Recurrance of endometrial cancer to lung

I have to admit that my life hasn't been very demanding during the last ~14 months since I found out that my cancer recurred. So I don't have many useful suggestions. If I needed to work full-time or take care of other people, that would have been a big problem.

I wouldn't call it courage. It's acceptance. I've accepted that my life is unlikely to get any better in the future, so I should try to get whatever enjoyment I can out of it now, and spend time with the people I care about during those times when I feel OK. (I plan to keep trying different treatments and am still hoping to hit NED, but realistically, I don't think that's very likely.)

My side effects on carbo/taxol weren't as bad as yours seem to be. I was fairly non-functional for the first week of each cycle, but the next two weeks I felt OK. I refused the Keytruda maintenance because I didn't think it was doing anything. I've been on clinical trials since then. That has been a very mixed experience. Just started the second one a month ago.

If I thought I was going to live to be 90, I would think my retirement savings were inadequate, but I'm not, so I'm not worrying about money. I have a very flexible, non-demanding, low-paying part-time job. The insurance I've gotten off the Obamacare exchange has been OK, and if your income is below ~40K, you can get a plan where the premium is mostly covered by the subsidy. (You're still going to get stuck with a ~$9000 out of pocket maximum if you have expensive medical care.)

I'm hoping you find the strength, and the peace, to manage these struggles.

The havoc chemo & immunotherapy has taken on my mind & body, makes me wonder if Hormonal Therapy, less invasive, would’ve been a better choice yet delivered the same or even the results I am hoping for.

This mental cognitive decline / brain fog, is scary. Not sure, if it will get better or gets worse?

Also, worried & concerned from any & all future side effects that may pop up in future.

I think the chemo brain usually goes away pretty soon after you stop chemo. Keytruda apparently sometimes has long-term effects. I don't know if, or how often, it causes brain fog.

Have you asked your Dr about hormone blockers? Or drug combinations including hormone blockers? I haven't looked into the side effects of these things, but I'm pretty sure they have some.

Just saw my Dr today. 2nd guessing choice of Chemo vs Hormonal therapy got her ticked. Don’t know anymore what is right or wrong or what I should be asking.

Can you get a second opinion at a different hospital? She shouldn't get ticked at your questions.

If you have decent out of network coverage, it might be worth going to one of the highly ranked hospitals like the Mayo or MD Anderson. If not, a different local hospital will at least give you a different perspective, and hopefully won't take your questions personally.

Did inquire with MD Anderson & they ask for in person visit with 5-6 days on premises stay. They run their own tests to suggest the best approach. I didn’t have such flexibility hence stayed with current provider. Will look into possibly another local hospitals.

@fighter2025 Like @val64 suggested I am also wondering about a second opinion. Is MD Anderson not available to you because they are not in your insurance network? Is that what yo mean by not having the flexibility? When you saw your doctor yesterday what did she recommend for your follow-up treatment?

Hi there,
I have stage 3C endometrial cancer. Metastases has occurred since my my first and only series of pac/carbo (6-rounds). Apparently this means I'm platinum resistant. Doc thought putting me on hormonal treatment using Anastrozole (Arimidex). About 9% effective but doctor thought it might do 'something' so that I could go away for a few months at a time and take the the pills. Tried them for the first month at home and they didn't do a thing.
Special diet with any kind of HER positive cancer is mainly vegetarian -- no foods containing estrogens. Exercise when you can, even if it's just a short walk, and increase the level/time when you begin to feel better. Sleep when you feel tired.
I use a heating pad at night on and around pelvis, just because it's so comformy. Go to bed at the same time each night. I took zopiclone as a sleep aid only when I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn
t fall back to sleep. I always took melatonian-10mg--about an hour before betime too.
I don't take them now because I'm on a different cancer treatment and the oncologist forbids me to take 'cancer supplements", like melatonin, indole-3-carbinol, Naltrexon, Quercetin*, and turkey tail or reishi mushroom extracts. I discovered that Quercetin was a no-no for HER2 cancer.
While I was on these supplements I noticed that pain in my pelvis decreased and stopped some bleeding. While the pain hasn't increased since stopping, the bleeding has, a little bit.
As for the lungs: my last CT scan (one week ago) did show tiny spots, which the oncologist couldn't determine if they were cancer, or infection or something else. These spots appeared 10 months after my pac/carbo treatment ended. She said they're too small to treat. I assuming the new treatment regimen I'm on will address them if they are cancer.
The treatment I'm on now is ENHERTU.
Hope any of this helps.

MD Anderson is part of network but it’s in Houston, TX which would require an out of state trip. I am still 5-6 years away from retirement & need for health benefits, no choice but return to work hence will not have the time & flexibility to accommodate one week visit at MD Anderson.
Also, during my appt yesterday, option to continue on or stop the treatment was put on the table along with strong recommendation that I need help for anxiety control.

Hello, really appreciate you taking the time sharing your treatment journey with us. Sound like you have an amazing oncologist. This is super awesome.

When you say, no food containing estrogen … you mean plant food like flax, soy, etc that we know have phyto estrogen?
I was also told to stop medicinal mushrooms consumption during chemo & restriction continues while on Keytruda too.

I have been strictly on no-oil vegan diet but recently started including eggs & fish for the sake of protein. Not sure good idea or bad.

For exercise, I just walk whenever I can, especially as weather permits.

I have also run into the sleep issues. Massaging bottom of my feet with little bit oil, including area in-between toes.
I wear thin socks to prevent oil stains to sheets & take them off if feeling hot. This has tremendously improved the sleep situation. Hope it works for you as well.