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KristinSchwick · 09-09-2011, 09:26 AM

Marcia,
I totally understand the fear of bone mets, I have 2. Let me just say that bone mets are super painful- even excruciating. Mine were in my hip/back, and I developed such a bad limp I couldn't walk without cringing in pain. Plus with bone mets they get worse everyday, they don't let up or stay the same- they get worse because they are growing and basically eating your bone. That being said, bone mets are not nearly as life threatening as other met spots- like liver, lung or brain.

I just went through a scare in my ribs- over my masectomy site, I was having some pain and I thought my rib was enlarged. Well I talked with my onc. and he said that rib mets would hurt with every inhalation and that the ribs will often shift and sometimes even extrude after a masectomy. So that put my mind at ease. My ca27.29 #s are still down so he wasn't worried.

One last thing to mention, you should rejoice that you have the option of tamoxifen- it combined with herceptin (aka triple + breast cancer) represents the greatest proportion of women who life 20+ years even after the cancer spreads. Unlike triple negative women who really have few targeted therapies available.

Kristin

09-09-2011, 09:26 AM	#8
KristinSchwick Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Iowa Posts: 231	Re: Pain in the sternum bone or heartburn??? Marcia, I totally understand the fear of bone mets, I have 2. Let me just say that bone mets are super painful- even excruciating. Mine were in my hip/back, and I developed such a bad limp I couldn't walk without cringing in pain. Plus with bone mets they get worse everyday, they don't let up or stay the same- they get worse because they are growing and basically eating your bone. That being said, bone mets are not nearly as life threatening as other met spots- like liver, lung or brain. I just went through a scare in my ribs- over my masectomy site, I was having some pain and I thought my rib was enlarged. Well I talked with my onc. and he said that rib mets would hurt with every inhalation and that the ribs will often shift and sometimes even extrude after a masectomy. So that put my mind at ease. My ca27.29 #s are still down so he wasn't worried. One last thing to mention, you should rejoice that you have the option of tamoxifen- it combined with herceptin (aka triple + breast cancer) represents the greatest proportion of women who life 20+ years even after the cancer spreads. Unlike triple negative women who really have few targeted therapies available. Kristin __________________ [B]Kristin Aug 2010: diagnosed stage 3b, 4 mo. after birth of son. 29 yrs old and breastfeeding, ER/PR-, Her-2+ started Neoadjuvant therapy: 4x FEC, 10x abraxane & Herceptin Feb 2011: L mx with recon. Path. showed only DCIS but 4/10+ nodes. March 2011: 6 wks rads. Mother passed, lower back pain. Late May 2011: Bone mets but organs clear; Tykerb, Xeloda, Xgeva. Stopped Herceptin. Implant infected: removed implant. October 2011: Bone progression; Gemzar and Carboplatin & restarted Herceptin. Jan 2012: Progression, re-classified as ER+; Tykerb, Herceptin, Zoladex & Femara. Anti-E is working! May 2012: ovaries out, markers stable but elevated. Cont. Herceptin, Tykerb, Xgeva & Femara. Dec 2012: aromasin Jan 2013: faslodex, herceptin, tykerb Jun: Kadcyla Aug: Rads to hip, then Perjeta, Herceptin & Taxotere Nov 2013: Perjeta, Herceptin, Halaven Early 2014: Affinitor, Aromasin, Perjeta, Herceptin. June 2014: Estradiol, Perjeta, Herceptin Aug 14: Tamoxofin, H & P http://kristin-notdying-blog.blogspot.com/