5+ years out

Are there any predictors for when someone lives 5+ years with TN?  It seems that my nurses think I will have a better outcome since I have lived almost 6 years with mets?  The doctor has not said this and I really don't want to ask.

YESS!!!  The longer you go, the longer you go!  The best predictor for doing well is doing well.  

Tonya,

Edited by 123Donna - Jul 26 2013 at 3:30pm

Tonya,
You are so strong! Living 6 years with TNBC mets is amazing. You are experiencing a miracle and i think you just have to believe that it will continue. No doctor can predict what is going to happen for sure. Statistics do not matter because you ar now an "n of 1". Your case is unique.

Its normal to get tired of chemo after so long. I was first diagnosed with mets 2 yrs ago and am NED now (again) so I am experiencing a miracle too! I have been off chemo for 3 months because i had a dangerous immune reaction to my study drug and had to stop chemo right when I achieved NED. So I feel amazingly well and am very grateful for that, but being on no chemo drugs also makes me feel vulnerable.

What did your last scan show? Are the tumors still visible? Are they stable?

Some things that I did when I was dreading going to chemo and feeling yuck 2-3 days after a gem/carbo treatment really helped , and different things helped at different times. Having a funny happy friend go with me to chemo helped, and then sometimes I just went by myself and took my laptop and kept working and just treated it as a normal day. If I had a really good book I could look forward to reading it during infusion time. I would line up some good movies to watch and audiobooks to listen to for days when I felt low, and asked friends and fam to come visit and have a cup of tea or cook favorite foods for me. They loved the opportunity to help. Spending time with nature also made me feel grateful and peaceful - sitting on my back porch watching birds at the feeder or deer having their 5 pm feedi g beyond my fence and listening to the trickling water of the little fountain I bought for the deck. I also pray a lot - for whatever I need on the particular day, and then i focus on others and pray for them.

Treat yourself kindlly, and maybe try to think of chemo days as flowing peacefully along with your treatment rather than a fight.   These drugs are your friends and allies, as hard as it is to remember sometimes!

Praying for your happiness and healing,
Beth

Cathi
I saw that you were on carbo/gemzar and parp and your mets spread but you stayed on carbo/gemzar and added something else?

Hi Snickers! Sorry for the late reply. I was on a clinical trial for gem/abraxane/avastin. I got a UTI in June and avastin was dropped so I continued on gem/abraxane. When the cancer moved to my liver I was kicked off the clinical trial. Because I am on another clinical trial now of gem/carbo/Iniparib I was allowed on the study even tho I already had Gemzar. It was an expanded access protocol for the guidelines were a little less strict than I regular clinical trial. I am so grateful to still be on this trial and just doing Iniparib only. 8 months now I have been off chemo. I am still extremely tired but my body is slowly rebounding. Each day is a blessing and I try to live in the moment. Please feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.

Cathi