Metaplastic Breast Cancer

Do mammograms work with metaplastic breast cancer?

Mammograms help many women to find cancer.  However, most women with metaplastic breast cancer find the lump independently.  This is often after a mammogram has failed to find it.  Metaplastic breast cancer is unlike other types of breast cancers and is rare.  It is often painful and usually confused for a cyst.  It is extremely rare.  

 

The image below is from our Metaplastic Breast Cancer Facebook Group and is a recent poll that I did. One of the girls asked the question, "Did the Mammogram Find Your Cancer."  She was frustrated that a mammogram, ultrasound and MRI had not found it.  As you can see from the poll, she was not alone.  Over 93 women found the lump and in some cases the mammogram did not find it - even when the cancer was 1cm.  

Metaplastic Breast Cancer is rare and aggressive.  Many doctors have not heard of it.  If your cancer hurts or you feel something, always get it checked out.  

Metaplastic Breast Cancer Survivor! 8 Year Metaplastic Breast Cancer Survivour!

Metaplastic Breast Cancer (MBC or MpBC) is a rare form of cancer.  When I was diagnosed on October 9th 2009 I thought I was dead.  My life was over and metaplastic cancer would kill me.  I started searching on the Internet and found girls with this cancer.  I contacted them and several had died.  I was devasted and I thought Metaplastic BC was going to kill me.  So in 2010, I started a Facebook Group it was called MetaplasticBC.  Then after that, I launched a public group Metaplastic Breast Cancer on Facebook and also a Remembering the girls who died from Metaplastic Breast Cancer.  I thought that if I died, I would help as many girls as I could whilst alive.  I would provide support and as much information as possible for anyone who needed and wanted it.  I have had a wonderful team of admins including Judy, Cari, Jennifer, Deanna, Kim, Jacomi who have been strong advocates of #metaplastic. 

Well 8 years later, I am still here.  I am still alive and I am so grateful that I am alive!  Metaplastic Breast Cancer is rare, but more and more of us girls are alive and living.  This is important and essential.  I want to thank everyone currently on our Facebook Group, sister groups and pages or anyone with Metaplastic Breast Cancer.  There is hope for all of us and these 8 years have been tough - but worth it.  My cancer friends really are my cancer sisters.  

Cyberknife Treatment for cancer

Last week my friend Alexandra was over.  She came to Germany to Frankfurt for Cyberknife treatment.  Unlike chemo, Cyberknife has about a 90% success rate.  It is also fast and does not give anyone huge side effects. 

Cyberknife is radiation treatment - better known as Radio surgery.  The robot delivers radiation to specific areas often very small sections about 3-4mm.  It is non-invasive.  

In my opinion it is the real way to treat any metastatic cancer in the lungs or brain. 

Here are a few pictures. 

Above is the machine.  That is used for the procedure. 

Below is Alexandra strapped to the bed before the treatment. 

This last image is of the mask that you must wear during Cyberknife.

 

Just to show everyone how wonderful this is this a picture of Alexandra 2 days after treatment.  Her treatment lasted 1.5 hours and there were no side effects. 

New paths with Reiki, 7 years after breast cancer

I have been getting a lot of emails recently asking me "if I am still there!". 

First of all, I apologise for not keeping up with this blog.  It is not that I have forgotten my sisters.. it is that I spend a vast amount of time on Facebook and in the Facebook group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/metaplasticbc/

Anyway, I will try and keep this blog up a bit more too. 

So, a bit of an update.

I hit my 7 year after cancer mark and celebrated with a trip to the hospital after a food allergy.

My thyroid is back to normal and I don’t need to take any hormones anymore. 

This New Year, I started to learn Reiki.  My wonderful cousin Renu is a Reiki guru and she performed Reiki on me a few years ago.  Since then, I have encouraged a lot of the late stage or about to pass cancer girls to have it.  It helps in the transition.  But it also helps when you are healthy to realign your body and mind. 

I am so excited about this course I am doing!  I hope to master the techniques and send healing to my friends on different parts of their cancer journeys.  I know it won’t happen overnight and I have a lot to learn and practice but my mind is in the right place.  I feel that I sort of have a calling to help cancer patients and to offer Reiki.

So, signing off in love and light and don’t hesitate to contact me XX

Bena

Metaplastic Carcinoma of the Breast statistics explained!

Recently I have published a few slideshares on Metaplastic Carcinoma of the Breast (MCB). A term that I used to call Metaplastic Breast Cancer (MCB).  However, following the new research below - I am going with the experts! 

 

Anyway  the latest presentation is below.  It is an explanation of our database - which you can also find below.  

 

The above explains the actual working copy of the database which can be found here...

Metaplastic Carcinoma of the breast (MCB)

Metaplastic Breast Cancer 2015

 

I found this new article on metaplastic carcinoma of the breast (MCB).  It is the latest info out there from June 2015 and I simply love the new acronym.  For ages I have been using MBC - metaplastic breast cancer.  Others have been putting in a P between the M and the B - but it just hasn't looked good to me!  But with the MCB - I sort of like it.

Metaplastic Carcinoma of the Breast... me thinks I have found my favourite!  The link for the article is below.  Thanks so much Elizabeth McKinnon, MD; Philip Xiao, MD for doing this. 

http://www.archivesofpathology.org/doi/pdf/10.5858/arpa.2013-0358-RS

 

Metaplastic Breast Cancer and how to survive it

Metaplastic breast cancer and how to survive it. This simple straightforward presentation is for anyone with metaplastic breast cancer. Or anyone that knows anyone with metaplastic breast cancer.  Please read it and share or like. 

The more reach we get the more lives we can save X

 

Bald really can be beautiful- pictures of our metaplastic breast cancer girls

Praise the bald head!! We asked several metaplastic breast cancer girls if they would please send us their hair loss journey. We are amazed at how many girls did! I know I am one in million and my hair never came back. In fact, 5 girls I know had the same problem. But it doesn't matter any more. I (we) am (are) alive and well. Please click the hair journey links below and share.

ON my wedding day 7.9.00    Chemotherapy 12.2.10 (at least I still have my eyebrows)

 

Our Metaplastic Breast Cancer website is just growing and growing.  Not only do we have close to 600 members on our Facebook group the number of girls surviving this disease is growing and growing.

Cari our web guru has been working with the girls to show positive images of women with cancer and how bald is beautiful.  Please take a look!  The most important links are

http://www.metaplasticbreastcancer.net/cont-Hair-Loss.html

 

Immunohistochemical study of metaplastic breast cancer

Just in! New research on metaplastic breast cancer an immunohistochemical study.

 

I was delighted to see this pop up just now on my news feed.   Finally some analysis on MBC and how it does target younger women.  The mean of this group is 36 and I was 36 when first diagnosed. 

Case Study: Do you need chemotherapy to fight metaplastic breast cancer?

Do you need chemotherapy to fight metaplastic breast cancer? This is a case study of a 70 year old woman with a tumour on her right breast and her decision to have radiation therapy only.