Calling all ladies in their 20's

Hi ladies!

So I had my last chemo a year and 5 months ago and I started taking prenatal vitamins about 6 months ago since my husband and I are trying to conceive.. Anyways ever since I started taking prenatal vitamins (jamieson brand), my hair has been growing like crazy!! It is already past my shoulders!! Everyone always can't believe how long my hair is. Anyways I don't know if it's all my parental but it's worth a try! And if you are young there is no harm in a parental, they are packed with good vitamins that people our age need!

Amanda: I also don´t want to complain about the hot flashes, we all now, there are more worse things than that. Of course it´s annoying. They come every night at the same time ( 2:00 a.m.) and I wake up with a wet head and the feeling that I have to drink all the water in the world!

I forgot to ask when your hair grew back? I´m 4 weeks out of chemo and still look like Yoda. So I started using indian oil ond shampoo with coffein to advance hair growth. I hope I can go wigless when rehabilitation starts ( here we go to a rehabilitation facility after treatments for 3-4 weeks, so this would be in april). I can´t stand my wig anymore. It the same thing eyery day.

Amanda - Regardless of whether you do the test, the recommendation is typically that your daughters would start getting mammograms (and if appropriate, MRIs) 10 years before your diagnosis. As for chemo, you're one down and 5 more to go! It will feel good once you hit the halfway mark, because at that point, you have been doing it longer than you have left! As for whether it's better to know if it's genetic vs not genetic, I don't know which is better or worse. I think there are pluses and minuses to both. It would be better if none of us had this at all, but unfortunately that's not the case.

SKD - I agree that prenatal vitamins can help with hair growth. I had some really healthy hair just before and during my pregnancy (well, the 10 weeks of it). When are you going to start trying, or have you already started? Wishing you the best of luck!

Moonflower - I guess that makes sense about the Zoladex and Tamoxifen together. I think I had that option as well, but decided against it. Can't remember why anymore! But I'm also not THAT ER+. Just 10% was ER + and the rest was triple negative. Since I'm not doing Zoladex I'm trying to keep the estrogen lower in other ways. Eating more fiber and increasing exercise. 

SKD - So sorry about your miscarriage. Hugs. I had one at 10 weeks, so I know how hard they can be. Just know you did nothing to cause it and you waited the right amount of time after you stopped Tamoxifen to get pregnant. Sadly enough, miscarriages are very common, and most of the time we don't know why they happen. That doesn't make it any easier to have one though. I struggled with mine all the way up until my cancer diagnosis (partly because it took 6 months to resolve) and still have my moments, especially when others around me get pregnant or have their babies. I hope the next time you will have a healthy pregnancy and a take home baby. You will know when you're ready to try again. I'm rooting for you!

hey girls

kristien I hav a question?

my hormone report is still nt ready i still dnt knw if am a tripple negative or not but I read tht tripple negative comes only in Grade3 BC n am Grade 2 means am not tripple negative isnt it?

I asked my oncologist but didnt give me a clear answer n then the FEC didnt shrink my tumor I will do TAXOTERE now I hope this works . some girls here told me tht TAX is so efficient n will shrink the tumor is tht true? I feel down :''''( 

Amanda - Stage 2 is different from Grade 2. There are grades 1, 2, and 3 with 3 being the most aggressive. Grades basically just tell you how fast growing the cancer is, but the stage is defined by lymph node involvement, tumor size, and any metastasis. I just thought I'd clarify it for you. Or maybe you misread grade for stage due to chemo brain?

Rosaa- I'm not 100% sure about whether being grade 2 means you aren't triple negative. If your oncologist doesn't know, I would ask the person who did your biopsy whether you would be considered triple negative or not. Personally, I feel like your oncologist SHOULD know and should be able to answer your questions. I'm sorry if the FEC doesn't appear to be helping much. Do you know why they are giving you FEC rather than AC? Do you have any heart conditions? I hope Taxotere kicks the crap out of this thing! Hugs!

i found that tripple negetive often occurs in grade 3 n i asked most women in tripple negative thread n they confirmed it. 

