Calling all TNs

StefLove

Hi Noor, glad you found us over here and I hope your sister is doing well!

Being young (I was 34 at diagnosis), all my doctors and the cancer board at the hospital all pretty much demanded that I get one of the strongest chemo regimens out there. I had 4 dose dense rounds of AC, one ever other week. After that I had 12 rounds of taxol (once every week) and at the same time I had carboplatin every 3 weeks for a total of 4 Carboplatin treatments. I ended up being BRCA negative so I'm not sure about the PARP inhibitors (I believe that's mainly for BRCA positive??? I could be wrong though, sorry).

All of my drugs were administered intravenously through a port that I had surgically implanted on my left chest area. The port was removed 4 weeks after chemo.

Please let us know if you have any additional questions, it's a great group over here!

sylviaexmouthuk

Hello Nooralkad and BanR,

I just wanted to say that I am glad you took my advice and posted on this thread. You are in good hands with these lovely ladies and will get lots of support.

Take care,

Fond thoughts,

Sylvia.

Allydp

BanR - WOHOO! Awesome news!!!

Noor - you're a great sister to come here and do the research for her, although I'm sorry to hear of her diagnosis. I was the same grade and stage, IIA, T2N0, grade 3, had a double mastectomy, 34 years old, and all opinions I got said chemo was absolutely necessary. I did ACT + dose dense Carbo before surgery. I tested BRCA+, which is why they added Carbo for me.

ALHusband

BanR...GREAT NEWS! OK...so we don't know what it is...but we know it's NOT cancer! Woohoo! Celebrate!

Meadow

Yay BanR!

Noor, welcome!

slv58

Awesome news BanR! 

shorfi

Good morning...I have a 9 o'clock appointment this morning for an ultrasound of my left breast. It's a follow-up of a lump that they have been following for over a year now. After that I am seeing the breast oncologist for my regular appointment. Hopefully, there is no change since my last ultrasound. The radiologist feels that it is fat necrosis, which I have had numerous time since my mastectomy. I wish they would recommend just taking out the lump and just be done with it.Will report back later with the results.

greenae

Good Luck, Shorfi!

I am with you on the post mx lumps. I have 2 that developed in my left about a month after exchange. They ordered a mammo and us of healthy right for january-first ones since dx last january-- but are just "watching" the 2 left lumps-ugh.

Here's to scar tissue/fat necrosis!!

Hugs!

Arlene

greenae

Banr

So glad to hear

slv58

Shorfi, hope everything went well, was thinking of you. I have an area right beneath my original LX scar where I felt a thickening in August, had mammo and US and nothing found- was called 'postoperative changes' but no suspicious findings found. I should be happy but just because of where it is, every time I feel it, a second of fear runs through me. I may discuss the possibility of having it removed (if it's scar tissue) with my MO when I see her next month. It's so hard to know what lumps are normal changes or if they are new and never noticed. I get tired of always being  diligent.

shorfi

I'm good...there has been no change. So I have graduated to having my next US in one year. My breast doc said on the report it only measures 5mm and is so tiny, that if it were his wife he would not do a thing. He explained all the trauma that has been done on the breasts this is to be expected. He does not want to do anything. I'm good with that, He did say if it truly bothered me and if it made me crazy, he would do it. It is fat necrosis and he said it could keep happening. He said he appreciated my stress factor, but felt it is nothing to worry about. I trust him.................

Arlene...only time I love to hear FAT necrosis happening in my body...lol

Slv.....BUT....like you, I AM SO TIRED OF BEING DILIGENT

slv58

Shorfi, I'm so happy it is FN! Maybe one day we will wake up and not be so alarmed with every little lump, ache or pain!

greenae

Yay, Shorfi!

I put in a call to my BS to ask if it can get the left US with the right in January. I hate the anxiety over this lumpy reconstructed left. I will find out tomorrrow if they will US both.

Cheers for Fat Necrosis

Luvmydobies

Happy for you Shorfi!!!

Mamiya

Whew, fat necrosis, awesome!

Nooralkad

StefLove, you're really brave to be going through this strong chemo regimens. you finally finished them. from now on everything will be easy to you.

Allydp, thank you so much. big hugs to you.

cassylou

Noor - as Ally mentioned, you are very kind to come here for your sister.

I had a similar diagnosis as Ally and your sister but not the same. I was 39 at diagnosis, BRCA2 positive, 2 triple negative tumours in my left breast. Stage IIA T2N0.

I had AC plus Taxol and Carbo, but I only had half the planned Carbo due to the negative affect on my bloods. I've since had a double mastectomy and I'm currently convalescing in hospital.

My friend has medullary breast cancer and from what I understand, it isn't as aggressive as basal type cancers and the like. That being said, if your sister was my little sister, I would be begging her to throw everything at this and taking the chemo.

