TN Metastasized - I need help!

donnadd
donnadd Member Posts: 84
edited July 2016 in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer

I'm new here. Here's my story - Too bad I didn't see this forum last year...

I'm 53 yo. Last January (2015) I found a small lump in my breast. Yes it was cancer. I had a lumpectomy with clean margins (they tested lymph nodes too but they were clean). But it was TN. So I had 6 treatments of CMF and 15 of radiation. It was all done by August 2015. It all seemed so simple and under control.

January 2016 I had a mammogram and ultrasound - Everything was fine

February 2016 I went to the breast surgeon for a checkup. The site of the lumpectomy was swollen and hurting. He said it's just a seroma, normal for the pocket to fill with fluid after a lumpectomy so he sent me to have it drained and told me to come back in half a year. I saw the oncologist that same day and she agreed about the seroma.

So in February 2016 I had the seroma drained. The Doctor doing it was surprised that I wasn't biopsying the big hard scar tissue sitting over that fluid but the surgeon had said all was OK

In May 2016 I went back to the surgeon since the whole area had gotten larger and all sorts of colors. He was shocked. Said that wasn't what he saw in February (He should have told me to return shortly after aspirating the seroma but he was too sure of himself - YES - I blame him!! It was TN, why take a chance?) - He had me do an immediate biopsy. Yes it's cancer again and it's TN and very aggressive.

I then did a PET scan and they found some of those TN cells growing in my lungs.

So now I'm receiving AC every week. Too bad I didn't get that AC last year.

I Would love any advice or encouragement you can give me.


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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited July 2016

    HI Donnadd, and welcome to Breastcancer.org,

    We're so glad you found us, and really happy you posted. You're sure to meet many others here who have experienced something similar. You may also want to join the Stage IV ONLY forum to meet other members managing a metastatic diagnosis. Also, there's some really wonderful, encouraging stories from our members with a triple negative disease on the Community Members Share Their Experiences With Triple-Negative Breast Cancer section of the main Breastcancer.org site.

    We hope our wonderful Community serves as a great resource for you -- we're all here to support you and help however we can!

    --The Mods

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  • Texasrose53
    Texasrose53 Member Posts: 354
    edited July 2016

    Hi Donnadd...glad you found this website. We have a few discussion boards you might want to check out "Triple Negative Stage IV" and there is one "Mets to Lungs" and "Life does not end with a stage IV diagnosis". We would love for you to join us.

    My original BC was diagnosed in September of 2013. Stage 3A TN. I too did everything I was suppose to....Bi-lateral, Chemo (6 treatments) and Radiation (28 treatments). May 2015 (age 53) I was diagnosed as Stage IV TNBC. Mets to my lungs, nodes and sternum. My original chemo was TAC. For my mets I have been on Taxol for 6 months, then progression so switched to CMF. Started CMF in November 2015 and have been stable since then. Everyone responds differently to each chemo. There are so many different chemo's, immunotherapies and trials available to us stage IV TN's. I feel just as great as I did last year in May when originally diagnosed stage 4. My motto is to live life to its fullest and keep a positive attitude. Yes....pitty parties are acceptable!! Hang in there. You are welcome to private message me if you have any questions that you do not want to share on the discussion boards.

    Hang in there....Julie

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  • donnadd
    donnadd Member Posts: 84
    edited July 2016

    Thanks TexasRose. I'm not the pity party type. The first time I didn't even tell anyone that I had BC since I didn't want it to be the only thing that anyone talked about. We had a plan and the doctor was real positive about everything. This time I feel like the doctor doesn't really expect me to live too long. Till it metastasized the doctors seemed so in control. Before the PET the breast surgeon said - "If it stays in the breast we know how to handle it - If it goes past, well..." He was kind of a jerk. He wasn't the surgeon who did my lumpectomy since I had switched hospitals since this one is supposed to be a better cancer unit.

    Thanks for all the advice - I'll check out the other groups too

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  • CaliforniaGrammy
    CaliforniaGrammy Member Posts: 2
    edited July 2016

    prayers for recovery for you... positive thoughts...

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  • NarbataSurvivor
    NarbataSurvivor Member Posts: 1
    edited July 2016

    Honey, I wish I could give you advice or real help, and I cannot; but I can give you moral support and include you in my prayers. I hope you can find encouragement and support in the other sections suggested by other posters. You have TN sisters out here pulling for you.

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  • donnadd
    donnadd Member Posts: 84
    edited July 2016

    Thanks- I've moved over to the section on stage IV TN.

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