As I said in my first post, I have been diagnosed with Stage IV Invasive Ductal Breast Cancer. That means that the cancer has spread beyond my breast and lymph nodes to other parts of the body, in my case the liver and bones. Usually it goes into the lymph nodes first, but my cancer hasn't been found there; it seemed to go straight out to the liver and bones. I don't know if that's uncommon, but it isn't a neat fit in the breast cancer staging guidelines, a summary of which you can see at this link.
As part of the biopsy, breast cancer is examined to see if it has any of three particular receptors: estrogen; progesterone and Her2. My breast cancer is positive for all three receptor. On the negative side, Her2 positive cancers tend to be aggressive. On the positive side, positive receptors give the doctors more options, and in the case of Her2 a more powerful option, for fighting the cancer.
At the moment, Stage IV breast cancer can't be cured. It's treated as a chronic disease. As my medical oncologist said, my cancer is through me head to toe (literally in my bones), so he's going to treat it head to toe. This is why my treatment started with chemotherapy, unlike many women's breast cancer treatment, which would begin with surgery.
I can see some patients wanting to start with surgery to get that tumour the hell out of their breast as quickly as possible. I didn't look at it that way. And as it turns out, the chemotherapy I've had, which started in late October, has already noticeably shrunk the breast tumour. I'll have a CT scan next week that should be able to tell us exactly what impact the chemo has had to date. I have mixed feelings about getting the results. On the one hand, I can tell, and the doctors have confirmed that the breast tumour is smaller to the touch than it was. On the other hand, I missed about a month's worth of chemotherapy as a result of having been hospitalised and receiving radiation therapy in late November. I'm afraid of how much the cancer may have advanced during that time. The scan should be able to measure the breast tumour as well as the liver tumours, of which there were many. It won't have as much detail about the bone metastases (mets).
What I can tell you about the bone mets is that they have weakened my bones in a number of places, to the point of causing fractures. I have a couple of compression fractures in my lower spine as well as a non-displaced pelvic fracture. The radiation therapy last month focused on these areas.
The greatest part of the discomfort my cancer has caused me is due to the bone mets and fractures. I need a walker, and in tight spaces a cane, to get be able to walk. I really can't walk one step under my own speed. The walker helps to keep the weight balanced on both sides of my body so that I don't further damage my pelvis. If the pelvic fracture were to move, become displaced, I would likely need surgery to reposition it and secure it with a pin or strap. I don't want that. The recovery would, I'm sure, be much longer and more painful.
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