New Here...Mini Mets?

Hi, I am new here. Diagnosed on December 22 with Her2++, all 13 lymph nodes removed were positive. I had a small tumor 1.5cm and it had only been 14 months since my last mammogram, which came back clear. My Oncologist ran my scans and was puzzled as exactly what stage to diagnose me. My X-ray and CT scan of my lungs came back clean, but the PET scan showed 2 very small sub centimeter nodules that had lit up. Doc said because of the small size, he could not biopsy them with any certanty because they were so small. The Pet also noted 2 small liver lesions that did not absorb the die for cancer, so he said they most probably were some benign lesions but we would keep an eye on them. We were in the dilema of how to treat the lung mets, so to me it only made since to treat them as Cancer, my Oncologist agreed. I am very confident in him because from what I hear, he is brilliant, young and trained at Sloan which is suppose to be one of the finest cancer centers. I have been on Taxotere (every 3 weeks), Herceptin (weekly) and Xeloda (daily 14 on/7 off) for 6 weeks now. I will be having another scan on Wednesday to see it chemo is working. My Doc says he would be surprised if the lung nodules were even there on this scan..we are doing CT/with contrast (is that the same as a PET?). He says to think of them as mini mets because they were so small and we weren't absolutely positive that they were cancer. I am still very worried about how the scans will come out. Has anyone ever heard of mini mets? I think that was just a term he came up with to make me feel more comfortable, which it did. Also, has anyone ever had any liver lesions not light up and then later show up as cancerous...this is worrying me? I am 44 with a 17 year old son and 7 year old daughter..with a lot more living to do...I am glad to have found you Her2 sisters...sherryg682

[aquinis2000]

I dont know how much help i can be, but wanted to welcome you here to the board. you asked if pet scans and ct scans are the same. they are not. the pet scan uses a radioactive substance that kind of lights up when its in contact with something out of whack, (not always cancer), and a ct scan with contrast uses kind of an iodine substance that just enhances the tissues. my doctor always orders both , because when you see something showing up on both images you can be more positive about whats going on. i hope that your scans come out clean this time around. i have never heard of mini mets though. seems like your doctor has a good handle on this and that you are on the right track. good luck and keep us posted.

These links may help your understanding on pet/spect/ct.

RB

http://www.her2support.org/vbulletin...ad.php?t=21937

[Lolly]

Hi Sherry; and welcome! I think it sounds like you have a good doctor. Haven't heard the term "mini-mets" before, but it sounds appropriate given the tiny size of the lesions. And it does sound less scary. There's also the term "micro-mets", used to describe the probabability of cancer cells in the rest of the lymph system when one has positive lymph nodes. The treatment regimen you're on will most likely erase any stray cells floating around. I agree with A.2000 that a PET/CT is the best way to go, if you can talk your doc into it. Best wishes on your scans, and keep us posted.

<3 Lolly

[DeborahNC]

Sherry,

I want to add my welcome. I am sorry for your need to be here, but you will find a wealth of information and advice.

All the best with your upcoming scans and treatments.

[kk1]

Hi Sherry;

Sorry you have had to join us but welcome. Your DX and TX sound almost identical as mine was. I had a clear mammo 18 months prior to being DX with a 1.5 cm lesion in my breast, 4 nodes positive, but 1 small spots on the liver which made it stage IV. I had the same chemo regime. Taxotere,herceptin, and xeloda. It worked great and 5 months later I was NED (no evidence of disease) and have remained so for coming up on two years now.The only difference in my TX and yours is that I took the taxotere weekly. You might ask you onc about that. The latest research suggests that weekly is easier to tolerate (i didn't even loss my hair) and provides the same or maybe slightly better efficacy. Bottom line is that it sounds like you have a very good and caring Onc.

I am now 47 and have a 12 and 17 year old and again very physically active, life is pretty much back to normal these days, or at least as normal as it can be while facing this disease. The begining months are the worse time, hang in there it does get better. I found learning mind body meditation techniques really helped manage the anxiety and panic. Along with visitng this site for truck loads of information and inspiration from all the others who have made it through.

kk1

[Sherryg683]

Hi KK, glad to hear you are doing well after 2 years. Your story does sound a lot like mine. I'm going to ask my dr. about weekly taxotere although I have already lost my hair. I seem to be having more problems with the Xeloda..hand/foot thing. It is so scary to hear stage IV, even though my lung mets are supposedly so small it still makes you feel pretty hopeless. Glad to hear a positive side..sherryg683

[julierene]

I had a liver hemangioma in correlation to 2 liver mets. With my initial dx, we knew about the hemangioma and a CT confirmed it. But then 2 years later, I got 2 liver mets, and I severely questioned whether the first dx of a hemangioma was true. With the liver mets, the hemangioma still looked like it did the first time - benign. So while I was nervous about the ability of them to tell whether it was benign or malignant, I now feel confident that they can tell the difference with high certainty. Hope this helps.

[lexigirl]

Sherry,

I am about 4 weeks out of my taxol tx and am doing rads and herceptin right now. I haven't had any follow up scans so I don't know if my tx missed anything that may have been lurking. I am glad that your mets were found so early and that they will be all gone!

I hope that you continue to do so well!!

Love,
Lexi

[kk1]

Hi Sherry;

yeah the xeloda seemed the hardest for me too, although the taxotere gave me a nasty rash on my hands. What dose are you on? hopefully not more than 3000mg/day? Xeloda was orginaly tested and approved at high doses but they have found now that it works just as well at a lower does with less side effects. You can do a seach on this site with "xeloda" as the keyword and you will see lots of discussion at about the xeloda dose.

Towards the end of my treatment I sometimes had to take a 10day to two weeks break from the xeloda to keep the hand/foot down and also this brusing sensation I would get in my arms.

If your worried about the liver spots Julienne is right you should ask for a hemangioma scan, they could be nothing. I had 3 spots close together on my liver and only 1 was cancer they othesr were a hemangioma these benign liver lesions are very common.

kk1