Triple Negative Breast Cancer and Chemotherapy

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  • Luah
    Luah Member Posts: 1,541
    edited April 2010

    Ladies, just wanted to say how much I appreciate the comraderie and support on this forum.  I think we trip negs have to be a super strong bunch and I'm so glad to have "met" you. 

    Time for beddie-bye now - did 10/12 taxol today and the benedryl, as usual, has wiped me out. Sweet dreams everyone. 

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  • farfaith
    farfaith Member Posts: 46
    edited April 2010

    i have hade chemo first with tripple neg.hade 2 nd treatment wen.when i got my check up dr said it was olrady shrenking the chemo and the good lord are taking cae of me amen.

    JANICE know they can not promoice anything their are so manny that have hade good out comes i think it has a lot with what are boddy is missing iv been studing what are cells need to work corecly it has made a lot of sence.

    this might be something everyone might like to look at 

    cancerfightingstratagies.com

    beast wishies to all and God bless

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  • Titan
    Titan Member Posts: 2,956
    edited April 2010

    I wish we could hear from Janice!  Shout out to Janice!

    Nice post farfaith!  

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  • 5andcounting
    5andcounting Member Posts: 232
    edited July 2010

    Not sure if any of my "peeps" still come on to read things but wanted to say thank you to everyone who gave support and encouragement to me during treatment.

    Chemo ended April 10th, 2010. Radiation ended two weeks ago. I feel great. I have some hair and I am living every day just thankful and not thinking too far into the future.

    After being unceremoniously dumped by my "boyfriend" of one year at time of diagnosis, I started spending time with a male friend who became more and more and he asked me to marry him last month.

    Sounds like a happy ending so far and I am staying in the moment even though now the "training wheels" (chemo and rads) have come off the bicycle.  Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the summer. We certainly deserve to, it was one dark winter. Love, prayers, and hugs to you all.

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  • sjstrader820
    sjstrader820 Member Posts: 10
    edited July 2010

    I'm 9 days post mast and one drain still in. Reading all the posts and sharing all the concerns. This is my 2nd time, same breast, lumpectomy first time. Sure helps to hear encouragement while recovering and facing who know what in the future. I don't know if I will be offered chemo this time around, hope not. Try to enjoy this beautiful day.

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  • Sugar77
    Sugar77 Member Posts: 2,138
    edited July 2010

    crs319 - this is such wonderful news about your engagement! I'm glad to hear you are doing well. We went through chemo together, starting in December.

    There is a really great new thread that Titan created. It's called "Calling all TNS"...you might want to check it out.  It's pretty upbeat and there is a lot of great dialogue among the Triple Negative sisters

    Hope to see you there and all the best!

    Sherri 

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  • monisch
    monisch Member Posts: 57
    edited July 2010

    Hi Ladies,

    I was diagnosed with TNBC  , grade 2, stage Ia, N0.  I had my lumpechtomy on the 15 of June and have my Onc. appt. aug 03.  From what I can read out of my Pathology report is that they recommend Polychemotherapy FEC/DOC , Taxan. After that 6 weeks Rads 5x per week.

    What can I expect from such a Chemo treatment ?  Also worried that 7 weeks may be too long before starting Chemo after the Operation.

    I'm so glad there are these different websites for us..I would feel so alone without them.

    In Germany ( thats where I live ) there arent many website forums concerning BC.

    God bless all of you and thanks for being here !!  Smile

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  • MsBliss
    MsBliss Member Posts: 536
    edited July 2010

    Dear Heidi,

    Thank you for sharing the picture of Mr Fox and for giving these creatures a second chance at surviving....what a special mission you are on.

