My friend's cancer has returned.

Ireland
May 27, 2007 8:50am CST
My friend was diagnosed with breast cancer 4 years ago, and following a masectomy had been in very good health. We have all been looking forward to her 5 year milestone, which would mean she was more or less out of the woods. She started getting back pain and they suspected a problem with her disks. She had a bone scan, then an MRI and they have determined she has cancer in her spine. I don't have all the info yet but am trying to read up on this, for any information that could possibly help her. I have discovered there is a drug called, pamidronate disodium which is supposed to help combat the bone pain and fragility. If anyone knows anything I can suggest to her or to help her, including treatments or medications, I would be grateful for the information. She has two young kids, is 39, the cancer has metasticized to her spine and she begins radiation therapy this week.
12 people like this
13 responses
@castleghost (1304)
• United States
27 May 07
Woodpigeon, I don't have any advice to give you to help your friend in her time of need. I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am to hear about this situation. Cancer is a very serius diease that I wish we had a cure for. She has a long battle in front of her but atleast she has her family and good friend to stand beside her. I will keep you and your friend in my thoughts.
3 people like this
• Ireland
27 May 07
Thanks CG, I believe all those good thoughts do help in some way. She is a tough one, really gritty, but I think this is too much for anyone. Thanks again for your kindness.
2 people like this
@mummymo (23706)
27 May 07
Woodpigeon sweetheart I am so sorry that your friend is having to go through this! I wish I had some information that could help in some small way but I am afraid that I don't, all I have to offer is my prayers and best wishes, which of course I give freely! xxx
2 people like this
@mummymo (23706)
27 May 07
It must be such a frightening and bewildering situation to be in for all of you! I bet she is more worried about the affects on her children than she is anything else. Please remember that I will keep praying for all of you and let us know how things are going!
2 people like this
• Ireland
27 May 07
I am sorry too. Her kids are so young, and she has been through this already. Her husband is such a nice man, too, and you can just see how terrieifed and lost he is. She has a big, tight knit family, so we will all be trying to help her and the kids and husband but it is justa bad, bad scene.
2 people like this
• Ireland
27 May 07
Thanks MM. I am hoping to find out a lot more tomorrow, and once I have done tha I will be back to searchiong. Not that it s going to do too much good, as I am sure the doctors will already have told her anything I come up with, but since we are in Ireland, which may not be exactly cuttng edge, it's worth a shot and is making me feel like at least I am trying.
2 people like this
• United States
27 May 07
Woodpigeon, I am so sad to hear that. I will prayer for your friend.I know it's not easy on you.We have a lot of cancer in our family . I cannot suggest any more than what you are doing but she gets over this ,please make sure that she keeps getting herself checked.WE have heard that over and over again that if cancer goes into remission,always come back and keep getting checked.best of luck
2 people like this
@ElicBxn (63252)
• United States
27 May 07
I'm sorry to hear about your friend. My cousin's melanoma has spread until its approching his spine & he's doing radation now too. I hope she responds well to the treatments, what ever they decide to do.
2 people like this
• Ireland
27 May 07
I am sorry for you, too. How is he tolerating the radiotherapy?
1 person likes this
@ram_cv (16513)
• India
27 May 07
The problem with malignant cancers is that they tend to come back. That is why Doctors the world over request patients to keep checking once every few months to make sure that they can detect the cancers soon. But, cancer in the spine is indeed a major problem. Was she checking regularly? If so, I am surprised that they missed it for so long. Right now, I would advise that you follow the Dr's suggestion and let her complete the radiation therapy. Just make sure that she does her regular checkups in future at a good hospital which has the latest Radiology equipments. Siemens for e.g. has made groundbreaking advances in Cancer detection, so their devices are quite good. The same is also true for GE equipments. Just check whether the hospital has Computer Aided Diagnostics software running, because they increase the chances of detection of cancers when they are small and easier to treat. I wish your friend all the best. Regards, Ram
• Ireland
27 May 07
Thank you. I have been seeing statistics and I am so afraid for her. She was checked regularly with I assume whatever the regular tests are, and however often she was told to come in. She is a really devoted mother and wouldn't have blown that off. I know she was having trouble and seeing a physio for shoulder and back pain since last Christmas, so maybe it was this all along. They did say it is NOT in the liver, which they also checked and took that to be a good thing. Thanks again for your wishes. Do you happen to know about any new treatments specific to bone caner? I know there are two types and am going to try to find out which she has. At this point all I know is that she has been cautioned to expect possible breaks and fragility, but I thought that was because of whatever tretment she starts next week.
2 people like this
• Ireland
27 May 07
I will try to find out what the name of the study she is doing is called. I know she had some strings pulled for her as a realitve of hers is a physician. I hope it is really miraculous, ground breaking stuff.
