Calling all TNs

Fighter_34

LJ- Budget work switching from legal field burnt out. Hang in there we are all praying for you. Enjoy the bday party.

Lovely-I am so glad it was just a scare. I know how you feel I use to have a meltdown almost weekly they have finally start to sub-side.

Titan-I 'WAS' in something similar to this, but I couldn't commit toooo much back and forth to the Dr.'s. What l did like about the project is that you got something out of it. Something that will boost your immune. I am currently in the metaformin project. I started last week.

It's starting to cool down in my area. I plan on going to the movies w/ my hubby later on today. Hope every does something relaxing this weekend. Thinking of you all!!!!

bak94

Hi LauraJane, I did not have a port the first time, this time I had to because my veins were shot. So far abraxane has been kind to me, I have done 2 out of 12 so far. Next week I get the avastin with it so I hope I still feel as good as I do now. My second diagnoses was found with a routine mammo, insurance started not paying for an mri after 5 years cancer free from the first time, I think an mri would have found it sooner. my tumor wasn't as big as the first time but already spread to the internal mammary nodes and a node under the im node, which why there is disagreement among my mo and the doc that read the pet/ct scan, my doc says stage 3, the other doc says stage 4 . I am going with stage 3! My surgeon also says stage 3.

Oh, the death with dignity is the law where it makes it legal for a doctor to administer a lethal dose of drugs in terminal cases. I don't think it is legal in all states.

Lee, my doc gave me ac again, and I do not know of anyone else that has done it twice. He administered it over a 24 hour period to limit heart damage. I had ac 8 years ago. This time he did a muga before each treatment and I had no changes, but as I understand it the changes can show up years later, so I am a bit worried, but I wanted to go aggressive and the ac got rid of the majority of my cancer according to pet/ct scan. Hopefully the abraxane and avastin will get the remaining! I will have surgery after the abraxane, and then rads, which will include were the positive nodes are. I did not have any nodes show up as positive in the auxillary area, so I hope that is still true after surgery.

KS-Congrats on your news

Lovelyface-Congrats to you too!

Suze-have a great time!

Happy weekend to all, including -Jenn, Riley, Fighter, Titan, MBJ, LRM, Babs, Painting, MityM, Ruth and everyone else too!

Titan

Hey Bak...about the adriamycin...when I had it I asked them if I had had my lifetime limit and they said no...

mccrimmon324

Titan how many treatments did you have?

bak94

Titan, that is what my doc said also. He said I had not had my lifetime dose the first time. I always thought my previous doctor went light on me because I felt pretty good on the ac! I had 4 ac every 3 weeks the first time, this time I had 6 ac every 2 weeks, and I did get more sick than the first time. Now I have had my lifetime dose, but my doc was very careful and has said studies have shown the 24 hour drip to be much kinder on ones heart. I guess many of these studies were with different cancer, I think they were done on blood cancers, such as leukemia and hodgkins.

Titan

Mccrimmon,,I had 4 adriamycin (plus the C)..every two weeks.

So..10 treatments of adriamycin must be the lifetime limit then..

MBJ

Bak:  Glad to hear you are holding up under chemo-Hoping they get the rest.  My 6 x TC
didn't appear to get it all but when I had my surgery, they realized that what was left was just a dea mass.  Crossing my fingers that all goes well so you can move on to surgery.

mccrimmon324

Titan, Thank you.  Just was wondering what the lifetime limit is.

Lovelyface

Dear Bak - I am just wondering whether both times, your receptor was trip. negative?  And I am amazed at such a gap between the two cancers.  2002 and then 2011, that is 9 years.  Why do they tell us that after 5 years, we are all on the clear, at least for us TN's.  A new primary in the breast is better than having metastatic, so that is really great news, I would think. I hate insurance companies to stop doing the MRI after 5 years.  While on the subject of MRI, does anyone know how this thing works.

