72 year old Lady with 2cm lump TNBC- Have questions

exercise_guru

Hi Ladies. I am posting here along with in the Triple Negative board.

I am hoping so much you gals can help me answer some questions. I am a 5 year survivor of HER2 breast Cancer so I have been here for 5 years but this new series of events have left me stumped.

Let me give you the stats and I am hoping that some ladies will jump in. Please please

My MIL is 72 and has colitis, and osteoporosis. She is on a special diet ( gluten free/low fodmap) diet and has a rotator cuff that gives her a lot of pain. She is thin and independently living in a home near her two sons ( I am 6 hours away but very close friends with her).

Two weeks ago she went for a mammogram and they found a small lump( 1.2-2cm) her nodes don't feel swollen but she had the lump for 2 months before she could get in because of Covid. It is Grade 3 and I am assuming Stage 1-above her nipple near the surface. Initially before the biopsy results they were suggesting she have a lumpectomy and then radiation. She meets with the MO and the Rad specialist Monday. Well today they told her it is triple negative. I am wondering what the course of treatment is "likely " they will recommend? They are right now thinking Lumpectomy and then I am assuming radiation and now assuming chemo but I don't know how the usual path of treatment for that.

She is totally willing to get a mastectomy if it means that she will avoid radiation or improve her outcome because she would rather just get on with life. Could she likely avoid radiation if she has a mastectomy? I just don't know how hard radiation would be on her because I had chemo and a mastectomy.

Also if they say she needs Chemo which chemo do they usually prescribe? I want to get an idea of what it would look like and I am not going to her appts with her as she has my SIL going but then I need some context to know what she is talking about.

LW422

Hello Exercise-guru. I wish I had some answers for you, but it's hard to say except that your MIL's oncologist will consider her age and existing health conditions when recommending a treatment plan. You'll probably get more responses on the TN board because the Over 60 section doesn't seem to have a lot of traffic for some reason. My best wishes to you and your MIL.