Calling all TNs

DiV - I hope your biopsy today wasn't too uncomfortable but more importantly that the pathology comes back benign. I'll be praying for you.

HelenLouise - My MO told me that even if you could feel something in the area of your lump during chemo, it could be scar tissue from the cancer cells that have died. You won't know for sure until after your surgery. Hope you are doing well with the chemo.

Hope everyone is having a good week!

DiV - can you please share what you axillary node dissection was like. I'm have that with my mastectomy on 4/27 due to node involvement at diagnosis. Thank you.

Paula

Thank you VL22, I'm a week post infusion 3 of FEC and this last week has been pretty crappy but all up I must say the side effects have been less than I anticipated. Oncologist tells me the Docetaxel can be somewhat more debilitating. Fingers crossed it doesn't kick too hard.

Wishing everyone well.

Nifer - my mind is still foggy - I find myself searching for words way too much! Some days I feel great, but some I just want to go back to bed. Our doctors tend to downplay the post chemo experience, but I really think what we are experiencing is very common. Our bodies were depleted of all of our healthy cells (and the bad ones!) - how can’t it take some time to recover?

I’m listening to the theory that as long as your treatment was, from diagnosis to last day (rads, chemo, surgery whatever) is how long it can take to feel 100%.

DiV I know this probably won't help. But I had a CAT scan about 4 years ago and they found a nodule on my lung. 3 different doctors told me it was probably cancer. Pulmonologist said it was too small to do a biopsy so he ordered PET scan. It didn't "light up" as cancer. 4 years later I still go once a year and get a scan to see if it has grown. 4 years later, nobody has told me what that nodule is...but the Pulmonologist says it's not cancer and it hasn't grown even a little bit. Remember, 3 doctors said with certainty that it was cancer. They were wrong.

kmajor,

Thank you this sounds similar to what I’m feeling, except the back pain is lower. That could honestly just be due to the way I’ve been sitting while working. I will follow up with my PCP when I have my yearly appt, which will be soon.

Blast, DiV! 😥 It's got to be torturous having to wait over the weekend. I hope that your report is favorable.

Lyn

Will try and keep this short..BC right breast..mastectomy Er+ HER -

Arimidex 5 yrs then five yrs in remission.

Virus 7 weeks ago had chest xray..lung nodule..now post scans and lung biopsy and then PET..mets to lungs sternum and mediastinal lymph nodes On. ibrance and letrozole bit over a week

PET also showed nodule on left breast..Biopsied week ago Fri.Saw results on pt portal today triple negative.Dr said if it not ER + and Her 2- Treatment might change ..with this in mind she gave me appt this Mon..any thoughts anyone have this???Ibrance thread sent me here..TY

redeesides ty for your post..I am now between rock and hard place..RT breast mets to lungs sternum and mediastinal nodeS but now independent of this they found triple neg in left breast .no mets..Just learned the TN part today via pt portal I was here to learn from you with triple negative diagnosis..even though u dont take ibrance.

Awe ty so much.. it was confusing to me..even as old RN so happy you said Got it meant a lot to me..TY..

Hi fellow TN's! I'm just catching up on the thread as I haven't been around lately. I don't think that I can recall everybody individually but good luck to those of you awaiting results. That's so hard. Happy for those of you with good news! I can say that I still (almost 6 months post chemo) have foggy brain occasionally but it is getting better. I'm 48 and briefly thought my ovaries were starting up again at one point but it never happened. Since feeling subsided after a week or two, I never explored further.

I took about two months post surgery to fill one tissue expander then started radiation in late Feb. Mentally, I found rads pretty challenging emotionally. Objectively, I know it wasn't as bad as chemo but I think that I'm just tired of treatment and want my life back. I finished rads right before Easter and my skin is finally almost healed. I had very close to pcr but not pcr so my husband and I decided to pursue opinions at my medical center and elsewhere to make a decision about next steps. My MO does not recommend Xeloda and is open to a clinical trial although it turns out that I'm not eligible for the TN immunotherapy trial here. We have one appointment a week for the next 3 weeks. I'm hoping to get some clarity about further treatment and find out about any potential trials that would be a good fit. We shall see.

Best wishes to all of you dealing with whatever is going on in your life!

lake woman this is a great place for TN information. Many are early in their diagnosis, on treatment etc. there are many of us that are past treatment but share the ZtN diagnosis. I hope others chime in that have contributed to this thread for a few years. TN is very different from ER plus. My first bcc was ERPlus, this most recent was TN.

(((DiV)))

jenjenl - hope appt went well.

Div - hugs.

Nifer, I'm 13 months past my last chemo treatment and I still have brain problems. I've stopped calling it chemo brain because it is more than just fogginess or forgetting words, names, etc. I had a thorough work up by a neurologist who specializes in chemo induced brain problems and learned that my two weak areas are processing & attention. I scored at the 6th percentile. The doctor suggested doing 6 specific Lumosisty games. I did those daily for 3 months but I didn't find it to be helpful. Many people never experience chemo brain damage and many bounce back quickly, like VL22 who is recovering after 100 days (such good news!) I think I'm just stuck with mental limitations. What's weird is that I get associated sensations in my face--these are not bothersome, just interesting. If I'm in a situation with a lot of visual stimulation and information to process--like in an Ikea store--my brain gets overwhelmed and I can't think through which silly product to buy. But also, my forehead, lips or cheeks go numb. Last week I was in a Container store with DD, helping her get closet items; my whole face went numb and I got so overwhelmed I almost fainted.