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novemberrose
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Joined: Oct 31 2019
Location: netherlands
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Topic: when it returns.... Posted: Oct 31 2019 at 7:36am |
Can anyone tell me, if the cancer reoccures, is this usual in the breast or can it also be in other parts of the body, even when you have a full response to chemo and no involved nodes?
Will they discover distant re-occurance in standard check ups?
Is there a big difference between people who did radiation and those that did not?
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Asovey
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Joined: Nov 18 2017
Location: Michigan
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Points: 189
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Posted: Nov 09 2019 at 12:54pm |
I don’t know about the radiation, but my oncologist says if it reoccurs they catch it by symptoms. They do not do regular screenings ( like a PET scan) here unless there are symptoms. That all seems backwards to me but it seems to be standard of care. In reading posts I would say there are reoccurrences in the same breast, other breast or other parts of the body with no particular pattern.
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Plume
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Joined: Jul 15 2018
Location: France
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Points: 44
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Posted: Nov 10 2019 at 12:35pm |
My surgeon told me right at the beginning, on giving me my diagnosis, that I'd have the op, the chemo and the radio.
I questioned him about the radio and his reply was, well I don't want you not to have radio and then come back with metastases in a year or two's time. He said the radio was a belt and braces scenario, to make as sure as we could, that any stray cancer cells would be wiped out and make recurrence LESS likely. Note he didn't say UNlikely, just less likely so. Take whatever comfort you can from that because there really are NO guarantees with this as with everything else in life.
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GeriC
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Joined: Sep 12 2019
Location: Maryland
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Posted: Dec 09 2019 at 11:47am |
I met with my oncologist before my 3rd round of chemo and I asked him, how will I know I am NED, "cancer free" after all chemo and radiation is done? I asked if I will have scans or tests. He said they will determine my cancer status by treating symptoms. Is this really for real? I've not had a body scan, only MRI of the cancer I found - is this for real? Right now I can say I have no cancer symptoms since they cut it out - so why continue chemo? Why bother with radiation? The answer he gave makes no sense to me. Check ups will be every 6months for a while - but what are they checking? I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and Type 1 Diabetes - I am full of symptoms on any given day. Sorry - I'm frustrated
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123Donna
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Joined: Aug 24 2009
Location: St. Louis, MO
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Points: 13192
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Posted: Dec 09 2019 at 9:49pm |
GeriC,
It is frustrating. Why wait until symptoms present and then there is little to no hope of stopping it? It is the general practice and guidelines to not do routine scans.
I'm so glad my first onc didn't agree with this practice and had her TNBC patients scanned each year for the first 3 years. I had absolutely no symptoms, normal blood work, normal tumor markers, etc. The PET scan one year after chemo found the recurrence, which at that time, was a regional recurrence (Stage 3) and not Stage 4. If I had waited until symptoms, the outcome would have been much worse. If you look at my stats, I was early stage 1, bilateral mastectomy, clear nodes, good margins, etc. What I learned is not all tumors drained to the sentinel nodes. Most, but not all. I was in the 4 to 5% that drained elsewhere. I thank my first onc every day for still being here. (just my two cents)
Donna
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DX IDC TNBC 6/09 age 49, Stage 1,Grade 3, 1.5cm,0/5Nodes,KI-67 48%,BRCA-,6/09bi-mx, recon, T/C X4(9/09) 11/10 Recur IM node, Gem,Carb,Iniparib 12/10,MRI NED 2/11,IMRT Radsx40,CT NED11/13,MRI NED3/15
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