Seeking hope/thoughts
Hi all,
My mother is now on her third cancer battle.
In 1995 she had non Hodgkins lymphoma - she had chemo, radiation and a stem cell transplant
In 2018 she was diagnosed with triple negative invasive ductal carcinoma - mastectomy and chemo
In November 2023 she began having pain in her sternum. A CT scan & bone scan showed signs of solitary sternal metastasis. At that time the onc was saying there was very little visible cancer. She had a biopsy completed in December and there was no evidence of cancer. At that time the onc suggested we wait 4 months and follow up in May. Last week she had another bone scan & CT and it is showing evidence of progression of the solitary sternal metastasis. We are currently waiting on biopsy.
We saw her oncologist yesterday and he is saying that what we can except is chemo / immunotherapy until it stops working. When I suggested surgery his response was that that is not an option as they would not be able to get clear margins. He was open to radiation as a possibility.
I'm honestly feeling frustrated with our oncologist and I am wondering if we should try and get a second opinion but also worried about the implications of that if there is a wait etc. I should add that we are in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and will need to find out what other options we really have.
Just curious what others treatment plans have been etc.
He essentially told my mom that he did not think she would die in the next 3, 6, or 12 month but that this would definitely be the thing to kill her if something else didn't get to her first..
Comments
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sunshinedaisy321,
Let me first say that I am sorry that your mother and your family are going through this. If the cancer is in her sternum, then she has metastatic breast cancer, or mbc. Was the biopsy sample triple negative as well? That will be a consideration in treatment decisions and yes, it is possible for bc metastasis to have a different hormonal profile than the original tumor. Metastatic breast cancer is not curable. This may be difficult to hear but that is still our reality. However, over my 12+ years of living with mbc (solitary bone met) I have seen many new treatments and some impressive extensions of life.
What were you thinking in terms of surgery? I am not sure if I remember anyone with bone mets having a surgical intervention unless the bone had fractured/broken. Radiation, if possible, is generally used to relieve bone pain and in some cases, render bone mets necrotic. My bone met was radiated and remains necrotic. I am not triple negative so am not familiar with some of those treatments but hopefully a more knowledgeable member will be along soon.
Thinking good thoughts for all of you.1
