TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP

Ladies, I haven't kept up with the posts lately but you're all in my daily prayers. Recovery from MX/DIEP surgeries is going slow but I'm making progress each day.

Now that I'm catching up on my reading, I especially enjoyed all the posts about diet....information is so varied that it's difficult to know what is the right approach to keep cancer from returning. I gave up just about everything when first diagnosed (alcohol, sugar, meat, dairy, processed meats, convenience foods, gluten). Did it help eradicate the cancer - who knows for sure? I've decided on the 80/20 rule going forward, I'll try to eat healthy 80% of the time and allow myself treats in between. Including wine! We have a small hobby vineyard so my husband has had to drink my share the last 9 months lol.

I admire you for enjoying your treats all along, that's what life is about

I am doing the life math treatment calculator and have a question.  I am on TCH, and they ask questions on the chemotherapy type and I am not sure what type chemo mine is, is it generation 3?  What type is TCH?  I am going every three weeks for 6 treatments.  THANK YOU!

http://www.lifemath.net/cancer/breastcancer/therapy/

Specialk.  Once again, thank you for your help! 

Has anyone had continued cramping (abdominal) pain?  Sort of like when you have cramps from diarrhea or constipation?  I have moderate cramping, stools not loose but not tight either.  I wake up with it at night.  I have been taking 1/2 of my anti nausea meds because of a tiny bit of queasiness.  This pain is not severe but uncomfortable.  Any tips?

Denise       http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/diagnosis/rate_grade

moodyblues,

I did have continuous cramping shortly before my last Taxol infusion. It was awful, but it only lasted three days (thankfully). Then, it went away on its own. At the time, I associated it with a stomach bug that had gone through my family and produced vomiting and diarrhea. However, it could very well have been the Taxol. Hope you feel better soon!

Elaine.  Thank you.  I am hoping it will subside soon!

moody - make sure you are hydrating, try eating bland foods, and avoid aspirin and NSAIDS and see if that helps. Sometimes the stomach and GI tract become generally irritated since they are made up of cells that continually replace, and therefore are affected by chemo drugs. Even though you are experiencing lower abdominal discomfort you might benefit from some acid reducing meds - let your MO know and they may put you on some. Do you get IV Pepcid in your pre-meds?

moody - lemon helped - I did watered down lemonade, but you have to be careful because acidic foods can makes things worse and even potentially cause mouth sores. I found sweet and salty tastes didn't desert me completely, but I stayed away from spicy. I had GI distress and spent the first week alternating BRAT diet (bananas, rice, apples, toast) with any kind of potatoes. Once the first week or so passed, I tried to eat as much protein as possible to help boost my red blood cells and hemoglobin. I could not always taste it well, and texture was sometimes weird, but I ate it anyway. I had historically low hemoglobin so mine didn't have far to fall to need a transfusion - also - full disclosure, I worked in Transfusion Services at diagnosis - so I was unnaturally focused on this, haha!

I never had issues with indigestion or stomach aches, but I also had reflux surgery (Nissen Fundoplication) in 1995 so I have a closed stomach. I had the Big D for at least a week following every chemo infusion, except the last one for some reason. So, I did the BRAT to deal with that.

shelabela - it is worth a try, and there was enough variation within the BRAT - different kinds of toast, apples or applesauce, bananas on toast, different kinds of rice, etc., that I did ok. I didn't eat exclusively BRAT, I did add other bland foods like scrambled eggs, yogurt, fresh fruit, the aforementioned potatoes, and mac 'n cheese. Foods that contain acid themselves like citrus, tomatoes, things with vinegar like salad dressings, or hard to digest foods that require more stomach acid to break down, should be avoided.

hap - the OncotypeDx test was developed for patients who are ER+ and Her2- only. It is not because chemo is always called for that your tumor was not tested,, it is because the test was not designed and/or verified for Her2+ patients. Mammaprint genetic testing is available for those who are Her2+, but if you are Her2+, the results come back high risk for recurrence, almost without exception.

toughcookie - welcome, sorry you have to be here. Prior to the use of Herceptin and Perjeta things were much different, but the advent of these targeted therapies has now brought a TP diagnosis alongside those who are Her2- in terms of prognosis. This is a bit of a marathon rather than a sprint, but you can get through this!

