since july 1, 2016 i have been at odds with my primary care physician about a lump just below my chin, but definitely in the upper chest. she insisted i be seen in pain management before she would do any further treatment, including diagnosing. after a full year had gone by with no improvement, but in fact even more serious symptoms, i had no choice but to be seen in emergency. that was the first weekend of july, 2017. after some very preliminary tests, it was discovered breast cancer i had been treated for in 2009 had metasticized throughout my entire body, starting at the exact location where the initial problem was! at this point the tumor is 13x13x13 cm, the cancer has spread throughout the entire periphery of my body, and wrapped itself around my waist. this explains why i had been unable to walk, due to extreme pain and no strength in my legs, for the preceding 2 months before i finally gave up trying to contact my doctor, via email, and went to the er. in addition the cancer has now spread, at least the signs are still small, to my brain. needless to say i was in horrific pain...and shock. the doctors i saw while in the hospital for observation, offered a very bleak prognosis. anywhere from 60-90 days without any chemo treatment, but no more than a year of life, with chemo. now i am home, on a huge amount of pain medication, arimedex, and scheduled to start herceptin chemo within the week and my first radiation treatment tomorrow. i honestly admit at this point i am engaged in a personal self-struggle regarding whether to go through with all this. but when i was diagnosed with stage 3c breast cancer in 09 the prognosis was almost as bleak, but i launched the good fight. all i want to be able to answer, for myself and others (i have no children and am not married) is what part of all of this am i directly responsible for. at this point the answer has little, if any bearing on where i find myself, but the answer might possibly be able to offer some help, encouragement, motivation and at the very least insight and perspective to someone i will never even know of or about. and in the very end, for me, that is what any and all research is about with any of the remaining health issues mankind faces,,,,don t you agree? thank you in advance of any offer of advice, suggestion, opinion or other form of expression you choose to post. there are many who may potentially benefit from every utterance made. God bless you all in the work you do for others...