PLEASE HELP ME

lilone · New User Joined: 05 Dec 2007 Posts: 4

my friends shes 27. she had breast cancer and had the mastect. chemo rad all that. it was also in her cervix she had hysterectomy. it came back
spleen and gallbladder her test say the tumors were a stage 3. BUT they also say she has a mutation of the BRCA2 gene and that she has a "floating gene" in her and that it could "land" anywhere. OMG. They want to do 4-6 monthes of chemo only on her, 3 times a week. Shes very tiny shes weighing in at 102.6. shes lost her hair, her taste, but she tries very hard to eat. can someone explain this BRCA2? and this "floating gene" and is the prescribed treatment plan for her, does it sound right????
How can she stand such a long chemo treatment? (no radiation) they say they want to do the chemo for the floating gene. I'm understanding the prognosis for this type thing is poor???? Is my friend going to die?
Will she be able to do this chemo plan? What can we expect? what can we do for her? OMG SOMEONE PLEASE ANSWER ME!!!

thanks
kristie

RachelEsther · Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 12:07 am Post subject: Re: PLEASE HELP ME

Hey, Kristie,

I'll try to shed some light on all this as best I can. The facts you are giving are a bit confusing. I think I understand what is happening, but I am not sure. Here are my ideas based on what you posted, but to really understand what is going on, you need to get more info.

If she is a Stage 3, then her breast cancer has NOT spread beyond the breast and the nodes. That means it is not in the cervix. If she had tumors in her cervix, she would be stage 4 - Stage 4 is when the cancer has spread outside the breast/nodes.

So why the hysterectomy? You say that she is positive for the BRCA2 gene. Women with this gene (and especially a woman of 27, who has alot of estrogen in her system) are at great risk for the recurrence of breast cancer or another incidence of BC, because many types of BC kind of feed on estrogen, so the best thing is to get it out of your system forever. It is VERY common for women with the BRCA gene to take preventive measures to cut down the estrogen and also therefore the chances of recurrence or of spreading of the cancer. MANY women have their ovaries removed for this reason. You say your friend had a hysterectomy, which is removal of the ovaries, uterus and fallopian tubes (I think!) - probably this is the reason for it, a bigger step than just the ovaries, but probably for that same reason. Or could it just have been the ovaries that were removed?

I don't understand what you said about the spleen and gallbladder - did she have tumors there? If she did (although I never heard of tumors in the spleen and gall bladder from BC, usually it's in the ovaries, lungs, bones), then she is not stage 3. The stages are very well defined, you can look up what happens in each stage, either on this site or on komen.org or any other cancer site.

Did she have chemo first, then a second set of chemo? Because 4-6 months of chemo is pretty standard treatment for BC. If you are talking about a second set of chemo AFTER the initial chemo may be with the chemo Herceptin, which is used for HER2+ women. A little explanation - in addition to STAGE, Breast Cancer is either hormone/estrogen positive(+) or negative(-) and it is either HER2+ or -. HER2+ needs additional chemo, called Herceptin, which does go on over a long period of time, and after the initial rounds of chemo.

I don't know if she is going to die, but I'm also Stage 3, and alive and kicking 4 years after my diagnosis, mastectomy, very aggressive chemo and radiation. I am in great health, and not planning on dying anytime soon unless I overdose on chocolate.

You can help her by being a good friend. By listening when she wants to talk, and being silent when she doesn't feel like it. You can do her shopping, bring her food, bring her videos, sit with her and find things to laugh about. You can clean her house, drive her places. You can treat her like a person, your friend, who just happens to have cancer, rather than treating her like a disease or a person who is going to die. She's not going to, not soon, anyway. Be sensitive, be helpful, but don't be a pain in the a** and don't intrude on her space. It's all about her, it's not about you or your worry.

Good luck, you're a good friend to worry. Now, just go and be a good friend. Alot of people are probably so freaked out they are afraid to talk to her. She'll be needing people around who can be normal with her.

Rachel
_________________
Rachel
Age 50 at diagnosis, Stage IIIA
IDC grade 1, DCIS grade 2
LB Mastectomy, Expander Recon 3/3/2004
Dose Dense Chemo completed 07/01/04
Radiation completed 09/02/04
Silicone Implant 11/22/04, removed 7/05 due to infection (dental cleaning), replaced 12/05. Reduction RB for symmetry 04/06
Tamoxifen 10/04-10/06, Arimidex 10/06 on

	Cancer Forums Forum Index -> Breast Cancer Forum	All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

A website for discussions about any type of cancer, including lung cancer, breast cancer, mesothelioma, prostate cancer, laryngeal cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and others