What is this???

Hi vickie, we are the same so hi too you. It must be hard and I know i would feel the same but you will get through this. I keep telling myself this every minute of the day.





Alison

Kite, if you need wigs or know others who do just PM me.  I have two and never could wear them, though one is very good.  It was all I could do to get up and go to work in the morning without that extra bother.  I just pulled on pretied bandanas and went.  The pretied bandanas and the little nightcaps my Dad's cousin crocheted to keep my head warm at night went to Australia last year to the daughter in law of a friend from high school, who is now out of treatment and looking well.  She has two little ones who were in awe of the entire process. 

As usual, I get hellishly grumpy when people get depressed about how hard life is when life is so much better than the alternative.  I want you to choose life, my friend!  If you have kids and a good husband and love your family, you should understand.  And I hope you will forgive me for jumping before you explained yourself.  I don't like to hear anyone Stage 0 or 1 talking about thinking they don't need to do all they can to kill this miserable beast.  Most of us get one chance only, and we take it.  I was stage II with nodes involved, so I took 18 weeks of chemo and 7 weeks of radiation, and have had no adverse effects.  You are younger and stronger, which is just what TNBC prefers, but you can tolerate the treatment better than most older women, and you won't need as much as I did.  A week or two ago, I saw in the news that the former Miss Venezuela died of breast cancer at age 28.  She was Triple Negative, just like us.  And she was 28 years old when she died.  So, I would encourage you to do what you need to do to see yourself as a fine older woman in your mind, maybe with grandkids at your feet.  Please. 

It hurts me to see people die unnecessarily.  Please listen to some good doctors and find a plan to keep yourself alive longterm. 

HI Katie,

Since you are asking how other people's day went, and knowing mine doesnt revolve around breast cancer, I will tell you.

My day was tough  

My beloved step-father, who has been a dream to not only my mother but me and my siblings, had a tough day, which means my mother had a tough day, which means the rest of us did too.

He is in his early 70's and recently Dx-ed with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.  UGH!

The day to day particulars of what happened dont really matter. I think we all understand when days are just TOUGH and make the heart and soul bleed. When we grieve for what was, and grieve for what may never be. When we cry because the sadness and the fatigue hit us any given day.

Anyone who has to deal with a medical condition, cancer or something else, gets how a bad day can just be bad.

Looking forward to (hopefully) a good night sleep, and a better tomorrow.  

 Warm thougths to all.

God bless. 

Kite, best wishes and thoughts on your first chemo. You may have mentioned it, but what chemo will you be receiving? I did 4 rounds of TC and did pretty well.

Kite,

I had radiation - I was also in a grey zone, but less of one than you.  My beginning diagnosis was Stage 2 with 2.5 cm- I had uni MX - after chemo I had 2 cm tumor and 2 + nodes out of 16. The tumor was removed with awesome margins - over 2 cm clear. I did not have extracapsular extension or LVI.  The oncology surgeon didn't think I needed radiation (except right after surgery - I think he thought I had more positive nodes than 2); the rad onc said it was 50/50 decision and my onc stayed out of the discussion - the main reason I decided to do it was the poor response I had to chemo and also the MA126 study that showed a positive benefit for those with 1-3 positive nodes. The radiation treatment was relatively easy and I did not burn but it has made the tightness in my scar area worse and it will complicate reconstruction. My skin is just a little darker on that side now - but it has only been 2-3 months since the end of radiation.  I still hope somehow to have reconstruction with implant only but I may have to get a lat flap. On the plus side, I am glad to have had anything extra to prevent chance of local recurrence. I had grade 3 (9/9 score), ER low positive, KI-67 score of 50%. I am 50 years old and hope so much to overcome this and live another 30 plus years. It is a really hard decision, but you have some time to research all your options.

Kite,

Thanks for the prayers. Know that you are in mine. 

With your husband leaving again for work, do you have other family members in the area to help you with this and the kids?...

It's gotta be extra confusing not have a clear cut picture of what you are dealing with so that you can make your decisions clearly and with confidence...Grey areas with medical situations just make a difficult time all the more so IMO.

ENJOY your time with your husband!

I will be spending a few hours tomorrow with my mother and step-father....The evenings and nights are the hardest as that is when his confusion seems to be at its worse (it's known as "sundowners"...) So we make the most of the day light hours... ...Asian take out...LOL 

Christina - I also had an "incomplete response to chemo". Due to that dx, I was "invited" to join a research study to take oral chemo. It is a study that has not been successful in "improving outcomes" (Don't you just love the run-around language when they do not wanted to lay-it-out straight for us? lol), but they are tweeking the study to see if they can get better "outcomes". 

I signed the consent form to be in the study, but am still not sure if I want to toture my body with 16 weeks of oral chemo. I can, of course, quit the study or not even start it if I want to. My onc told me it may not help "delay" recurrences, (note that he did not use the word "prevent"), but that it may be worth a try..... 

Christina - One determining factor of my participation in the study will be whether or not steroids are given - the study outline states that "other medications will be prescribed to minimize side effects". Uh oh - sounds like those darn steroids again - I will definitely not participate if steroids are involved. (There's another one of those evasive med terms: "minimize" - why don't they be honest and just say: "to make it less horrible than it would be without the meds") 

I really do not know about the steroids - They were prescribed for me during Adriamycin/Cytoxan, but not during Taxol. They had to cut down doseage for me as I thought I was going to crawl out of my skin!!! 

Kite - LE is lymphedema, sorry about that.

Anandagram,

I have been able to adjust the steroid dose down with the eribulin and I honestly think if I asked for no steroids, they would cut it out.  I rely on a small dose of the steroids right now because it gives me a little boost and I generally have to go back to work after chemo and work into the night.

Hello all. I am coming up to my last day of chemo on jan 17. I am a 26 Year old triple negative stage 1. i had a left maetectomy and after chemo will have the other removed before choosing reconstruction. Just wanted to introduce myself.