Stage IV HR-Positive Breast Cancer: Bethany's Patient Story
This breast cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Stage at diagnosis
- Stage IV
- Biomarkers
- ER-positive / hormone-positive
- Sex
- Female
- Spread to
- Liver; bones; lymph nodes; stomach
- Treatment
- chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, hormone therapy and maintenance therapy
- Outcome
- Living With Cancer
Treatment course, step by step
- Initial hormone-positive breast cancer treatment included 5-6 months of aggressive chemotherapy, including 4 treatments every other week
- Had double mastectomy with tissue expanders and lymph-node removal
- Summer radiation followed
- Took tamoxifen after radiation, then had final reconstruction about 1 year later
- Later Stage IV recurrence was treated with 2 unnamed chemotherapy drugs that shrank disease
- Maintenance treatment then used monthly infusion, hormone-therapy shot, and daily pills.
What happened, in summary
Bethany was 34 when breast cancer was first found in both breasts and a lymph node. Earlier, she had felt breast and underarm lumps but pursued thermography and other nonstandard approaches before ultimately getting a mammogram and ultrasound that showed suspicious findings. Her team staged the cancer as late Stage II or early Stage III. The cancer was hormone-positive and ER-positive, and the recommended plan was aggressive: 5 to 6 months of chemotherapy, then surgery, 6 weeks of radiation, and 5 to 10 years of hormone therapy. Bethany completed chemotherapy, chose a double mastectomy with tissue expanders, and had lymph nodes removed. Pathology after surgery showed no evidence of disease. She then had radiation that summer and started tamoxifen. After treatment, Bethany rebuilt her life, separated from her husband, moved to Colorado, and found a new relationship. Then persistent low back pain became severe enough that she pushed for imaging. MRI showed lesions throughout her bones, and PET scan later showed cancer in the liver, bones, lymph nodes, and stomach. She was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer. Two unnamed chemotherapy drugs shrank the disease, and she transitioned to maintenance treatment with a monthly infusion, a hormone-therapy shot, and daily pills. As of December 2022, she was living with metastatic breast cancer and focusing on living fully.
Where this story comes from
This is a lay summary of an account first published by The Patient Story. Read the original in full
How we source and attribute stories Accuracy and limitations
These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team. Read the full disclaimer