Say if one has a deep skin fold on the breast and when they make you lie down with your breasts hanging in the holes for the MRI, and if there was a lump inside one of the deep skin folds, would it show on the MRI, if it was cancerous?  Do you think an MRI scans through deep skin folds and the scan is strong enough to detect anything even going through scar tissues and skin folds?  I have sent this question to a doctor who is the head of MRI in my hospital.  She said she will look at my chart and get back to me.  I am just wanting to make 100% sure that the lump I felt and continue to feel, did not hide from the MRI due to my deep skin fold. I have already been cleared by Dr. Fish, the radiologist via an ultrasound, and he also told me that he was going by my most recent MRI which was as clean as it could get.  You guys might call me a worriwart by now....... I am just double checking that's all.

gillyone

I wonder if your lifetime limit of adriamycin is not necessarily the number of times you have it, but the amount you are given, or even a combination of the two? I seem to recollect that what you are given is based on body weight and perhaps other factors? Anyone know?

ksmatthews

My Dr.'s told me that after 5 years my chances of getting BC again are the same odds as anyone else.

bak94

gillyone, yes adriamycin is given based on your weight, so lifetime dose could be different for everybody. I am overweight, and I think my first doc gave me a standard dose for someone of a lower weight. My new mo told me what my lifetime limit was, but I forget, but I do know what he said was higher than what I had researched, but I could only find it as relating to other types of cancers, and with average weight. I do think my mo pushed it to the limit, maybe a bit beyond. He said by doing the 24 hour drip that it is not as hard on your heart. I just hope he is right:0 My heart function did not change at all over the treament period and they kept a very close eye on me, running all kinds of tests, muga, ekg, and all the blood test that check your heart.

Lovelyface-yep, both triple neg. I am also brca1 positive, so that made my chance of a new primary much higher than non brca or non genetic cancers. I think it is a 40% greater chance than the average population.

Anonymous

Hi Guys... just back from another trip with the horses and saw this in my mail. I'll catch up on posts  soon.

The study appears to find no difference in OS, DFS with basal vs. non-basal TNBC for brain mets. It would be nice to think that it could apply to other mets as well, though it doesn't address that idea.

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer With Brain Metastases: A Comparison Between Basal-Like and Non-Basal-Like Biological Subtypes

J Neurooncol. 2011 Jun 9;[Epub Ahead of Print], A Niwińska, W Olszewski, M Murawska, K Pogoda

This clinical study examined molecular subtypes in an attempt to identify predictors of outcome in patients with triple-negative breast cancer and brain metastases, but found that differentiating basal markers did not influence survival.

TAKE-HOME MESSAGEThis clinical study examined molecular subtypes in an attempt to identify predictors of outcome in patients with triple-negative breast cancer and brain metastases, but found that differentiating basal markers did not influence survival.AbstractThe aim of this study was to divide the group of triple-negative breast cancer patients with brain metastases into basal-like and non-basal-like biological subtypes in order to compare clinical features and survival rates in those two groups. A comprehensive analysis of 111 consecutive triple-negative breast cancer patients with brain metastases treated in the years 2003–2009 was performed. In 75 patients, immunohistochemistry was used as a surrogate of microarray in order to evaluate the expression of three basal markers: cytokeratin 5/6 (CK 5/6), EGFR/HER1 and c-KIT. The basal-like (ER/PgR/HER2-negative, CK5/6 positive and/or HER1-positive) and non-basal-like (ER/PgR/HER2-negative, CK5/6-negative, HER1-negative) subsets were selected. Clinical features and survivals were compared in both groups. In the group of 111 triple-negative breast cancer patients, median DFS, OS and survival from brain metastases were 20, 29 and 4 months, respectively. In 75 patients who were evaluable for basal markers, median DFS, OS and survival from brain metastases were 18, 26 and 3.2 months, respectively. In the basal-like subtype, the survival rates were 15, 26 and 3 months, respectively, and in the non-basal-like subtypes, they were 20, 30 and 2.8 months, respectively. No statistically significant differences in survivals were detected between the basal-like and non-basal-like biological subtypes. Factors influencing survival from brain metastases were: Karnofsky performance status (KPS), the status of extracranial disease and age. Biological markers differentiating triple-negative group into basal-like and non-basal-like subtype (CK 5/6, HER1, c-KIT) had no influence on survival. In patients with triple-negative breast cancer and brain metastases, well-known clinical, but not molecular, features correlated with survival.

