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CoolBreeze · 07-06-2012, 05:38 PM

1. Your doctor doesn't know how much time you have. She never did. Nobody knows that. There are woman who have lived with mets for 10 or 20 years. They outlived their doctors expectations too.

2. Everybody reacts to steroids differently. They never made me gain weight but they did make me hungry. But, a friend of mine who took the exact same thing got the "moon face" look. I am terminal, she is not.

It doesn't sound like you trust your doctor. If you want to know where you stand in relation to your health, you need to make it really clear to your doctor "I want to know when my time is near." Even though your doctor may not know, they should always tell you what they think.

I think that it might help you to learn about the dying process. Maybe there is some information that your doctor or hospice can give you that will help ease your mind. If you are still responding to treatment, and if you are doing okay, than I am guessing you are nowhere near to dying. But I don't know you, you should ask your doctor. It doesnt' seem like you are going downhill based on your sig line anyway! You may have years left, who knows? Good luck!

07-06-2012, 05:38 PM	#4
CoolBreeze Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 562	Re: Is this aa bad sign? 1. Your doctor doesn't know how much time you have. She never did. Nobody knows that. There are woman who have lived with mets for 10 or 20 years. They outlived their doctors expectations too. 2. Everybody reacts to steroids differently. They never made me gain weight but they did make me hungry. But, a friend of mine who took the exact same thing got the "moon face" look. I am terminal, she is not. It doesn't sound like you trust your doctor. If you want to know where you stand in relation to your health, you need to make it really clear to your doctor "I want to know when my time is near." Even though your doctor may not know, they should always tell you what they think. I think that it might help you to learn about the dying process. Maybe there is some information that your doctor or hospice can give you that will help ease your mind. If you are still responding to treatment, and if you are doing okay, than I am guessing you are nowhere near to dying. But I don't know you, you should ask your doctor. It doesnt' seem like you are going downhill based on your sig line anyway! You may have years left, who knows? Good luck! __________________ http://butdoctorihatepink.com 08/17/09 Dx'd. Multifocal/multicentric IDC, largest 3.4 cm, associated ADH, LCIS, DCIS HER2+ ER+/PR- Grade 3, Node Negative 10/20/2009: Right mastectomy, reconstruction with TE 12/02/2009: Six rounds TCH, switched to Taxol halfway through due to neuropathy 03/31/2010: Finished chemo 05/01/2010: Began tamoxifen, the worst drug ever 11/18/2010: Reconstruction completed 12/02/2010: Finished herceptin 05/21/2011: Liver Mets. Quit Tamoxifen 06/22/2011: Navelbine/Zometa/Herceptin 10/03/2011: Liver Resection, left lobe. Microwave ablation, right lobe - going for cure! 11/26/2011: C-Diff Superbug Infection, "worst case doctor had seen in 20 years" 03/28/2012: Progression in ablated section of the liver - no more cure. Started Abraxane, continue herceptin/zometa 10/10/2012: Progression continues, started Halaven, along with herceptin and zometa. 01/15/2013: Progression continues, started Gemzar and Perjeta, an unusual combo, continuing with herceptin and zometa 03/13/2013: Quit Gemzar, body just won't handle it. Staying on herceptin, zometa and perjeta. 04/03/2013: CT shows 50% regression in tumor, so am starting back on Gemzar with dose reduction, staying with perjeta/herceptin/zometa. Can't argue with success! 05/09/2013: Discussing SBRT with Radiology due to inability of bone marrow to recover from chemo. 06/07/2013: Fiducial placement for SBRT 07/03/2013: Chemo discontinued, on Perjeta, Herceptin and Zometa alone 07/25/2013: SBRT (gamma knife) begins 08/01/2013: SBRT completed 08/15/2013: STABLE! continuing with Perjeta, Herceptin, Zometa 06/18/2014: *** NED!!!!*** continuing with Perjeta, Herceptin, Zometa 01/29/2014: Still NED. continuing with Perjeta, Herceptin. Zometa lowered to every 3 months instead of monthly. 11/08/2015: Progression throughout abdomen and lungs. Started TDM-1, aka Kadcyla. Other meds discontinued. Remission was nice while it lasted. 5/27/18: Stable. Kadcyla put me right back in the barn. I have two teeny spots on my lungs that are metabolically inactive, and liver is clean. I’m beating this MFer. I was 51 when this started and had two kids, 22 and 12. Now I’m 60. My oldest got married and trying to start s family. My youngesg graduates from Caltech this June. My stepdaughter gave me grandkids. Life is fantastic.