Jun 15, 2021 06:37PM olma61 wrote:

I had a bone biopsy to L1 also - I was under anesthesia- “twilight sleep” where you’re not fully unconscious but can’t feel anything and aren’t fully awake, either.

Was not painful, was a little achy afterward, it was same day surgery. Rested for the next day and was fine after that.

The MRI can’t really tell you if it’s cancer or not, they really have to do the biopsy to be sure

Jun 15, 2021 07:04PM olma61 wrote:

When the mets are causing pain or nerve problems, they can do radiation to the site. Usually, surgery is done for fractures, not sure if there are other cases where surgery is done. And, if you only have the one bone lesion, they might do radiation right away.

I had chemo, Herceptin and Perjeta because I was HER2+. They will test your biopsy sample for hormone and HER2 receptors because it can change from your original diagnosis and treatment will depend on that result. If you’re ER positive but not HER2 you might get Ibrance

I had numerous bone mets not just one, and was not in pain.

the onc said no radiation or surgery at first but once all my mets shrunk and only one spine met showed activity on my scans, then they radiated that one. I have been NED for two years now.

PS - I am not saying you probably have cancer, there’s no way for me to know that. An MRI shows possible masses but it can’t see the metabolic activity like a pet scan can. And even with PET there are false positives. I know the waiting is hard but it’s all we can do. Take care.

Jun 15, 2021 07:10PM rain88 wrote:

Positive2strong, as you can see in my signature, my cancer was also mucinos. Mucinous cancer is unlikely to spread, and you probably already know that. What I want to add is that I also had a bone scan a year ago that got me unsettled because there were quite a few areas of small and medium intake, including in the spine. I thought there would be biopsies, but instead my doctor advised to wait and follow up in 3 months. The next scan showed that those areas remained the same, so my report says "not convincing for metastases ", thank God! I will have another scan next month to follow up after one year. I wonder why your doctor wordered a biopsy. Did the tumor grow or was it of a larger size from the beginning? Regardless, chances are it will be benign. Sending you positive thoughts and lots of hugs.

Jun 15, 2021 07:49PM - edited Jun 18, 2021 03:17PM by positive2strong

Thank you, I didn't ask how large it is. I was in shock as I have almost put BC behind me.

I never took the hormone pills yes I am kicking myself big time.

I had a vit D deficiency before BC.

I just had my mammogram and it was clear.

This started in Jan where my right leg was not right after sitting down but not pain was limitedand once I walked it was gone.

It just kept getting worse until I could barely walk pain in my leg when I walked

Of course I worried about lung cancer from radiation but not this

I so appreciate this group and really don't know how to stay positive

Jun 15, 2021 08:19PM - edited Jun 15, 2021 08:23PM by exbrnxgrl

Don't kick yourself about not taking the anti-hormonals. When you made the choice not to take them you did what you thought was best at the time with what you knew. You had no crystal ball; none of us do. Now that I've said that, I imagine a certain amount of self flagellation would be something many of us would want to do so indulge it a little and then move on. Regardless of how hard we look back over our shoulders we can never go back. Take a deep breath and move forward. It's all any of us can do. 💗

PS: You don’t have to be positive all the time. Let yourself experience the full range of emotions and then distract yourself when the negative thoughts overwhelm