    Bliss

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  • MBJ
    MBJ Member Posts: 4,352
    edited July 2010

    crs319:  I was doing chemo november thru to march 1 along with you and sugar.  We all made it through.  I am so happy that you found someone special during all of this.  I am still amazed by the new friends I have found on this journey and how some people just fade into the background.  Congratulations on making it through.

    sugar:  You dyed your hair dark!!  I almost didn't recognize you.  My hair is almost as long as yours but I did the opposite--I bleached it white.

    monisch:  I am not familiar with two of the drugs you are taking.  Ask lots of questions and find out if any of these drugs affect your heart.  I have a very dear friend in England who now has permanent heart damage from a drug that they do there that is banned here.  As far as waiting for the chemo and how soon they start it seems to vary dr to dr, state to state, country to country.  Are you on any kind of natural supplements to assist in your recovery?  Any diet changes?  My first dr (whom I fired) had me wait almost two months before having chemo prior to having surgery and I would have been done now if he hadn't made me wait.  You may have to allow your body to recover before starting chemo as surgery is very difficult and healing can take time.  Best of luck and join us on Calling All TN's!

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  • MBJ
    MBJ Member Posts: 4,352
    edited July 2010

    sjstrader:  You will get through and part of getting the best treatment is staying positive and coming here to get some emotional support.  I had chemo, a left skin saving MX in March and I am doing great.  I have an expander in that will come out August 19th and I can't wait.  For me, just doing chemo and surgery was not enough.  I take tons of supplements and I made lifestyle and diet changes because for us TN's eating low fat, high nutrition and getting daily excercise is key to our survival.  Join us on Calling All TN's!

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  • Sugar77
    Sugar77 Member Posts: 2,138
    edited July 2010

    MBJ - yes, I've colored my hair twice now.  I figured now is the time to try different shades since it's so short. I actually had it colored to match one of my wigs!

    Sherri 

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  • Luah
    Luah Member Posts: 1,541
    edited July 2010
    Monisch:  By all means check with your docs, but my understanding is that FEC, commonly used in Europe and Canada, is considered to be at least equivalent to AC and easier on the heart. DOC, if it's docetaxal, is a taxane like Taxol.
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  • Debbie57
    Debbie57 Member Posts: 5
    edited August 2010

    How many year survivor are you? what was your follow-up?

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  • triplenegativepatient1
    triplenegativepatient1 Member Posts: 2
    edited December 2010

    Dear Janice:

    It does sound like your team has withheld information from you, but hopefully, you have a choice to continue with them.... or to move forward with a new team of cancer specialists.   

    As a patient, another suggestion is to do your own research on triple negative cancer - all forms of treatment as well as clinical trials.  We are all in the same boat, facing possible future recurrences after primary treatment.  We don't know if it will happen to us, but the odds are seemingly at 50%.  And it's not clear how a recurrence will manifest itself (whether in another breast, the same breast, in the bones, the liver etc.).   But there IS something we can do about it.  Thankfully, a lot of breast cancer research is now directed  at finding a target drug(s) for TNBC (triple negative breast cancer) which is what I have too.   This means that in the future it will be easier to treat TNBC once new medications are developed that are more effective and more efficient in how they work.    We are fortunate in that during this upcoming decade a lot more research will be done to help people like us who have this disease.   

     You are not alone.   Others are facing this too.   We shall preval.

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  • adgirl5
    adgirl5 Member Posts: 81
    edited November 2011

    Janice- I was told the same by my GYN, local MO, surgeon,, etc. etc.  Led to believe just a little surgery then a 98% chance of long term survival.  I'm a very positive person, but also a realist.  I despise not getting the full truth about this disease.  In fact, all information about TN had to be found by me from my path report.  Always insist on a copy of every test; pathology, scans, blood work, etc.  I've done this since my 20's.  I feel lucky that I don't have young kids, mine are grown, I have granddaughters and am older than many TN women.  I was dx'ed in July of this year- a few months after my 56th birthday.  We're all in this together Janice.  My MO at MD Anderson said there are some great things for TNs on the horizon!

