Hi, I've not got the same cancer but it's stage 4. I have inflammatory breast cancer that has spread to lymph nodes, both lungs and liver. 

I've been refused surgery as it's spread out of the breast. I've had 7 cycles of chemo. My last one is next month and then I'll continue on the target drugs until end of life. 

I was told that I had upto 12 months left if I declined treatment and upto 2 years with. However my last scan showed that the treatment is working. The 11cm by 9cm breast tumour had completely gone ( quite often there's no tumour with this type of cancer). The lymph nodes were clear as were the lungs and 2 out of 3 tumours on the liver had gone and the remaining one had shrunk significantly. I've had a couple more treatments since and am expecting to be cancer free next month when I have a scan.

When I was told that I was stage 4 I told my oncologist that I was too young to die (51) and that I intended to meet and get to know my grandbabies. 

I saw him earlier in the week and he was amazed by how well I've responded to the treatment. I have a positive attitude most of the time and I'm determined to live as long as possible. Like yours my cancer is extremely aggressive. However I don't think that any professional actually knows how long any of us have and they just work from statistics which are often year's old. 

Anyway take care of yourself and most of all be kind to yourself.

Barb

I'm stage 4, and I'm 54, I've read so many times you cant cure stage 4 only treat it, so is this not true, and people can be cancer free,  so even though they said  you have 2 years to live, are you expected to get rid of cancer 100%

Hi, you're right yes I have incurable cancer. My cancer has spread throughout my body through my blood/lymphatic system but hopefully there won't be any live cells active once I complete chemo. That's what I mean by cancer free. 

However there will be dormant cells lying around which could spring to life and resume growing at any time. There are several ladies on this forum who have stage 4 breast cancer and survived 10 years or more. 

The truth is nobody knows how long we'll live so I've decided to live well and not become a statistic. Stage 4 isn't an immediate death sentence anymore and I'm hoping that a few years from now with all the research that there'll be a cure for cancer. 

Barb

Hi, you're right yes I have incurable cancer. My cancer has spread throughout my body through my blood/lymphatic system but hopefully there won't be any live cells active once I complete chemo. That's what I mean by cancer free. 

However there will be dormant cells lying around which could spring to life and resume growing at any time. There are several ladies on this forum who have stage 4 breast cancer and survived 10 years or more. 

The truth is nobody knows how long we'll live so I've decided to live well and not become a statistic. Stage 4 isn't an immediate death sentence anymore and I'm hoping that a few years from now with all the research that there'll be a cure for cancer. 

Barb