Stage 1a to Stage 4 in 6 years. 39 yo. Mets to liver & bone. Chek2+

Hi! Thanks so much for the message! Will get through this! I’m telling everyone about the Galleri blood test because I never would have found this otherwise. MSK had me in survivorship, and all my labs are normal. Sending love!

Hi, just an update on my treatment - faslodex, lupron, and xgeva infections monthly and Ibrance and Inavolisib pills daily (ibrance 3 weeks on, 1 week off). I started the injections 4 days ago and have had no SE so far. Awaiting the pills. Will update as I continue this journey.

hi @smn - thank you for your msg! I first heard of Galleri through FunctionHealth.com, where I get comprehensive lab panels. It’s an add-on test for about $900. You need a script to get it, but my doctors at MSK would not have likely have ordered it for me (more on that below). The test detects circulating tumor dna (ctDNA) in your blood, so it’s a simple blood draw. It is not Standard of Care (SOC) to test your blood this way or scan your body with imaging after you’ve had bi-lateral mastectomy and are on treatment (in my case I was supposed to be on tamoxifen for 10 years). They figure you're “cured”, as my breast surgeon told me, even though you could still have potential microscopic cancer cells lingering around. The issue with this kind of test is if you do it, and it comes back positive, and then subsequent imaging (in my case CT scan w contrast) comes back clear, there’s no SOC for how to proceed. The doctors can’t prescribe treatment because there’s nothing on the scan to confirm anything is actually wrong. So you would basically be waiting for something to manifest either physical symptoms or abnormal labs. You could elect to pay out of pocket for additional imaging down the road, but we know how $$ that can be. In my case, the Galleri came back with a positive signal for breast cancer, and the imaging/biopsy confirmed the metastases. Galleri is marketed as early detection, but it’s really better for finding Stage 3/4. Without this test I would be walking around, ignorance is bliss, thinking everything was perfect, going to my yearly nurse oncologist/survivorship appointments, telling them I feel fabulous until one day, who knows when something would finally be off. If you can deal with the mental fuckery, I would suggest getting tested every so often, but that’s me; I like info. For reference, I was first dx 2018 Stage 1a, IDC w 1.6cm tumor left breast, ER/PR+, Her2-. The metastases are also ER/PR+, Her2-. I hope this is helpful. Please msg back with any more questions. xx

@maggie15 hope this is helpful. There’s also the Guardant360 blood biopsy. I’m still awaiting results so not entirely sure what that will tell us. My friend had a lung biopsy done and said it was not fun because you have to be awake to breathe on cue. Keep me posted; I’ll be thinking of you. xx

It’s great you’ve found peace, but don’t give up. Every day they’re making medical and scientific advancements. After only five months on treatment, the cancer was not detected in my body (0% ctDNA). I’ve had no change in quality of life. In fact, I’m stronger and healthier than ever. I remain on treatment (ibrance, itovebi, faslodex, lupron, xgeva) because stage 4 is stage 4, but I feel great and honestly plan to live to 120.

@bridget28 keep on the doctors and do your own research! No one cares like you do, and even though this disease feels uncontrollable, we have so much more control than we realize through diet, movement, stress management, sleep prioritization. Focus on what you can control to optimize your body and make the terrain as inhospitable to cancer, and let science and medicine do the rest! Keep on keeping on!! 💗💗💗