I didnt say tht FEC didnt work with i just got two rounds n just took the third injection

My breast is no longer shaped and no inflammation or inverted nipple it s changing evryday n the tumor might start to shrink sooner i still have one FEC  and four TAXOTERE   so i wiill pray tht my tumor will shrink soon

It's okay Amanda! I wasn't sure if it was a chemo brain moment or not, so I figured I'd clarify either way. Glad you learned something in the process. Maybe you can ask your onc for that info?

Rosaa - I'm glad you are seeing some changes in your breast (in a good way). I personally feel that it's okay if the tumor doesn't 100% go away as long as it's responding to the chemo, because they will still do a lumpectomy/mastectomy and remove the tumor anyways. Of course, if it shrinks away completely, that's even better.

 MMM - I know a few people that were not able to get Adriamcyin due to the cardio toxicity because their heart function tests showed it wasn't strong enough, so they got FEC instead. I know there are different treatments for Triple Negative than for ER+, so that may be another reason someone would get FEC rather than AC.

Wooohooo. Undetectable chest lymphnodes after taxol... lets let the fac clean it up.



Kk. I have heard the epirubicib can be gentler on the heart but i still thought they were related. No worries regardless.

I agree with Nanna. My onc told me that for pre-menopausal women, it can actually be better to be triple negative.

MMM - Congrats on a good report!

 Shiramg - I never did the lupron shots, but I did get my period back while on Tamoxifen. I got it back about 3 1/2 months after my last chemo infusion. I was told by the fertility specialist that you can expect it to take up to a year to get your periods back. I'm not sure with Lupron, but I would definitely give it at least 6 months. It's possible it could take even longer since your ovaries need to "wake up". How old are you? The younger you are, the better in terms of your future fertility.

Rosaa - I'm glad you were able to finally get your answer regarding pathology and that you're happy with the results. When you have all of the facts, you know where you stand, and can make the best decisions for your care.

Amanda:  I'm right there with you.  My hair didn't fall out all the way for taxol so I just got a really short (though thin) pixy cut.  I got my first FAC monday and I have already noticed more fallout.  They said within 2 weeks I should be bald.   I am not looking forward to it either, but hey It is just temporary.  I think I am going to let my son and his buddy paint my head when I do it, gotta get a little giggle in there somehow.  Big Hugs!

 Rosaa:  Yay for getting your reports.  There is a forum on here about the side effects for the different brands of tamoxifen.  SOme brands seem to have more side effects, so I am going to definately try different ones. 

Also, has anyone seen any of the forum posts about the diabetic drug metformin. I am thinking about getting an RX for it.  I have PCOS, so I can be on it, but never have been in the past.  The prelimary articles show lots of promise.

Amanda:  I am not on Tamoxifen yet, but I am pretty anal retentive when it comes to research   I like to be prepared for almost everything (BC DX excluded).  I'm glad you are doing ok with the hair thing.  I was all prepared to shave my head in December but it didn't fall out as fast as I thought, so when I made it through Christmas and New Years I decided to play chicken with the taxol   I know I am going to loose with the FAC but my hair is so short now, I'm not really worried about it.  Keep on chugging through!!!  When are you going to be done with your chemo.  My last is at the end of April!!!

Not to sound snobby, but where did you go for your opinions.  If at all possible make it to one of the top in the nation.  MDAnderson, Sloan Kettering, Cleveland clinic.  As important as regional docs are, they just are not as current on breast cancer research and data.  I do agree though that the longer you have to live the higher your lifetime risk.  We are a rare breed of breastcancer, one that doesn't have many specific studies.  We mostly get lumped with pre-menopause...and thats not really fair.  I do know that the risks associated with chemo and fertility may seem high, but it does seem like many women do get their periods and such back.  Now, being stage 3 I had no chemo choice, but I also already have a son, so I can only sympathise with your delima.  (sorry for the spelling I am on day 4 of FAC and its rough )  Whatever you decide we are all here with you.  Have you had any scans to definately rule out mets.  I know I had infected lymphnodes further down the chain, they removed 4 infected, 9 clear, then I had more infected.