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Posted 3/9/2015 1:11 PM (GMT 0)
Sooooooooooooo...after 1 and a half years of being on antibiotics for Lyme, I got to stop them but still stay on herbal antimicrobial.

A month and a half after stopping antibiotics, I got diagnosed with breast cancer. It's not too large. 1.35cm to 0.7 something cm....but for some reason, I'm suspecting that it has spreaded (from how my body is feeling). Last year mammogram was clear though. Note: no one in my family has cancer, I'm not overweight. Actually, the only possible risk I have is having my child late in life.

Anyone knows or has supporting data exhibiting correlation between Lyme and breast cancer? I'm really curious. The thought of them having correlation is just freaking me out -- The thought of my life is totally messed up by a little bug!!

I'm not even scared about the surgery, the radiation, or the possibility of chemo. What I'm freaking out are the possible pain from the scar tissue (God knows I have several of those to deal with already) and the possible of Lymphedema. Especially, Lymphedema.

Don't we Lyme patient already have to manage Lyme symptom for our entire life? Now I may have to lifetime manage Lymphedema on top of that too.
Posted 3/9/2015 1:23 PM (GMT 0)
Hi RC2013,
Yes, it does seem totally unfair to get this on top of Lyme disease. If it is any consolation, the two women I know with both Lyme and Breast cancer said that the cancer was a breeze to deal with compared to Lyme.

I guess one bright thing is that other people understand the cancer diagnosis better and might be of more help!

Take care.
Posted 3/9/2015 1:49 PM (GMT 0)
achievinggrace. Thanks for your response. Yes, not concern about the cancer treatment. Com'on, it's got to be pretty much about the same as Lyme treatment (my husband compares lyme treatment to cancer all the time -- just kill everything). It's the lymphedema that will have the most impact to my quality of life.

And, I read somewhere (don't remember where) that lyme treatment could make our cell more susceptible to develop to cancer. Hope it's not true since my son is being treated for lyme too.
Posted 3/9/2015 2:13 PM (GMT 0)
Sounds like you have a good husband there! I haven't seen any reports of Lyme making us more susceptible to cancer, but perhaps one of our other members has come across it in their research.

For me, I tend not to want to look for more potential problems! I'm just dealing with what is in front of me. I can understand you wanting to be prepared. Hope you get the answers you need!
Posted 3/9/2015 5:30 PM (GMT 0)
I'm sorry that you are dealing with breast cancer and lyme. I don't know of a connection, but I do think it's possible that you could of had bc for a while and it just wasn't picked up by the previous mammogram. Do you have to get lymph nodes removed? My mother had bc and had a significant number of lymph nodes removed in addition to the lumpectomy. Her arm was never quite normal but she never got lymphedema. I think the standard of care has changed since her first diagnosis and I don't think they take out all the lymph nodes like they used to, maybe just a couple, if any. Your risk of lymphedema compared to women getting bc treatments 15-20 years back is probably much lower if this is the case.
Posted 3/9/2015 5:58 PM (GMT 0)
Sadly family history is becoming irrelevant when it comes to cancer.

There's no family history until the first person in a family gets diagnosed. Cancer has become that prevalent.

Thank goodness you get mammograms every year. Early detection is key. Treatment, full circle is typically a year and compared to Lyme in most cases is far easier. Be well.
Posted 3/10/2015 2:26 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks everyone for your response. I guess the only thing we can do is keep fighting and moving forward.

BTW, does anyone know if I can continue with my Lyme treatment while I'm treating my cancer, or do I have to finish with my cancer treatment first then come back to Lyme?

Thanks
Posted 3/10/2015 3:29 AM (GMT 0)
Hey RC, so sorry to hear about your cancer diagnosis. I am ashamed to say this, but maybe some of you can relate....i have often wished i had cancer instead of lyme. At least the doctors can help us and we dont feel so lonely in this disease. Please dont take offence to this post, and I would never say this out loud, but thats how I feel. I wish you much success and recovery and will be praying for you.
Posted 3/10/2015 8:36 PM (GMT 0)
@ Wondering161. No offense at all. I used to say that too, and friends who had cancer agreed with me. The suck part is that now I've got both. LOL.

Because of stress the lyme symptoms are being aggravated the past few days (lots of joints pain).......which leads to my question -- if I can continue my Lyme treatment while I'm going through my cancer treatment, or I have to take a break from Lyme treatment for awhile. The thought of taking a break from Lyme treatment is scaring me.
Posted 3/10/2015 10:50 PM (GMT 0)
I am a breast cancer survivor. I'm not certain that there is a correlation, except that the first time I got a rash from a tick was in the same location as the cancer, which was dxed later. That may have been a coincidence, or I may not have remembered the exact location of the tick bite correctly.

One thing is for certain: The chemotherapy is what caused the Lyme symptoms to really kick in.