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  • umater
    umater Member Posts: 15
    edited November 2011

    bump

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  • umater
    umater Member Posts: 15
    edited November 2011

    I am trying to learn more about this forum, still learning.  Sorry about that.   I do have a question, I just had a breast removed with reconstruction (also had 4 nodes out of 13 removed that had cancer traces), so I will be set up with 6 weeks of radiation.  My question is this, what do you do to follow your cancer once all this treatment is complete? I just sent blood to test for Brca1 (SP) and Brca2 at this point I am not sure what I will do if it comes back positive.  BTW, I was dx in May with TN BC, went through chemo from May to September (AC and T).  Had surgery on 10/21 and am recovering from surgery now.  Will start radiation soon.  Has anyone heard of Metformin for clinical trails for the prevention of cancer cells coming back?

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  • Babs37
    Babs37 Member Posts: 455
    edited November 2011

    umater- I'm on the metformin trial since april. I'm from Quebec,Canada. I take 850mg of metformin 2 X a day. I'm pretty sure I got the metformin and not the placebo because of the SE I have. I am happy to be in the trial and if it can stop my cancer from recurring, well it's worth the SE.

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  • umater
    umater Member Posts: 15
    edited November 2011

    So Babs37, what are your SE?  How long will you be in the trial?  What else can you tell me about it?  I have read some about it and am trying to determine if I want to go this route.  Thank you for any additional information you can share with me. 

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  • Artemisnz
    Artemisnz Member Posts: 10
    edited November 2011

    My doctor showed me a graph of survival rates on my initial assessment. It basically said that the survival rate for Triple Negative was about 75%

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  • suzette5956
    suzette5956 Member Posts: 14
    edited January 2012

    I am triple neg, no nodes. I had a mascectomy on Dec 16th. Don't have appt with oncologist until 8th  Feb. Assume I will be starting chemo the  following week. Feeling anxious about the wait.

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  • Titan
    Titan Member Posts: 2,956
    edited January 2012

    This is kind of an older thread...not that we can't talk...I would love to hear from Janice...she hasn't been on here for so long..

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  • 5andcounting
    5andcounting Member Posts: 232
    edited January 2012

    Just wanted to post a hello.  Titan, I remember you from when I was undergoing chemo! Hope you are doing well.

     I am two plus years out now from surgery and doing well.  Married in October, blissfully happy and still dread the three month check ups.  Have occasional aches and pains and always think ...uh oh...but so far so good.    The further I get away from it, the less I think about going on line so I don't think anyone should take it negatively that there a not a lot of long term surivors on this thread. I think the busier and happier we get, the further it gets from our minds. (Except at checkups....)  Just want to encourage all of you going through it.  It gets so much better and it truly has made me a stronger, happier person and much more appreciative of every beautiful day. Love and hugs to all of you in the middle of treatment and high fives to those of us who squeaked through it..... 

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  • 5andcounting
    5andcounting Member Posts: 232
    edited January 2012

    Pic of our wedding day....

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  • CharB22
    CharB22 Member Posts: 310
    edited January 2012

    I keep reading about survival rates and my MO & BS both talk about survival rates - especially lumpectomy vs mastecomy. What are the recurrance rates of TN - especially with lumpectomy?

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  • Titan
    Titan Member Posts: 2,956
    edited February 2012

    Hi CRS!  love the wedding pic..glad that you are doing well!  I'm doing OK..almost 3 years out but the anxiety keeps creeping on me sometimes...sometimes it is like a bad dream that happened along time ago and then sometimes it just hits me....

    Char...I can't find any reocurrence rates either..just that they are higher than our er pr positive sisters...our overall 5 year survival rate is lower to..in the 77% range and the positives are more like in the 85% range.

    People on here like to say it is a crapshoot..and I agree with them...and to try to put it behind you and move on and live...which is easy to say but hard to do..

    I just try to keep myself busy...exercise, eat right..maybe that won't help as far as reocurrence but I feel better doing it anyway... keeping busy keeps my mind of of things...drives my DH nuts because I'm always asking him "what do you want to do now"...and I try to wear myself out so that I can sleep at night without waking up million times...

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