Special K ... you ain't lying ....
My NP said the with cancer treatment that it is treatable,prognoses was good..but its going to be a long haul....
I'm to the point now...I'm ready to get started,NOT lol... but yeah.. I want to get things moving ...
I had posted when I first came onto BC.org boards, I was just shelled shocked after I got my diagnoses confirmed ... someone told me once you get your plan in place... and things start take place, it would be better... emotions and mind ...
They were right ... now I know what we are dealing with... what we are going to treat this with to get it beat back or even gone....
There's a sense of calm ( calm before the storm maybe? ) I know there are medicine and surgery ... and the things I can do to keep this old body going .
My Oncologist said " don't be too optimistic but don't be too pessimistic either .. it is what it is ... "
There's hope and a chance...

I hope this is ok to post here... I found it on FB ... too good not to share... there is a little cussing in it ... but worth it

What's it like to go through cancer treatment?

What's it like to go through cancer treatment? It's something like this: one day, you're minding your own business, you open the fridge to get some breakfast, and OH MY GOD THERE'S A MOUNTAIN LION IN YOUR FRIDGE.

Wait, what? How? Why is there a mountain lion in your fridge? NO TIME TO EXPLAIN. RUN! THE MOUNTAIN LION WILL KILL YOU! UNLESS YOU FIND SOMETHING EVEN MORE FEROCIOUS TO KILL IT FIRST!

So you take off running, and the mountain lion is right behind you. You know the only thing that can kill a mountain lion is a bear, and the only bear is on top of the mountain, so you better find that bear. You start running up the mountain in hopes of finding the bear. Your friends desperately want to help, but they are powerless against mountain lions, as mountain lions are godless killing machines. But they really want to help, so they're cheering you on and bringing you paper cups of water and orange slices as you run up the mountain and yelling at the mountain lion - "GET LOST, MOUNTAIN LION, NO ONE LIKES YOU" - and you really appreciate the support, but the mountain lion is still coming.

Also, for some reason, there's someone in the crowd who's yelling "that's not really a mountain lion, it's a puma" and another person yelling "I read that mountain lions are allergic to kale, have you tried rubbing kale on it?"

As you're running up the mountain, you see other people fleeing their own mountain lions. Some of the mountain lions seem comparatively wimpy - they're half grown and only have three legs or whatever, and you think to yourself - why couldn't I have gotten one of those mountain lions? But then you look over at the people who are fleeing mountain lions the size of a monster truck with huge prehistoric saber fangs, and you feel like an asshole for even thinking that - and besides, who in their right mind would want to fight a mountain lion, even a three-legged one?

Finally, the person closest to you, whose job it is to take care of you - maybe a parent or sibling or best friend or, in my case, my husband - comes barging out of the woods and jumps on the mountain lion, whaling on it and screaming "GODDAMMIT MOUNTAIN LION, STOP TRYING TO EAT MY WIFE," and the mountain lion punches your husband right in the face. Now your husband (or whatever) is rolling around on the ground clutching his nose, and he's bought you some time, but you still need to get to the top of the mountain.

Eventually you reach the top, finally, and the bear is there. Waiting. For both of you. You rush right up to the bear, and the bear rushes the mountain lion, but the bear has to go through you to get to the mountain lion, and in doing so, the bear TOTALLY KICKS YOUR ASS, but not before it also punches your husband in the face. And your husband is now staggering around with a black eye and bloody nose, and saying "can I get some help, I've been punched in the face by two apex predators and I think my nose is broken," and all you can say is "I'M KIND OF BUSY IN CASE YOU HADN'T NOTICED I'M FIGHTING A MOUNTAIN LION."

Then, IF YOU ARE LUCKY, the bear leaps on the mountain lion and they are locked in epic battle until finally the two of them roll off a cliff edge together, and the mountain lion is dead.
Maybe. You're not sure - it fell off the cliff, but mountain lions are crafty. It could come back at any moment.

And all your friends come running up to you and say "that was amazing! You're so brave, we're so proud of you! You didn't die! That must be a huge relief!"
Meanwhile, you blew out both your knees, you're having an asthma attack, you twisted your ankle, and also you have been mauled by a bear. And everyone says "boy, you must be excited to walk down the mountain!" And all you can think as you stagger to your feet is "fuck this mountain, I never wanted to climb it in the first place."

"

— Caitlin Feeley - the one, the only, the magnificent.
(The only edits I've made are a few carriage returns for readability. - DPK)

Toughcookie: I think most of us found the HER2 the real "kick in the gut." I had both surgery and radiation when the final path report came back. I took it seriously though. Still makes me nervous with my first mammogram and my second echo coming up.

deniset - hilarious!!! But, true.

posey - giving up sugar was hard and definitely not for everyone, but worth it for me. I was super cranky for about 2-3 weeks, then I adapted, and desserts actually tasted overly sweet to me and I didn't crave them any longer.

hap - us old timers are here for you!