Mine was 3-4 centimeters, and it only spread to one lymph node.

A tumor as small as the one you have is unlikely to spread.

I can tell you that chemo. is far worse than the surgery I had, and I had a pretty big tumor, plus, my under arm lymph node was removed. The worst pain from the incision only lasted a few days, and it wasn't even that bad. Plus, as I said, your tumor is smaller. You probably won't need a full mastectomy.

I can tell you what to do to avoid lymphedema. It's not that hard. You just need to do certain exercises very soon after surgery. Now the exercises HURT, but they're worth it!!! The best thing to do is to find a volunteer from the American Cancer Society (I think it was?) to help you. That person will give you exercises that your doctor won't.

The only thing radiation does is to make you tired and give you a sunburn. That's it.

If there is any way you can avoid chemo., do it, bc it's very toxic, and as I said, that's what caused my Lyme to kick in. Of course, it's your body, so you have to judge for yourself.

PM me if you wish. Marie LS is also a cancer survivor.

Margaret
Posted 3/10/2015 11:48 PM (GMT 0)
Like Margaret mentionned, I'm also a cancer survivor (although not breast cancer, late stage Lymphoma, during childhood).

If you have any questions or you need to talk, please fee l free to pm me.

As in Margaret's case, the cancer/chemo (tons of prednisone) made the Lyme come out.
The chemo is no walk in the park. But I think they made progress compared to 20 yrs ago. They don't even use part of the protocol I had anymore because of the many severe long term effects. They had to treat agressively because of my age.

I had full mantle radiation, I don't know if that is the case with (your stage of) breast cancer.

All of this happened a long time ago, but if someone asked me to combine the 2 treatments, I'm pretty sure I would loose it.
Is there any way that your oncologist would cooperate or at least communicate with your llmd? You really need to be careful not to put too much pressure on your body. If undergoing chemo, your immunity will drop.
I think you need to discuss this with your drs... I really hope they'll be willing to cooperate in some kind of way.

In my personal opinion... Both treatments together would be far too much to handle..., but I'm no doctor...

What does your oncologist say about it?

Marie
Posted 3/10/2015 11:53 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, Marie, I agree.

M
Posted 3/20/2015 6:33 PM (GMT 0)
Margaret & Marie, thanks for your insights. Well, all the doctors involved -- including my LLMD -- agree that I need to take care of the cancer first, so Lyme treatment will be put on hold until at least the pathology from the surgery comes back. Basically, I will pause my lyme treatment until after the surgery is done.

I will have full bilateral mastectomy (yes, both breasts will be removed). Full mastectomy has to do with the size of my breast instead of the size of the mass.

Yes, I'm very concerned about my Lyme symptom returning. So afraid of having to start all over on that. Thanks for letting me know about the possibility of chemo triggering my Lyme symptoms all over. I'm hoping that my pathology will show no spread and I won't need chemo.

My LLMD and I will still keep our appointment regularly to make sure nothing goes crazy.
Posted 3/20/2015 7:38 PM (GMT 0)
I'm so sorry you have to deal with all of that RC...

I hope you will recover quickly from the surgery. Please listen to your body. It's good though that you will keep in touch with your LLMD.

I wish you a lot of courage, please take good care of yourself,

Marie
Posted 3/20/2015 10:41 PM (GMT 0)

RC2013 said...
Sooooooooooooo...after 1 and a half years of being on antibiotics for Lyme, I got to stop them but still stay on herbal antimicrobial.

A month and a half after stopping antibiotics, I got diagnosed with breast cancer. It's not too large. 1.35cm to 0.7 something cm....but for some reason, I'm suspecting that it has spreaded (from how my body is feeling). Last year mammogram was clear though. Note: no one in my family has cancer, I'm not overweight. Actually, the only possible risk I have is having my child late in life.

Anyone knows or has supporting data exhibiting correlation between Lyme and breast cancer? I'm really curious. The thought of them having correlation is just freaking me out -- The thought of my life is totally messed up by a little bug!!

I'm not even scared about the surgery, the radiation, or the possibility of chemo. What I'm freaking out are the possible pain from the scar tissue (God knows I have several of those to deal with already) and the possible of Lymphedema. Especially, Lymphedema.

Don't we Lyme patient already have to manage Lyme symptom for our entire life? Now I may have to lifetime manage Lymphedema on top of that too.


which kind of BC you have. There are multiple forms, the most aggressive is the one that does not respond to estrogen therapy, and the ones that doesnt show up on Mammogram as tumors, because this type can form sheets instead of tumors. You are at risk if you carry the brac1 or brac 2 mutation, have had genetic testing for that? cancer takes years to decades to develop, faster if you have heridatary genes. There hasnt been correlation, but there are for other infections, such as H.PYLORI, other bacteria that produces carcinogenic properties
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