Re parp inhibitors, I don't know much about them. I did ask my onc about them, but apparently they are only used at my hospital with later stage breast cancer patients in clinical trials.

Please send me a message if you have any questions about my treatment or anything.

Good luck for you and your sister. X

Checota

Well tomorrow I meet with the PS and then biopsy (more then one) seems I have another lump in the same Breast the primary tumor was found....had double mastectomy 1 1/2 years ago full chemo...they say it looks the same on mammography and Ultrasound....I said what does...... They said Breast cancer tumors and fat necrosis. So until we get tissue samples....we have no way of telling if it is a tumor or fat necrosis....never thought I would be hoping I have dead fat in my body....but I am now.. Anyone experience this here? Would love to hear your insights and experiencesand outcomes.

Meadow

Shorfi, good news!

Checota, sorry you are going thru this, yes, read above the previous posts, shorfi just had a similar situaton. She had good news, so hoping the same for you!

shorfi

Checota...I have several lumps soon after undergoing mastectomies. I was so very afraid, BUT they all turned out to be fat necrosis. I have been biopsied so many times that they are not going to do it anymore. So now I undergo ultrasounds every 6 months to see if the lump has changed. As of yesterday I only have to have an ultrasound once a year now. As my breast surgeon told me yesterday, never believe a doctor who say they are 100% sure of anything...only God is 100%, but he was telling me that he was sure God felt my lump was 100% and he concurred...lol. The lump is 5mm...so very tiny, but they will just keep an eye on it. He also explained that since having a bilateral mastectomy, we have experienced a lot of trauma so we are prone to get all these lumps and bumps in our breasts, and that 99.99% of the time it is fat necrosis.

So keep us posted and hoping for the "dead fat" in your body.

Checota

Thanks so much Shorfi and Meadow, shorfi. Thanks for sharing your experiences, I am sorry you went through all of that....I am very Grateful that I have your experiences and others to help calm my worries and fears. What a great resource this forum is you all are Rock Stars!

ALHusband

This is the only forum in the world where a term like "fat necrosis" is usually followed by a "wohoo!" or the like. I am thankful for all of you female superheroes in this forum, but if it's OK with you I won't bring up "fat necrosis" when we say the blessing on Thursday with a non-BC crowd, for fear someone may think there's something drastically wrong with the turkey!

Mamiya

ALHusband, I concur with not mentioning out loud but be sure to be silently thankful for fat necrosis, as I am sure we all will be this year and all the years ahead, who knew the things we'd one day count as blessings. This post made me crack up so much, thanks for the great sense of humor.

Meadow

Al....lol!

Teka

Good One!!

Cocker_Spaniel

Back from the hospital after my dear fellers hernia op. My poor man is very sore but hopefully this won't last too long.

Hope everyone is well and happy and all in treatments - thinking of you.

Allydp

Shorfi - yay for dead fat!!

AL - lol!

Cocker - glad to hear his operation went well. I hope the pain lets up soon and he recovers quickly. I'm sure you're taking excellent care of him.

For those celebrating Thanksgiving this week, have a wonderful day!!! xo

BanR

Thanks greenae, slv, Alhusband, Meadow, Ally, luvmy and others... This TNBC journey after treatment is a roller coaster ride!!

All the best Noor to you and your sister. My tumur had medullary features too. The treatment still remains the same. Could you let me know how much is her Ki-67 ( Mitotic rate) ??

Chocota...i wish fat necrosis for you ..actually everything else is fine other than C !!!

A year after treatment I got diagnosed with a cardiac issue...when my oncologist ruled out heart mets...I was ecstatic!! I called up my dad and announced, Dad its only a cardiac problem...not cancer!!! I can relate to what Alhusband mentioned in his post...its a different world for us and almost every disease is celebrated other than cancer!

Cocker... happy to hear that the surgery went well!!

My genetic panel reports are out...they tested all the possible gene mutations including brca1,2 and tp53. Everything came back negative. Still a mystery...with not a single positive gene how can cancer happen at 34!!

My co patient..same age as me...recently delivered a beautiful healthy baby girl 2 years after completing treatment. Very happy for her!! For younger women...women in their 20s and 30s, who are dealing with this disease, I just want to put across a word...your bodies will return to normal very soon after treatment...you will get your cycles back ( all of us got it back) and you can go on the family way and enjoy motherhood, just like other women!! Chemotherapy will just pause your cycles temporarily, but it will never affect your fertility or the health of your ( future) babies!!

Happy thanksgiving everyone!!

Meadow

Meadow

In the above picture is my granddaughter, Jade. She is 5 and is my heart. Today she was in the kitchen with me while I made pies. She loves the feeling of flour on her hands so I gave her a bowl of it to play with while I cooked. I turned around to hear her say, "My Masterpiece!" Oh no, no.