Stage 4 breast cancer

Hi Jening this is definitely the hard part of the cancer fight back , brilliant you already started chemo  that was quick. I was waiting ages to start mine , 9 weeks after surgery! I was watching   Jackie Beltro today from sky sports news she is amazing . Cancer about 6 years ago then it came back she is now living with secondary breast cancer and looks bloody marvelous !  Her latest scan said all clear .  You are so recently diagnosed that you must still be in a bit of shock but it's doable. How many Chemos have you had! I had tumors in both breasts which was a shock to say the least but you just get your head around it  in time, try to be positive lots of women living with cancer for years and years and lots of women do so well on the treatment they never look back. Hope that is you X

J️ayne X 

Thank you so much for this! This is just what I needed to read, really appreciate it. You are right, I am still in shock although I also fluctuate between that and being quite practical and pragmatic about it. It’s a real head spinner.

Hope you are doing ok and thanks again for  messaging x 

Keep looking forward ,  it's not an easy road but you doing what you need to do to have a good out come. When I had my Chemotherapy I watched it dripping into my veins and said to myself  , be very afraid cancer, be very afraid  I'm coming for you ! The cancer can run but remember it can't hide from chemotherapy .  This little drug will kill the cancer stone dead. It's your friend never forget that. It's giving you your life back x 

That’s such a good attitude, thank you again x 

I have chemo with a lady who’s just turned 40 and has breast cancer with secondaries in her spine. She has been treated now for over 4 years, lives a good standard of living, works full time and looks good, she has treatment every 3 weeks, she is living with her cancer in such an inspiring way. She has wobbles of course, she’s human but just wanted to let you know that there is so much now that can be done. She had chemo to knock it back initially and now has drugs that keep it at bay. Try to be as positive as you can, the chemo is tough but you’ll get through it and then the next lots of drugs are not as bad if you have the same experience as my friend. Take each day as it comes, all the very best to you xx

Thank you for this. This treatment plan sounds very similar to mine. Do you know if she has had a recurrence or is her chemo being used to keep it at bay? I think my nurse has suggested I might get injections every 3 weeks. 
it’s so good to hear stuff like this. When you get a diagnosis of SFBC they tell you that we have a 5 year survival rate (average). To hear that’s she’s doing well 4 years on and still working, does give me hope.

Best of wishes to you and your friend and thank you again x

She’d had breast cancer initially, had it treated successfully, then a bit later, sorry not sure of the timescale, started to get back ache and it all kicked off again from there again. She then had more chemo, EC-T for 6 weeks, 4 years ago and then the treatment to keep it at bay, she is on phesgo injections 3 weekly and I’m not sure what else but last time I saw her she said she’s felt stable for years and she touched wood! She has MRI’s which obviously make her nervous but the cancer just seems to sit there not doing anything exciting which as she says she’ll take. Everyone’s experience is different but I hope you have the same experience as her xx

Makes sense, thank you. 

Forget the statistics. They include women who are much older than you and whose general health prior to cancer was not as good as yours. I am a stage 2 but was initially diagnosed as a stage 4 and treated as such for the first 11 months, so I've a lot of time to work this out and realise that I was not "the average" and certainly far better in terms of age and health than the majority of the people in the statistic. The other thing about the statistics is that they reflect the past and are always some years behind the times. During that time, new ways to treat secondary cancer have come out, so today's patients, who are going to be part of tomorrow's statistics, are likely presenting a statistical average that is better than the one that is currently held as a standard. 

On the subject of new ways to treat, I was told by my oncologist not long ago about a change that is coming in early this year regarding treating certain types of breast cancer. 

Regarding what happens next, I'd make a list of written questions and take that wtih you to your next oncology appointment, to make sure you remember to ask everything.

About the head going to some very dark places, I get that. When I was first diagnosed I had to face that too. People deal with that in different ways, depending on what works best for them. Let me know if you want me to get into that in more detail.

By the way, I get the impression that the scientists are working to turn stage 4 solid-tumour cancers (such as breast) into long-term chronic conditions. (They have succeeded in doing that for one of the blood cancers that used to be a real menace and is now a condition people live with for decades.)

This is really interesting, thank you so much for replying. I really appreciate hearing from someone with such a positive attitude. 

It sounds like you have had a lot of time to make more sense of this than me. It also sounds like you have a much better rapport with your oncologist! At the moment I feel as if I am just a patient number, she doesn't seem very person-centred and has so far, never mentioned hopes for the future in terms of treatment. Hopefully that will change with time. 

If you are happy to share, I would really like to hear how/why you have gone from stage 4 to stage 2. For me, what this does is really illustrate your initial point, none of us are 'averages'. This disease affects us all so differently and we all respond to the treatment very differently.   

On that basis, I absolutely agree, 'forget the statistics'! Unless they can break down average age, BMI, lifestyle and attitude of each individual in that study, the figures mean nothing. 

Best wishes to you x