Hi! I am a new member with Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer

Wow I'm so pleased for you I've recently been through breast lymph node removal and it's in my rib as well about to start my chemo I've had pulmonary embollisms so a bit of a worry but I'm so pleased there's other therapies out there as my mother had p es on chemo too.  I've been really scared I'm 49 Mother of 11yr old daughter 28yr old Son

Julie 

Hi LabradorMad!  Thanks for your reply. I was 48 with a son of 14 when I had breast cancer the first time so I know how you feel. Its daunting when you go for your first chemo. The staff at the Cancer Centre were very supportive and answered any questions  I had. Also the other patients in the room having chemo were good to talk to. Good luck with it! 

Susie Q

Hello Susie. I was diagnosed with Stage 4 BC Jan/Feb 2021, but I never had early stage BC, just went 0 to stage 4 with no hints of anything wrong. My 3 secondaries are all in my bones, pelvis, rib and spine.
I am also on Palbociclib (targeted chemo) and Letrozole (hormone treatment) plus I get 4-weekly infusions of Zoledronic Acid as a "supportive treatment", a bone strengthener.
My good luck is that my secondaries are all "small volume". And I have been "disease stable" for almost 18 months now. 
My main side effect was fatigue, overwhelming for most of last year. I got signed of work last November and have only just officially retired this month - ill health retirement, supported by my Occ Health dept at work.
Other than a bit hair thinning, that seems to have levelled off, I haven't had too many other problems. No nausea or any of the other scary stuff they ask about every 4 weeks. My Neutrophils are pretty dire though. More often than not borderline OK. I've had a few palbo cycles delayed a week to allow them to recover more. I find week 3 of palbo the most tiring, so don't plan to do too much that week.
I'm now thinking ahead about how on earth do I plan a long 5-6 week trip down under to visit my elderly mother with this treatment regime. I haven't even looked at travel insurance yet, but I'm nowhere near comfortable with the idea of busy airports yet. I do need to get that trip made sometime soon-ish though.

One thing you may find is that people really have no idea about what stage 4 means. There's huge ignorance about it, so you may find yourself endlessly educating them, repeatedly.

Hi! Thanks for your reply. You definitely are going through a similar experience to me ! Good luck with your travels! All the hest, Susie.