Anonymous

Some humor:

~The things you used to care to do, you no longer care to do, but you really do care that you don't care to do them anymore. Unknown : Adult Truths -
 

01. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

02. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

03. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

04. There is great need for a sarcasm font. ( I agree)

05. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

06. Was learning cursive really necessary?

07. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

08. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

09. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day. (Amen)

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger..

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

22. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, ever y time.

23. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

Ladies.....Quit Laughing.

 

 

 

NavyMom

OMG!!!!  HEIDI!!!!! LMAO!!! at #23  DH was college hockey player and when I shared #23 outloud after laughing OUTLOUD....made it even funnier that he did not see the humor...Tooo funny.  Love it.  Thanks for posting that list

Navy

Suze35

Heidi - ROTFLMFAO - that is a great list!  Heh heh.

Hope everyone is doing well.  Had Avastin #3 today, starting round 3 of Xeloda.  I've been on Flexeril and pain pills for my neck, so I'm a bit out of it.

My WBC counts are starting to trend down, sigh, but then it is easy to let myself think I'm not actually on chemo.  Not a huge deal, but I hope I don't have any neupogen shots in my future - I hated those.

Have my brain MRI and PET scan scheduled for the end of September - I'm not ready!!  But I guess it is good to know what is going on.

Have a great night everyone!

Suze35

LJ - thinking of you.  Hope you have started your new regimen and are tolerating it well!

Anonymous

LJ- you want to email me the photo or have me talk you through it via PMs?

Remember, you have to have an online phto album, find the specific URL for that photo, and copy/paste the info into the "tree" icon here in BC.org.

Anonymous

MBJ

LOL! Heidi!!!  I really needed a good laugh.  Got my first taste of what it's like to NOT let airport security scan me--I asked for a private room to be patted down in and everyone made a big fuss but I left and still had my dignity in tact and felt a bit safer NOT getting X-Rayed at the airport.  Great cartoon.

Good luck tomorrow Laurajane!!! I will be thinking about you at noon.  Big hugs!

LRM216

Oooooooh, Heidi - I can't even type for the tears running down my face from laughing so hard.  I haven't laughed like this in too long a time.  Thanks for making me remember what it feels like to laugh again.

Titan

Well hell..I'm off to the airport...

Anonymous

This weekend...

Puppies & Pachyderms

gillyone

Good list Heidi. Weird though it may sound, and I know none of us really care, there IS a way to fold a fitted sheet! My eldest son has worked weekends in a hotel laundry for the past 5 years, while a student (and yes, he is still working on that degree) and once showed me how to fold a fitted sheet. But I just kinda crumple the stretchy bits inside.

Sugar77

Heidi - that's hilarious. Hmmm, I'm flying to Boston the day after next and I think I'll pass on the free colonoscopy!

Anonymous

gilly- my mom was a pro at folding those sheets and, she also showed me but, like you, I just stuff 'em too! She would have been 96 today (Aug 23). I was born a few minutes after midnight on the 24th. My dad said she was always late... lol.

Sugar- have fun in Bean Town!

riley702

That's what I do, too, Gill! I start out all determined to fold it correctly and then always give up and just shove the non squared off sides inside.

Luah

Heidi:  Too too funny. Thanks for lightening my day!

Titan

Wow...did anyone feel the earthquake?

Anonymous

Titan---yep! My pool had "waves" in it!