Thank you for sharing @A MyBCTeam Member. I agree that oncologist are focused on removing the tumor and whatever happens after that is secondary in importance. They seem to take side effects as a rightful tradeoff. Sure, having a tumor removed is important but living with some bad consequences of that surgery for the rest of our lives, doctors really need improvement in this area.
Every site you go on and read about these tumor marker blood tests say doctors don't rely on them. My own doctor said the same thing several times but then adds ' It tells me the direction the cancer is going'. So its not even about the exact numbers, its more about the rise and fall.
Its a shame woman are not only getting metastases but they are dying because insurance companies don't want to pay for scans that can check Breast cancer more frequently.
I am sorry your Breast cancer spread because the right scans weren't made available to detect the progression. There shouldn't even be a delay in getting a scan. If a woman has been diagnosed with Breast cancer she should at least be able to get 2 scans a year. ❤️

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A MyBCTea...

@A MyBCTeam Member

Some women have to have mastectomies as they have more
than one tumor in a breast, a very large tumor or perhaps tumors in 3 sections of one breast.

Some women carry the BRACA gene and need a double mastectomy.

We are not a one size fits all diagnosis, plan, or even future further BC results.

We need accurate blood tests that show minuteness of cancer cells before they spread.

We need non-harmful meds that stop cancer cells in their tracks by preventing the dormant cancer cells from spreading and coming back someplace else.

We need breast cancer vaccines and somehow also prevent environmental damage to genes.

We need to keep T cells healthy so that they go after cancers before they start…..

Will BC treatments still be the same with the same treatments as now in 100 years??????

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A MyBCTea...

Barbara66 in regards to your comment about your breast surgeon saying" If it happens, we will just give you a sleeve and that will take care of it" are just so focused on getting the tumor OUT to save your life that they believe that whatever happens after is secondary. So many of us on here will suffer many after effects from whether it be surgery, radiation or chemo. I know I have aged ten years just in the past three since I was diagnosed but it was a price I was willing to pay to just stay alive. Is my life the same as it was? No but in some ways it is better. I have a much better outlook on things and appreciate every day that I wake up alive regardless of how I feel.

On another note, it's unfortunate that today insurance companies dictate when you can get certain tests. If I had been able to get a pet scan after my first go round, perhaps it would have been caught earlier before it traveled to my brain. When they finally decided to do a PET, they discovered it in my bones too! When I previously asked for one they said we will just keep a close eye on your markers. Well as I mentioned before this did not work since my markers were always spot on. So how does it help someone like me? Everyone is different so a PET scan would have covered all the basis but no, insurance companies know better and dictate to the doctors what they should be doing.

Navigating the journey of your own Breast Cancer can be overwhelming at times so joining a group like this will help you gain insight for what is best for YOU. Do your own research and be your own advocate. This is the best way to survive this journey and above all be positive because even in your darkest days there is hope for all of us.

Adele everyone's cancer is different, but every cancer can metastasize. How would only a mammogram detect cancer in the hip? Or a bone in the leg? At least if mets is caught early they can slow the spread but what if its in 5 different places and it goes undetected? Most women find out they have mets when they feel pain somewhere and then a doctor orders a scan to investigate but by then its been there for awhile.

@A MyBCTeam Member

Your breast surgeon would have still done the lumpectomy to remove that cancer and the
sentinel node removal even if a PET scan showed stage 4 Mets.

Have read of some other women who were low grade and then immediately found out they were stage 4 de novo Mets.

Seems that so many women deal with nerve pain after sentinel node removal and auxiliary node removal. Nerves are cut….
I think that a high amount of women have this problem.

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A MyBCTea...