Need some advice
Hi, everyone!
I’ve posted here before (link here) have triple-positive breast cancer.
It took a long time to figure out what was going on with my liver—spoiler alert: we still don’t know.
At my first appointment with the oncologist—after she called to say we’d found six lesions in my liver—we discovered that my breast tumor had shrunk from about 5 cm to 3.5 cm (measured by hand) after just one dose of AC. After that, she said it was an impressive response and suggested that, until we had the biopsy results, we stick to the previous treatment plan—namely, 4 cycles of AC chemotherapy every 2 weeks. An ultrasound-guided biopsy was scheduled immediately after the second dose of AC.
After getting through my second round of the “red devil” IV, I went in for a biopsy; I was really nervous—I hadn’t slept properly for about a week. They took me into the exam room and did a preliminary ultrasound, asking how many rounds of chemo I’d had (2) and wondering if I’d mixed something up. As it turned out, they couldn’t see my tumors on the ultrasound.
My oncologist ordered a CT scan to check whether anything was left in my liver. The CT scan was done after my third round of chemo, and it showed three lesions instead of six, and the largest one had shrunk by half to 1.1 cm. Realizing this, my oncologist referred me for a CT-guided biopsy.
While I was waiting, I underwent four cycles of AC chemotherapy, and my breast tumor shrank to about 1 cm (from 5 cm), so I was switched to weekly Taxol + Herceptin and Perjeta every three weeks.
The CT-guided biopsy was scheduled for the day I was receiving Taxol and Herceptin; I had received Perjeta the day before. Unfortunately, I had a reaction during the Herceptin infusion and was given additional medications (including aspirin!)—so my biopsy was postponed.
It was supposed to take place the day before the start of my new 3-week cycle. In the end, there was some confusion with the appointment, and they rescheduled me for another two weeks.
In the end, three months later (from April to the end of July), I finally got my appointment, and as I lay in the CT scan room, I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it would finally be over. Then the doctor came out to me and said that my lesions were about 0.6 cm (they had been 1.1, 1.2, and 1.1) and that my rib was getting in the way of taking a biopsy.
So, we don't have biopsy confirmation that these are metastases, but they are shrinking with chemotherapy, which makes this outcome very likely.
I'm wondering if anyone else has been in this situation—what treatment plan the oncologists suggested, and so on—because I'm feeling a little lost.