MY MOTHER INLAW HAS STAGE 2 HORMONAL BREAST CANCER

Good evening everyone; I live in Turkiye and my mother inlove has stage 2 hormonal breast cancer. She took chemo, surgical operation then radiotherapy but after all of this, cancer cells again reveal at the same breast (left). By the way she has an implant after surgical operation. Currently she begins to take 2'nd chemo and after this her MO wanted to check the latest situation of the breast with PET then i think there will be 2nd surgical operation for her left breast and surgeon will take all of rest of the left breast. I want to ask a question about her : Do those cancer cells metastasize to brain, lung or bone? if they are what are the mutual symptoms of those.? I really appreciated if anyone answer my Qs. yours sincerely

Comments

  • maggie15
    maggie15 Member Posts: 1,459

    Hi @hasanata , I’m sorry your mother in law had a recurrence of breast cancer. The PET scan will answer your question since it checks for metastasis beyond the breast. If nothing is found it will be considered a local recurrence and her treatment will probably be similar to what she did previously. I wish her the best possible outcome.

  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 5,320
    edited May 28

    To add to Maggie’s response… breast cancer typically metastasizes to bones, brain, liver or lungs. However, try not to focus on metastasis as it’s possible that it’s a local recurrence. Pain, of course, is a possible symptom but sometimes there are no symptoms. Focus on what you know to be fact right now and try not to spend too much time on things that might not happen. All the best to your mom and your family.

  • moderators
    moderators Posts: 8,748

    @hasanata like the others have said so well, try to take one step at a time. The PET scan will help your mom get clarification on how localized the cancer is. It's important to track symptoms along the way of course like pain, shortness of breath, chronic headaches, etc. but count on the scans to help them figure it all out, an not to jump too far yet. Please keep us all posted, and know we're here for you.

  • tb90
    tb90 Member Posts: 297

    I am not certain whether mother in love is an incorrect translation for mother in law. Either way, it is adorable. She is so lucky to have you ❤️

  • hasanata
    hasanata Member Posts: 9

    there is no incorrect translation i willingly wrote it. she is my wife's mother but there is no difference from my own.

  • hasanata
    hasanata Member Posts: 9

    Good evening all;

    As i wrote previously about my mother in law's breast cancer her MO decide to scan PET on the 25th June and her surgeon will operate after PET. I think we gonna pass this level but she is so nervous for the PET results whether there is a metastasise to other organs or not. By the way there are some rashes on the breast ( according to doctors; the chemo is working properly on the breast) but there is a huge question mark in our mind: Is chemo working properly or there are still cancer cells which are so aggressive?

  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 5,320
    edited May 29

    Is chemo working properly? That is a question that no one can really answer. This is ultimately determined once treatment is complete and scans or other means are used to determine that.

    You did not state the grade of your mother’s bc so hard to say if it’s aggressive but overall, breast cancer is fairly slow growing. No treatment is guaranteed to work . There will always be some who recur unfortunately. Hopefully, this is just local.

    Wishing you all the best

  • hasanata
    hasanata Member Posts: 9

    thanks for the quick reply for my post. And i already state her BC stage. she is on the 2 stage and it is an hormonal type.

  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 5,320
    edited May 30

    hasanata,

    Stage and grade are different. The grade, 1,2, or 3, is generally referenced when we speak about how aggressive one’s bc is. Grade 1 being the least aggressive. I am not a doctor but roughly this means that grade 1 cells look closest to a normal cell and are less aggressive than a grade 3 cell which is very different than a normal cell.

  • hasanata
    hasanata Member Posts: 9

    Good evening all;

    I want to ask a question about alternative treatment methods. There are some plants i already informed but i do not know whether it interferes with the MT. Especially inula helenium and iscum album plants are used for alternative treatment. As i mentioned on the above i don' know whether useful or not.

  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 5,320
    edited May 31

    hasanata,

    Did you find out the grade of your MIL’s tumor?
    As to your questions about alternative treatments, I have seen nothing, no research only anecdotes, about alternative treatment to support its use. There are some alternative treatments that can ease symptoms of side effects or provide comfort but little scientific research to support their use as treatments . We do have a forum for alternative treatments (and a caveat that bco does not support them in lieu of conventional tx), but it is usually pretty quiet as bco leans toward conventional treatment. With respect to the two plants you’ve named, I had never heard of them but will Google to see if they have a common name.

    • iscum album appears to be mistletoe, sometimes referred to as iscador. I believe there has been some mention of it on the alternative thread but it’s been quite a while since anyone has posted about it. It is not used in the US.

  • hasanata
    hasanata Member Posts: 9

    i need to ask her BC grade. and u are totally right about mistletoe. It is the same plant with iscum album. After your quote i search in the site about alternative herbal treatment but i coul not find anything about it.

  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 5,320

    hasanata,

    As mentioned, this site skews very heavily toward conventional medicine so you may not find much info here on alternatives. I just searched using the word Iscador and there are some older threads where it is mentioned. Iscador is not used in the US. If your family is truly interested in alternative therapies may I suggest that you look for a site/forum that focuses on that because you will find little info about that here.
    Although many here uses supplements or other alternatives, like acupuncture,to manage side effects , the focus here is on science based research when it comes to treatment. Take care

  • hasanata
    hasanata Member Posts: 9

    Thanks for your interest, i really appreciated. I found few articles about mislte toe in this site but as you mentioned previously there is mostly CMT in the site. thanks anyway.

  • maggie15
    maggie15 Member Posts: 1,459

    hasanata, Memorial Sloan Kettering which is a well respected cancer center in NYC has a section of their website which describes what is known about the efficacy of herbs and other supplements in relation to cancer.

    https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/diagnosis-treatment/symptom-management/integrative-medicine/herbs

    MSK supports CMT rather than alternative treatments but this is included so that people who are considering taking herbs can read unbiased scientifically researched information on a variety of supplements. They don't suggest treatments but you can look up anything you are interested in.

  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 5,320

    Maggie,

    Thank you! I had forgotten about that MSK site. I think it is quite valuable for those considering alternative/complementary treatment.

  • hasanata
    hasanata Member Posts: 9
  • shrinkrap59
    shrinkrap59 Member Posts: 41
    edited July 21

    I just wanted to say hello because my son and DIL live in Turkey! Best wishes to you and your family.