@A MyBCTeam Member...I've been through quite a bit since my initial 2017 breast cancer diagnosis, and you've been riding that roller coaster too! My first breast cancer showed on the mammogram as 1 spot, turned into 2 spots with the ultrasound, and the MRI found the 3rd spot. Despite all that I was stage 1a after my double mastectomy. With the new breast cancer I'm stage 3c courtesy of 16/18 lymph nodes being positive. I've been told the endometrial cancer is stage 3, and 4, depending on which doctor I'm talking to. I found my breast cancer when my seatbelt rubbed on it and it hurt a little. No prior clues and when I asked the oncologist how long it had been growing he said about 5 years. I did figure out after the fact that my one dog Roxie knew I had cancer. She sniffed the area on my chest all the time, but she's a 60 pound lap and velcro dog so I didn't pay that much attention to her sniffs. That girl is the type of dog that would crawl inside of you if she could, lol. Once I had the mastectomy and was fully healed she stopped sniffing my chest. She lives with my ex now so she wasn't able to help find my 2nd breast cancer, but I still have my service dog Ziggy. He's my 85 pound little tug boat, towing me around and keeping me balanced when I have a lot of walking to do. I had my first Ibrance blood test a couple weeks ago and everything was normal except for the liver tests. My liver tests were always high with the chemo too. Doctor wasn't too worried about it and she couldn't believe that all my white and red blood cells and neutrophils were totally normal, so woohoo, I still have some sort of immune system going on! I get regular PET scans, which are low dose, because I haven't gone over a year without cancer coming back somewhere or something suspicious showing up. That and I'm terrified of bone mets cause my mom had been diagnosed stage 4 with bone mets right from the start. I've outlived my endometrial cancer survival odds a couple of times now courtesy of the PET scans so for me the radiation is worth it cause I'm still here. None of my doctors will do the blood tests either and say they work better for some cancers than other cancers and the PET scans give them a better idea of what's happening on my insides.

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A MyBCTea...

@JanCit certainly is. And my doctor is really wonderful, but it is no less frustrating but equally I’ll form my thoughts in to coping well if it does reoccur. One person I know says she beat it once and she’s gonna do it again. I like her fight and I’ll end up adopting it or at least not having another C word experience get the best of me. Once we pass through it, we can become formidable sources of strength and resilience. I plan on being that.

@A MyBCTeam Member oh my goodness! You’ve been through so much! I’ve had cancer twice now. First melanoma (institu) & now this. I asked my oncologist and she said that she wouldn’t give me constant PET Scans due to it not being metastatic. We’d just be monitoring symptoms. She also does not want to give me the circulating cancer cell test because she said it isn’t reliable enough for her to consider it à useful tool. My liver rejected Kisqali. So I’m like….well how are we supposed to know it came back? She said monitoring symptoms. Ummm 🤔 I didn’t even know I had cancer to begin with! lol if the mammogram hadn’t have caught it, I would never have known.

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A MyBCTea...

I'm high risk for cancer recurring as well. I've had breast cancer twice now and endometrial cancer 4 times. I also have a CHEK2 gene defect. I have been having PET scans every 3 months since the 1st time the endometrial cancer returned, which was my 3rd time dealing with cancer. So far the PET scans are what caught my cancers coming back for the 4th, 5th, and 6th time. Ask your oncologist if you can have PET scans or some other type of testing on a regular basis in case your cancer returns.

Update....just read your profile and see you have had PET scans. Ask your doctor if you can continue to have them every 3 or 6 months so you can get some peace of mind. I know it helps me a lot mentally knowing I get scanned every 3 months so anything new can be caught quickly and dealt with.