1 person likes this
@Manoj_s (939)
• India
27 May 07
Ask the doctor can he guarentee a complete cure for cancer .and his answer will be no.there is no medicine will cure cancer .but if u some how attend her the following camp she is going to survive.why dont u try any other alternative therapy.i have personally seen that cancer is disease which can be cured easily .just change the diet into non cooked foods like fruits,raw veg and nuts.this will surely help along with attending the following camp just visit the following website and attend the camp of yoga breahing exercise master baba ramdev .i am not a promoter of this website nor I need something from u .it is just that people are just unnecessary pain by giving his money .lot of people in india has cured cancer watching him over television channel and doing it at home .mediccation is not going t ocure cancer . I think if u wish u may watch his programme on Astha international which is availbale on or he is conducting his camp on july .for details visit his website. www.divyayoga.com or www.powerofbreath.org www.yogacampusa.org it will surely help u this man single handedly is changing the entire india throuhg his yoga.lot of poor people worship him as god .and anybody gives back life to the suffering is a god.lot of multinational pharm cos are aginst him now a days coz of him they are losing thier money lot of people are getting cured simply watching him on t.v. if possibe find out a indian who knows Hindi language in your area and watch ASTHA international . In the USA, AASTHA International is available on the World Direct platform of DIRECTV at channel no. 2005. For subscription call 1-800-378-4179 or contact a local DIRECTV dealer. In the UK, AASTHA International is available on the SKY Digital Platform of BskyB at channel no 808. For subscription, call on 0870 017 0730 or 0845 604 8277 or subscribe online at www.aasthashop.com. . In Canada, AASTHA International is available on Rogers`s Digital Cable via ATN at channel number 584. For subscription, call 1-888-764-3771 or call ATN on 905-836-6460. Or attend his camp which is amazng in fact which will help u surely coz the atmosphere in the camp will be something else..you can clear u r doubts also.i have give the links for registraion find our mor u rself .
@Manoj_s (939)
• India
27 May 07
learn more about complete cure for cancer by having a visit to this site also www.drbass.com u can do something for u r friend.
2 people like this
• Ireland
28 May 07
Thanks for your links and well wishes. I will pass along everythng I find to her and let her try what she thinks might help. She has followed special diets in the past, after she was first diagnosed, so she may find some of this of interest. All I can do is offer, and again thanks for taking the time to share this.
@estherlou (5015)
• United States
27 May 07
So sorry to hear this! Said a prayer for you and your friend! Sorry, I'm not much help when it comes to information about cancer. My mother had a mastectomy, but had a slow-moving, easy-to-remove cancer. She then later had colon cancer and it was easily removed and contained. She never had to have any chemo or radiation therapy, thanks be to God. I actually haven't heard of getting cancer in the spine, but I guess cancer can show up anywhere.
2 people like this
• Ireland
27 May 07
Thank you. My mother and aunt also had a masectomy, a year before my friend did. I thought at 4-5 years we could breath bit easier. I hadn't heard of it either but get the impression it's in the bne, like the vertebra, rather than a grwoth. I will hopefully find out more specifics tomorrow. She is still pretty shaken up and is blanking a lot of what she was told.
1 person likes this
@KarenO52 (2950)
• United States
28 May 07
I'm so sorry to hear about your friend. I don't know of any information or treatment of bone cancer, but I do know that survival and recovery is possible. It is a very scary thing, and the radiation can be very tough. I just lost a friend to esophogeal cancer last week, he had to quit the radiation because he had a heart attack from it. Even though they had to stop the radiation, at first they thought the cancer was gone, but then it came back. You never know with cancer, what it's going to do. I think the alternative treatments are worth a try. The American Cancer Society has a lot of information, in case you haven't heard of them. Here's a link to their site: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/home/index.asp
1 person likes this
• Ireland
28 May 07
I am sorry to hear about your friend, too. I don't understand why our bodies do this. She may very well be interested in alternative treatments, and she is no stranger to odd diets. I just made an email list of all of this stuff and sent it to her. Thank you for your help and well wishes.
@ellie26 (4139)
• Malaysia
28 May 07
Hi Woodpigeon, try to check on this website. It is an alternative medicine. I thought you might be interested. http://www.4uherb.com/index.htm
1 person likes this
• Ireland
28 May 07
Thank you. I am going to pass all this along to her.
• Philippines
28 May 07
I am a practitioner of Alternative Medicine. There are so many natural products on the market that could help the Immune system to fight against the Cancer. I am in the Philippines and I would like to help.I would recommend the company called 4Life research,the product is called Transfer Factor you can call the landline at(632)6381435. Only if you like, you may order through member no. 6309801. If not then you may just ask the General Manager Glen Ortega for help. A change of lifestyle is also needed, I will be writing about it very soon Thanks.
• Ireland
28 May 07
Thanks for the information. She is going to have alot of different things to choose from. Do you know anything that eases the effects of radiation therapy? While she might be interested in some of these ideas, I think one of the major side effects is nausea so I don't know how much oral teas and vitamins she is going to want to or be able to try to get down.
28 May 07
Oh my god thats real bad. its such a horrible thing to have to go through to have it gone and for it to come back and at that age bless her, i hope it goes again and dosent come back for her sack and her kids.i dont have a clue what she should take but i really do hope it dispears forever.
1 person likes this
• Ireland
28 May 07
Thank you for your kind thoughts. We are all hoping so, too. She isn't the sort to give up, so if anyone will fight, she will. I just saw her a few minutes ago and she looked in pretty darn good spirits.
@vonne28th (1494)
• Philippines
28 May 07
I've also known a woman with that kind of situation.The doctor told her that she only had six months remaining in her life,but you know,what she did was she started to eat only fresh fruits,vegetables and milk hoping her life would extend.She also took some vitamins and squalene(this is a gel-like supplement,it is taken from shark's oil)and continued taking this,.six months past but she and her family was surprised that she was now ok and the cancer was gone and still living until now. Everything is possible with Him,so tell her to keep her faith and try this suggestion
1 person likes this
• Ireland
28 May 07
That is a miracle for your friend. I will pass along the suggestion of squalene along with everything else. She has a hard road ahead of her. Thank you for your response.
• China
28 May 07
am sorry to hear that your friend has the cancer.but am very happy that your friend's cancer has returned.i hope his cancer will be cured in a short time . good luck for you and your friend.
1 person likes this
• Ireland
28 May 07
Thanks for your response, I think I know what you are saying. She will never know about all these well wishes from strangers, but I am sure in some way they are helping.