Stage 4 tnbc anxiety

RayneLanie

Hi everyone!

So, Ive been stalking the forum here for more than a year on and off.

I'm actually here for my mom.

Her entire diagnosis situation was everything but normal. In 2015 she felt a tiny lump on her left breast that was painful to touch. Had a mammo and ultrasound which ended up showing a 2cm fibro. Yay for us.

At her next appointment on january 2016, it was still painful to touch and she had to take painkillers every day. Next mammo exam it was now 4.5 cm but still no sign of cancer. Nevertheless her surgeon said ıts better to take it out and do a frozen biopsy. There was a VERY small chance it was going to be cancer.

So I'm at the waiting room, waiting for my mom to come out, doctor comes in and says ıts cancer and invasive. We dont have any relatives, ıts just me and my mom and so, here I am taking the worst possible news of my life alone. Luckily the surgeon was amazing and took out all of it. Margins clear.

Few days later we learn that it was tnbc with no nodes involvement. But highly aggressive with İDC grade 3 and ki67 %45.

Ok cool, it put her on stage 2b. She needs adjuvant chemo. So we talk to the onco, and he immedietly requests a full PET/CT. No worries, ıts just formality he said. Her lymph nodes are clear, so what could go wrong? Again, İ'm waiting for her scan results. Bam! One 1cm high fdg uptake nodule on her left lung. Close to the original bc site.

Onco says ıts fine, we can take care of it. Its just one and very small. Dont lose your hope.

We find an amazing lung surgeon who said he could easily take this out with a small wedge resection. There is still curative intent with oligo mets. Dont worry. Itll be like the tiny met never even happened. At this point my mom is taking multiple xanax to stay sane. I'm too busy to even sit down and cry.

She again goes into surgery, its cool. Its just one tiny met thats gonna be taken out. Doc comes out and says there was another 0.8mm one right under it! He took it out too. But they have seen some microscopic extension on the same lung. Biggest one was 0.4mm. Everything else is clear. Not the end of the world. Successful surgery. No lung lymph node involvement. Adjuvant chemo will take care of the rest. Thats what adjuvant chemo is after all, right?

So she was going to take x3 FEC with x3 T,

But she got a Complete remission after the first 3 FEC and the onc said we should keep this up since it works.( I wanted her to take that T but onc said she responded well to FEC)

After 6xFEC and 2 surgeries she is still in CR. She has a routine Abdomin CT scan tomorrow. Just to see how her lung are doing. Her tumor markers are incredible. Always under 0.5. No pain anywhere. But from everything I've read about tnbc and stage 4 with grade 3 nuclear and histologic and the microscopic mets in her lung, even with the CR. I'm scared beyond reason. Im shaking and I cant concentrate on anything.

This is supposed to be a very aggressive crappy disease. Everytime I feel like things are getting better, something worse comes up.

Please, does this CR has a chance to last long? I do take prescribed medicine for anxiety but I'm only one person and my mom isnt exactly in a sunshine and rainbows mood. I am doing my best to keep her happy and make her laugh, but there is only so much I can do.

Every onco I've met seems to be relaxed because its breast cancer whatever the tnbc thing.

Maybe I'm reading into things but it feels like they know ıts bad and they just dont care and not telling me anything.

I just want facts and nobody really knows anything when it comes to cancer. Its infuriating. İ've probably read everything about tnbc and oligomets and de novo. Nothing gives me hope.

Sorry for taking your time! I hope I didnt bother you.

Moderators

Hi RaynieLanie-

You've come to the right place for support! And you're certainly not bothering anyone here, this community is knowledgeable and welcoming to all. We know how hard it can be as a caregiver, watching your mom go through this; we have a forum for families and caregivers that you might find helpful, to find some support for yourself as you help her through this: https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/16

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you need anything!

The Mods