"Cancering" - Living with Cancer, Bone Metastasis, Lung Metastasis

Almost a year ago I had the second Surgery to remove growths in the remaining tissue of the right mastectomy, and remove the left breast. Last Fall, we learned the cancer has spread from being contained in my lymph nodes into my spine and right lung. Here is what I've learned from that, and how I am managing.

First let me say, I do not do well with surgery. I know people (like my amazing daughter Tracy) who have had multiple surgeries and "bounce back" delightfully well and healthy. It seems no matter how well I set myself up for an easy recovery, my body greatly objects to the invasion of surgeries. Both pain and anesthetics easily push me into depression. This makes it harder for me to take good care of myself. In both my surgeries, the drain site took a year to stop feeling traumatized. Even though I am now happy I am no longer "lopsided," and even though all the tissue removed proved to have no cancer, I am still dealing with pain and side effects of the surgery last March.

Secondly, while my doctor wanted me to get the 2nd surgery because she was very concerned about the new lumps in my breast, she also warned me that "what the body does to heal from surgery, promotes the growth of cancer."

I may have made a critical mistake agreeing to have the second surgery- After 3 and a half years of managing to keep the metastisized cancer in only a few lymph nodes, after the second surgery, the cancer metastasized onto my right lung, and into several ribs, 3 vertebrae, and my left hip. Last fall, I began to have difficulty catching my breath, and sharp pain under my right lung. By November, I had found yoga breathing techniques and other ways to manage the breathing difficulties and that eliminated the pain. Over the last few months, however, my spine and hip have become increasingly painful. Not enough pain to stop me from living joyfully, but enough to notice everyday.

How am I doing today? 

Overall, I feel I have a great quality of life. I've found ways to deal with the new metastasis areas, and evolving ways to deal with evolving pain. I'm a little slower, and weaker, but overall I still can do the things I want to and I still have fun. Without another PETscan, it is hard to know exactly what is happening with the cancer- whether it is stopped again, or whether is is still "cancering."

Testing

One thing we learned is the vast amount of blood tests  my doctors were constantly doing- the multiple cancer markers, etc.- were useless. None of them indicated growing cancer metastases ("cancering") that the PETscan showed us. Only three tests showed negative changes-

• the CEA (a cancer marker blood test) increased dramatically, 
• the AFP (a tumor marker blood test) and 
• the HCG (urine test for amount of HCG hormone) increased slightly. 

The good news is we don't have to keep doing any other blood tests. I asked my doctor "If you can't have bone metastasis unless the cancer moves through your blood, why are all my Circulating Tumor Count blood tests showing ZERO cancer in my blood." Her response was "It just tells us this test does not work for you."

What works for the Lung Metastasis?

At this point, I don't actually have any tumors on my lungs. What I have is a contained pocket of fluid outside my right lung, in the pleural cavity. It is about 1/3 the size of my lung. Inside that fluid is a fist sized group of cancer cells- sort of floating around in there. Why? My oncologist simply says "Cancer sometimes creates fluid pockets." It takes up room from being able to take a deep breath. Not being able to take a deep breath causes, among other things, my diaphragm to get tense. This causes pain and aggravates a benign cyst on my liver which causes more pain- very sharp pain like a kidney stone. For a while I could not talk in a complete sentence without gasping for breath, and the pain would bring me to my knees.

Over time I found that yoga stretching seemed to move the fluid pocket into more comfortable places. In addition, yogic breathing relaxed my diaphragm so I could once again take deep breaths.
I decided to treat this fluid mass like lymphatic fluid and lymphadema.

• I use cabbage poultices to bring down the fluid swelling.
• I use the Chi Machine every morning to activate my lymph system.

Dr. Fields told me that researchers were having success using "shock heat therapy" to treat lung metastasis. The researchers are using the Biomat to provide the deep in-far red heat.

• I switched from using a Migun bed to the Biomat every morning while on the Chi Machine.
• While resting at night before bed, I direct Dr. Tennant's frequency inducer towards my bottom right lung.

At this time, I no longer have difficulty breathing every morning or any lung-related pain.

What works for the Bone Metastasis?

There are several right side ribs and 3 vertebrae (T6, T8, and T12) attached to those ribs with "bone mets." And the left hip has bone mets as well as a tumor between the pelvic bone and sacrum.

All of it is mildly painful, but T8 gives me the most pain. So I'm moving much slower, but I do far-infra-red heat (the biomat), the Chi machine, gentle yoga and I've started Tai Chi everyday to keep myself moving. My biggest concerns are the vertebrae. I have learned that bone mets is not, in itself deadly. It's biggest risk is the cancer spreading, bone pain, and bone breakage. Broken vertebrae can mean paralysis. I use a cannabis tonic and cream every night to keep the pain manageable.

Thanks to the bone mets, I spend a lot less time on the computer since hunching starts to hurt. Wish I could train myself not to hunch when I'm on the computer! Oh well, I spend a lot more time "resting" and that's not actually a bad thing. I like it! I only go into town about 2-3 days a week. I still have lots of doctor appointments and labs being done.

Another Important Lesson about Sugar and Cancer

Over Valentines Day I learned that how quickly sugar can effect the bone metastases. Ken and I went to a cancer fundraiser cocktail party. As a Valentine gift from the fundraiser, they gave us a box of goodies- candies, a small red velvet cake, a big box of Verns toffee and a small bottle of champagne. I could not resist, I ate my share of that dangerous box. That very night I went into severe back pain in my mid spine. It was like the bone mets begin immediately growing inside my bones, and the bone pain was intense (9 out of 10) most of the night. By morning I was back to "normal." Painful lesson!!!