HER +3 cancer which has spread to my liver and a spot also found on my pelvic bone

Hi Emma12  I am one if the community champions on this site. I have secondary cancer. My spread was also to my liver.

I am sorry your cancer has spread to your liver and pelvic bone. Unfortunately cancer can spread through blood as well as lymph nodes - my tnbc spread to my liver despite being a small breast tumour because it had managed to form close to a blood vessel and grew into it. 

Oncology will have some things to propose to you.  For example: The HER receptors can be targeted. Your BRCA1 gene defect might make you eligible for PARP inhibitors. Just because it’s classed as incurable doesn’t mean all is lost. I have been metastatic since 2022 and achieved remission with treatment. For more than 2 years I have had no interventions other than regular scans. No one can tell you it’s going to be ok but it’s almost certainly not going to be as bad as you fear. 

So I met the oncologist. My cancer was 'incidental' I'm unclear what that means - guessing it was found by accident? I'm also stage 4 - again not too sure what this means. 

My treatment plan is 6 cycles of chemo Docetaxel (each cycle 3 weekly), ongoing 3 weekly injections to target HER2 Phesgo and 6 monthly injections for the bone Denosumab.  I've bloods, echo and port dates made. 

Has anyone experienced any of these treatments? Can you share your side effects with me? Thank you

I am stage 4 grade 2, triple positive with liver mets. Diagnosed end March. My treatment plan set up as 6 cycles of Docetaxol 3 weekly, with Phesgo injections, to continue afterwards, and hormone therapy. I am 4 days post 3rd cycle. Side effects for me personally have so far been consistent with nothing more than tiredness for around the first 2-3 days but i think that’s down to steroids. Then the fatigue and leg pain hits me hard for a couple of days along with general aches. . It's more like restless leg syndrome with aches, but trying to get up and move a bit really helps. I have been unfortunate enough to also have very dry mouth and sores but they do give lots of different meds to combat these. I have generally then started to pick up and go about as much normal daily activities as i can manage, feeling much better by week 3 ready to go again. I have been getting through it by thinking i now know what’s coming but i also know i can get through those hard days. Can’t believe im half way through my treatment already, the time goes fast as i remember thinking how am i going to get through this. 

Thank you for sharing your experience it is really helpful and I'm truly grateful Nicky. I know everyone experiences chemo differently but I am hopeful after reading yours as the side effect list is freaking me out! Can I ask ... Did you lose your hair? If so, How quickly after treatment did it go?

Hi Emma, It is a very daunting experience and untill your actually on the treatment road you read all the horror stories and dread it. As long as you focus on knowing your body does get you through the bad days, your oncologist and BC nurse are also there to help if side effects are really troublesome. I have lost quite a bit of my hair, and expected to. To be honest i have been lucky as mine didn’t start to come out untill just after my 2nd cycle. I know lots of people experience hair loss within a couple of weeks of their 1st. I also do still have some, enough to poke out the bottom of a chemo hat, so i’m ok with that. I was offered cold capping but weighed up the pros and cons, and the decision for me was there are no guarantees it will work and i’d been told it’s quite uncomfortable/painfull so i decided i’d rather be comfortable during treatment. I believe it also adds around half hour to start and 1 hour to the end of treatment, making a very l long day. 

Do you have a start date for your 1st treatment? Hope it goes well and i e helped a bit x 

Thank you again. My treatment has been delayed due to a tooth being extracted the other day. I've been given week beg: 6th July as a starting point. My port gets fitted that day at a different hospital. I see the oncologist again in 2 weeks time, so the dates might change. I'm guessing it depends on my blood test results. They were keen to start chemo and HER treatment and delay bone treatment until my gum healed, so I'll know more in a couple of weeks. It's just so difficult to wrap my head around. I am currently living my 'normal' life. Not one symptom.

Hi Emma like you I am very scared. I had a lumpectomy in 2017. I am feeling very well with the exception of when I caught a cough or cold it seemed to develop into pneumonia.  In September 2025 I had covid and a lump appeared overnight in my neck. I got to see a doctor two weeks later and was sent same day for an x-ray.  I was called back two days later for a scan and the following day I had an appointment with respiratory consultant. 

I was told that day that I had advanced cancer not curable but treatable. I could not take it in. I play tennis 3 times a week and generallyfeel very well. The doctor told me that if I had not of had covid then it may not have been picked up.

In Jan I was started on ribiciclib and fulvestarant. I was told in June that there are mets in my liver. I had an mri  in June and I am waiting for the results. I saw the oncologist this week and my ribiciclib has been suspended due to liver aised function which was picked up in the blood test.

I go back again for more blood tests next week to determine whether I can continue on ribiciclib or need chemotherapy. The doctor mentioned tablet form or infusion. If anyone can help me understand the difference and which would give me the best outcome I would  appreciate it. 

I lost my husband in June after a long battle with cancer and I am frightened that my children may lose me. 

Hi. I just wanted to reply because your post really stayed with me.

Firstly, I’m so sorry about your husband. To lose him so recently while you’re going through this yourself is heartbreaking. I can’t begin to imagine how overwhelming that must feel.

When I first posted, I had only just been diagnosed with secondary breast cancer. Since then I’ve had my first cycle of chemotherapy alongside my HER2-targeted treatment. I was absolutely terrified beforehand, but so far it has gone much better than I’d imagined. I’m only a few days in, but apart from feeling a bit tired and having a delicate stomach, I’ve actually been okay. I know everyone’s treatment is different, but I wanted to share that because I’d built it up to be much worse in my mind.

Like you, I felt well when I was diagnosed. It’s such a strange thing to be told you have advanced cancer when you don’t feel ill. It turns your whole world upside down.

I can’t really advise you on whether tablets or chemotherapy would be best because that depends on why your oncologist is recommending the change and what they think will control your cancer most effectively. Hopefully they’ll explain all the reasons with you before any decision is made. Don’t be afraid to ask every question you have.

I completely understand your fear about your children. I’m frightened about my family too. But I’m trying to focus on the fact that “treatable” means there are still treatments available, and new ones continue to be developed.

I’ll be thinking of you while you wait for your MRI results and blood tests. Please let me know how you get on. You’re not facing this alone.

Hi Rosepetal I cannot imagine what it must be like going through this after losing your husband to cancer. Life really isn’t fair sometimes. I am so sorry you and your family are going through this. I hope your liver function has recovered and that your MRI doesn’t show any signs of progression. I can’t advise on what treatment might be best for you but your oncologist will have a plan and should be able to explain everything to you. Sometimes it’s not possible to stay on a particular line of treatment either because of side effects, or progression, or both, but oncologists have quite a lot of things in their armoury especially for oestrogen driven cancers. Wishing you all the best. 

Hi Emma12 

So glad the treatment is going ok so far. And thank you for sending such a lovely supportive reply to Rosepetal