New member
Hi. I was diagnosed with mbc in 2021. An MRI done of my hip (me thinking I needed a hip replacement) revealed a bone lesion and further scans showed I had lesions in my skull, breast bone and right shoulder blade. Radiation helped with the pain in my hip and I am now able to walk unaided. I have been on letrozole and Verzenio (abemaciclib) since mid 2021 and so far results have been positive. Lesions have either shrunk or stabilised and there is no sign of cancer in organs. I know that one day treatment may cease to work but in the meantime I remain positive and enjoy every single day. I love to travel, cook and spend time with family and friends. I’m forever grateful for Bcna, my medical team and all the research that goes in to treatments for this disease. I know others are not as lucky as me and I wish everyone well on their individual journeys.
thank you for my birthday wishes
Hi ladies, to all of you who sent me birthday wishes for October 25th,I say a very big thank you, you know who you are!. I havent been very active on the bcna online forum, in fact I havent been very active at all!Life has been very quiet, chemo three weeks out of 4, and as its a 4 hour round trip and then factor in the chemo infusion it makes for a very long day,however, you do what you have to do,my hair is growing back all white and curly, at 64, not sure about the white, however I will take whatever comes.It has been 4 months since I have been on abraxane and whilst in the beginning it had very little side effects,it seems to be catching up with me,however its a lot better than the vinoralbine that I was on before. Its a beautiful spring day and I have just been outside and picked some of my glorious roses,they are my pride and joy and the best I have had so far,to all of you I wish you well and hope that you are all chugging along okay, or as best you can.Its been 6 and a half years since my original diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer and I would like to think that I will still be writing to you in another 6 and a half years, this was not how I had planned my retirement, however its all a matter of how the cards fall. I am so very fortunate that I have the most caring,loving and supportive partner, who at 75 I am sure did not plan on looking after me, but he has taken on the job and is simply a champion. I had a phone call from my oncologist this morning and he is trying to get me on to a access program for a combination of drugs, so things are looking up, I will not know all the details until Nov.16th but certainly is something to look forward to. So with the sun shining and a blue sky outside, things are looking up!!!. Once again, thankyou, your ongoing encouragement and support is very special, and at times is simply what gets me through the day. Wendy55the honeymoon is over.
Hi all, well its been a very quiet couple of weeks for me, I started on the navalbine after a washout period on xeloda and as you know I felt fantastic, however the reality is as the navalbine kicked in things changed, as they do!!, so at the time decided I needed a little break to get my head around things, metastatic cancer is something that you learn to live with, it doesnt happen in a few months more like a couple of years, but you can live with it,its just a matter of changing things around, you may not be able to do all the things you used to, but you can work around that,so her I am again, at seems we have a few new members, welcome ladies, to the forum no one wants to join, but we are a pretty relaxed bunch here and open to all questions and requests for information on anything, I am now 5 and a half years after my diagnosis, which was stage 4, mets to liver and bones straight up, not what I wanted to hear I can tell you and certainly not how I envisaged spending my retirement years, yet here I am, still here ,and about 7 chemos down the track! Its going to be a blistering hot week here in South Australia so it will take all I have to just keep cool, thank goodness for aircon!! My hands and feet are almost back to normal although I still do not have full dexterity of my hands, thanks to hand and foot syndrome but it is getting better,{thanks xeloda} Im not grumbling, no point, my chemo brain is a lot better so will see how my journey on navalbine goes, blood tests every week and then a monthly, back to see oncologist on Thursday and he is talking about increasing my dose, such is life!, still I am here, and making the most of every day, regardless, it might only be lazing around one day or going shopping but I am more clear headed and am looking at some form of short break for myself and partner, at the moment, anywhere thats about 15 degrees will do! So ladies thats it for me, for now, Accept responsibility for your life, Know that it is you who will get you through, where you want to go, no one else, Les Brown - Motiviational Speaker, wendy55
Sisters in solace
Dear fellow travellers I’m currently in Ullapool, Scotland and had a very poignant and touching exchange with another woman at a local market. I bought a knitted headband from her. As I took off my hat and put on the headband we both realised that our hair was similarly sparse and immediately knew why. She came out from behind her stall, we talked, hugged and cried.