QuestionHello, my wife was diagnosed with stage iv breast cancer a little over a year ago. Mets to bones, liver, and most recently brain. Oncologist switched to Xeloda and Tykerb. My wife is totally fatigued, probably laying down 22 of 24 hours a day. She said she feels like she has months to live. She had radiation for the brain tumors one and a half months ago. MRI scheduled for end of the month. She is not in pain currently. What can we expect going forward? Should the family be looking at months rather than year(s)? Thank you.
AnswerUnfortunately with metastases of her breast cancer in her brain we must realistically consider her remaining survival time to be measured in months rather than years but there is always a lot of uncertainty when we try to predict survival times. She will become more and more confused, may show stroke like symptoms, even epileptic fits. She will sleep more and more, drift into a coma and then pass away. There will be very little pain if indeed any, except maybe some head ache. In this situation her condition is at present not curable unfortunately. Radiation therapy and chemo therapy & hormonal therapy can at present in this situation only prolong the process unfortunately. I'm sorry I have nothing better to tell you!
I'm sorry to bother you with an appeal for help. I know that it is exactly the opposite of
what you expect from a volunteer at AllExperts. But I really have nowhere else to turn,
except to the people whom I have helped in the past. Nevertheless, I will certainly
understand if you are unable to respond positively, and I sincerely hope that you will think
no less of me for asking.
Due to a stroke that I suffered nearly six years ago, my ability to work has been severely
limited. Now, because of a diagnosis of cancer, I will be unable to work at all for the next
several months. That will deplete what little savings I have left and leave me with debts
that I cannot sustain. Herb Cooper, one of my American friends, has posted an appeal on
AllExperts that explains the situation in more detail. You can read it at the following link,
which you may have to copy into your browser:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Pharmacy-1407/2008/7/Cancer-doc-cancer.htm
I am conducting this appeal entirely through AllExperts, in order to forestall suspicions of
a scam. However, if you have any doubts or questions, you are most welcome to contact
me through AllExperts, as you did before. Any help to me should be entirely voluntary!
Thank you for your kind attention and for any help that you may give to me.
Best regards,
Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D.
Any help should be sent to my PayPal account e-mail address: cgnordquist@gmail.com
