Living Today with #MBC.

In late 2017 I underwent the second of two surgeries to replace my breast implants from the reconstruction that followed my double mastectomy 12 years earlier.  Three weeks post-surgery my surgeon called me in tears to let me know that tissue samples from the surgery indicated my cancer had returned in my left breast.  It was very quickly determined that not only it back, it was back and on a mission having spread throughout my entire left breast and chest wall and into the bones of my lower vertebrae.  Many more surgeries followed to remove the cancer from my chest, followed my radiation and a very painful reconstruction process….all the while undergoing treat for my cancer which as it turns out has a very high IQ.  During the 12 years since my initial diagnosis things had changed, and my doctor was now able to order tests which identified the genetic make-up of my breast cancer including that I had the dreaded PIK3 mutation (a mutation which accelerates the speed at which the cancer finds a way around treatments).  The results of this test provided the basis for a customized treatment plan which I am still on today.  

Today my breast cancer continues to be microscopic, even 6 years after my diagnosis with #MBC.  Over time it has spread slowly throughout my entire skeleton and more recently taken hold in my liver, but I still do not have any tumors large enough to biopsy.  

I firmly believe I am still alive because I was provided with a customized treatment plan of targeted therapies which are specific to the genetic make-up of my type of #MBC.   This was provided to me immediately upon my diagnosis with #MBC and it still serves as the guide for my treatment today.   While my cancer is smart and adapts quickly as a result of my PIK3 mutation, my customized plan always guides the way and allows my doctors to move quickly to a new therapy as soon as one has stopped working.