anothernycgirl

I had placenta Previawith my son who is now 34. It was a lot of bed rest, they did a c-section at 35 weeks as the bleeding got worse. He was 7 pounds 9 oz. no problems. Has a mba in engineering. No issues.

Mostly a lurker, I want to share the encouraging news that I've reached two years after diagnosis with no evidence of disease.

Lyn

Thank you so much, Scot! Thinking of you, too and looking for your good scan report!!

Lyn, - Here's to only good scans from now on for you and Scot and everyone here!!

Another NYCgal - I knew so little about premature babies until my daughter gave birth at 29 weeks to our precious grandson. He weighed just under 2 pounds and fit the stereotype for the ones who have trouble: white and male. He was in NICU for almost 4 months, but if you could see him today, you'd never guess he'd had any troubles. He's a bit small for his age - and that's it. Happy, outgoing, lovely 6 year old boy. So I'm hoping your daughter can make it that far and further, but know that medicine has come so far recently with these very early preemies. Best to you.

Paula

welcome hollywood- sorry you are here. It must be extra frightening for you since you lost your mom to cancer - so sorry to hear that. But you have every reason to be optimistic. It’s a long road to be sure, but the ladies here and on other threads will get you through. The only ones who really “get it” are the ones in it.

Are you doing chemo or surgery first?

I will be doing chemo first. Tumor is large so hoping to shrink it. Start Chemo june 14.

Welcome Hollywood!

You might want to join one of the chemo groups if you haven't already. I found that really helpful when I was going through chemo. Chemo is manageable. Let us know if you have any questions or if you just need to vent.

Rebekah

Thanks for all the support! I have port placement Friday. Before the 1st chemo I will have a CT, a bone scan and an echocardiagram. Is this normal? I have already had an MRI. Just saw MRI results and it mentioned an area of concern on the other breast. FANTASTIC!!! I don't feel sick. I had a complete hysterectomy and oophorectomy in 2016 beacause of my mom dying from ovarian cancer and now this. What the hell?

hollywood19,

I had a PET scan and an echocardigram. The echocardiagram is to ensure that your heart is strong enough to withstand the chemo. I, too, had a hysterectomy and oophorectomy, but mine was because of endometriosis. I'm glad as my genetic testing turned up positive for a new gene: BRIT 1. I'd have to have my ovaries out now if I hadn't.

Lots of good advice and support on these boards. I hope your port placement is as smooth as mine - not painless but all healed up and working well for 9 months now.

Thanks, ladies!

Hollywood, I agree that joining one of the "starting chemo in x month" groups is very helpful. Reading through earlier groups can prepare you in terms of symptoms and help you develop a list of questions for your medical team. I hope all goes smoothly.

Lyn

Hello,

I have been a lurker since diagnosis in February this year, but am ready to be a more active participant now. Having a TNBC dx really is different from most other women I know that also have BC.

I was 41 at diagnosis and have two girls (10, soon to be 12) as well as a supportive husband. Like most of you I have committed myself to doing any and everything to beat this. My faith has been what has gotten me this far. My job as a horse vet is very physically demanding and I haven't practiced since diagnosis. I'm not sure I would have been able to do a desk job either as chemo has been tough. All genetic testing was normal so we elected to skip Carboplatin as I have had a very good clinical response to A/C. I completed my 5th weekly Taxol this morning.

I really like my team so far. With my medical background I joke that I have enough knowledge to be dangerous and bring articles to my appointments. My MO and I have even swapped articles and had long discussions about drug protocols. I will have radiation even if I attain a pCR due to age and TNBC. The RO admitted she had never treated a T2N0 post mastectomy but we discussed a recent review and think that it's worth it .

Role of postmastectomy radiotherapy in early-stage (T1–2N0–1M0) triple-negative breast cancer: a systematic review

Fengxia Chen and Feifei Pu

That leads to my next treatment decision. From the onset I made the decision to have a BMX as I want to decrease recurrence risk. I was set on pre-pectoral implant reconstruction, but rads makes that not a good option. I have made peace with the decision to do free flaps (hoping for PAP) and would very much like to have Immediate reconstruction done at time of BMX. Oncologic safety is of the utmost importance, followed by function and lastly cosmetics. I understand that rads WILL impact the flap recon and likely cause skin changes as well as shrinking/contracture but will be significantly less than with an implant. I really want to avoid additional immune-supressing procedures as I keep thinking that could lead to higher risk of recurrence. Many of the women that undergo reconstruction seem to need/desire multiple revisions and I just don't think that is wise for a high risk TNBC.

How have you approached reconstruction due to being a TNBC?

Hi & welcome to the new folks...

I have a question about rads. If you had neg lymph nodes & a lumpectomy, what is best evidence based practice for radiation of lymph nodes? Yay or nay?

I'm caught in this weird limbo of being sort of TN and sort of not. My MO treated me as high risk to recur and prescribed AC +T.

The RO team is seems to consider me more a stage 1 low risk & is only recommending whole breast rads + 4 boosts to the tumor bed due to one margin <2mm. They said because the lymph nodes were neg, they're not recommending doing them.

Anyone have access to ASCO18 abstracts? There was something from the Curie Insititute about lymph node rads but I only saw the tweet & haven't tracked down the study yet.

A4ggy : T = tumor; N = nodes; M = metastases

More on TNM staging here: https://cancerstaging.org/references-tools/Pages/W...

I am confused by staging since my doctors didn't really ever talk about it with me, in fact said I should ignore it.

I am so incredibly blessed that chemo wiped out all my cancer before my lumpectomy. If I were to refer to my staging is it the stage the cancer was at when I walked through the door of my MO's office for the first time, or now that there is NED?

Is staging something I no longer need to think about at this time, or do I say 'I was stage IIIA but now am stage 0" ?

Is anyone able to to explain this to a still chemo-brained TNer?

THANKS!

Thanks CallieGirl. My tumor was in lower inner quadrant, so I'm pondering rads on internal mammary lymph nodes.