ? PET scan ? Did you do biopsy ?


  • fathea
    fathea Member Posts: 33

    exbrnxgrl


    the oncologist said if the tumor is highly positive like in my mom case the report says


    ER (positive) strong 3+ in 95% of cells

    PR positive strong 3+ in 95% of cells


    so AL can stop progression and even reduce the size of tumor for very long time


    I am trying to stay positive all time

  • parakeetsrule
    parakeetsrule Member Posts: 605

    PET and/or CT scans. They said they were too small to biopsy so we're just keeping an eye on them.
  • fathea
    fathea Member Posts: 33
    https://community.breastcancer.org/en/discussion/comment/5763257#Comment_5763257

    my mom did another pet scan and the results I saying favorable treatment so all nodules and lymph nodes is gone


    i asked the doctor if this means the lung nodules means Mets since they responded to the treatment but he said not really maybe it was infection and it’s gone


    so far so good she will continue on Femera


    hopefully it will make her stable


    she is turning 80 in December I am planning for a nice trip to celebrate her birthday

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