TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP

I know I have mentioned this before, but there are newbies here so I will cover it again. I was fortunate to participate in a study through the University of South Florida and Moffitt Cancer Center as I finished chemo and surgery, but still had continued Herceptin and reconstruction ahead of me. The purpose of this study was to determine, in a quantified manner with blood and saliva testing, whether meditation, yoga, and discussion with a psychologist could reduce the stress hormone cortisol and assist in helping breast cancer patients with state of mind. Here is a link to the study info:

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01177124

The mindfulness based stress reduction techniques included reference to Jon Kabat-Zinn's book Full Catastrophe Living, and I recommend reading it and looking into mindfulness as a way to achieve some peace moving forward during and after treatment. My biggest takeaway from this study was that acknowledgment of the lack of control we have over our lives is key in coming to terms with life threatening disease. We can't waste time regretting the past (did I cause my cancer?), realize that we can't control the future (what if I have a recurrence?), we can only live in the current moment we are in. If I am worrying about the past or the future I am robbing myself of fully living in the moment, and wasting my time - and the moment I currently occupy is really all I have. Secondly, that constant multi-tasking is robbing me of peaceful appreciation of that current moment. I understand that we all have many things to do and think about, but one way to be "in the moment" is to embrace what you are actually doing at the time. My best example is doing the dishes - most of us are doing other things simultaneously - making lists in our head, thinking about what we have to do the next day, wrangling pets and children, etc. I suggest that you try to instead smell the dish soap, feel the dish in your hand, appreciate how the warm water feels on your hands, and do the task from start to finish without thinking about anything else. This may sound silly but it is a type of informal meditation practice with the intent of quieting the mind, and fully engaging in the moment. It is a way to help understand how to apply this to areas of your life that can give you greater peace and ability to live in the now.

I know this is not for everyone, but it has been a great help to me. I am further out from active treatment than many here on this thread and come to this discussion from a different perspective. This study, and what I learned, has helped me deal with numerous reconstruction challenges and surgeries and several recurrence scares.

laughinggull - you go girl!

Two years ago today (Tuesday before Thanksgiving) I got call from the lab confirming I had breast cancer. It has been a rough two years but I am still here. I finished my treatment in April and I'm doing okay. Now if I can just start looking to the future instead of the past.

Wishing you wonderful ladies Happy Thanksgiving!

As always SpecialK - thank you for your thoughtful advice. As a recovering alcoholic (for 35 years) I use what many recovery programs call "the serenity prayer."

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Taco

Hello ladies, sorry I have been out of touch - had the flu for 3 weeks and dealing with some difficult family situations. You are all in my daily prayers for strength, healing and peace.

Welcome to all the newbies; this is a wonderful community of encouragement, hope and inspiration.

I had my annual oncology check up and I am NED, good for another year. Stressed out just a little bit this time around so it does get better over time. Battling severe body pain and two trigger fingers (thumbs) but walking and keeping active helps me both physically and mentally.

SpecialK - thank you for your wise words to live in the moment. You are always an inspiration! I am a firm believer and this is what keeps me thinking positive. It is a hard concept to grasp initially but with practice it helps minimize fear, anxiety and stress. I walk 7-8 miles a day and I call this my solitude, silence and serenity time - I really have learned to enjoy God's beauty and the many blessings He provides each of us every day.

Wishing all of you a blessed Thanksgiving with your loved ones. We have much to be thankful for.

Taco that is amazing!! My poor mom never could kick it and it got her in the end.

What is this "trigger finger" ?? I have noticed lately that my knuckles hurt and my middle finger occasionally gets stuck in the down position (better than up I suppose ha!) Is that what this is? Is it Herceptin related? I don't remember this happening with my first Herceptin go 'round.

Hi deni1661. Excellent news about being NED. Very sorry to hear about the flu and trigger finger and pain and family issues. When it rains it pours! I recently received a card that said I will not be speaking of the long journey unless I am taking you on a cruise. No doubt that phrase journey applies to us TPs. But we are all here and that is something to be thankful for. And in my darkest hours of the fight, this group was here for me and I remain eternally grateful. There are many who have left our group and I pray that that is because they are feeling great and busy making up for lost time. 😀 wishing everyone who is celebrating today a happy thanksgiving.

BigPeaches - I'm sorry for your loss. My Dad was only sober sporadically in his later years. I firmly believe that addiction is a disease too and not all recover. I try to always be grateful but some days it's hard. A friend posted that this is "gratitude week" and I have been adding mine to my facebook page. Hope I can keep it up - not on line but in my head.

Hi! I was in a similar situation as you are, 38 and was just diagnosed with 2 small kids at home. It will be difficult but it, honestly, won't be as bad as your imagination! The hair loss is what I was most terrified for and , while it was not the most fun time of my life, I didn't mind as much as i thougth I would. My last chemo was February and I have already had to get a hair cut, plus my hair came back MUCH thicker! Hang in there, you can and will do this!

I have been changed fromTaxol to Kadcyla due to neuropathy. I wonder has anyone had to take a Kadcyla? It is usually used after a recurrence of breast cancer while on Taxol or Taxotere or after treatment for metastatic cancer. I do not have mets

magari - yay!

asknomore - how many infusions of Taxol have you had total?

Hi all, happy holidays, and wish you are have a wonderful holiday season.

I was diagnosed with triple positive in July and just finished my 6th chemo yesterday. Will go through another MRI and talk to my surgeon about the surgery in 3 weeks.

My chemo was delayed for one week because of DVT around my port area, so my Dr suggest I remove the port during surgery.

The current plan is a mastectomy on the left, but I am considering doing bilateral mastectomy. Would like to know how many of you decided to donbilatery even though the other one still look an healthy?

Thanks

Hong

Hi, Hong - I have a strong family history and have always had very dense breasts, so I chose bilateral mastectomy when pre-surgical imaging showed cancer only on the right. It turned out to be the right decision for me because post-surgical pathology showed more cancer on the right and DCIS on the left.

I've just completed my final Herceptin/Perjeta infusion and had my port removed the next day. I'm taking Arimidex and will be doing so for at least 5 years.

Gemma - your profile doesn't show your stats, but I'm guessing that you caught your cancer much earlier than your daughter's friend's mother. I assume you also have done/are doing everything your doctors recommend in terms of treatment. That is really all you can do. You might also try mindfulness/meditation, therapy and/or medication to calm your anxiety, since stress isn't helpful. But enjoy your health and live your life!

Thank you Magari, wow, it’s good that you choose the double mastectomy. I don’t have a family history and my gene test doesn’t show any mutation , but I do have unknown variation in PALB2. I heard that the recovery process is kind of painful for bilateral, how long will it take usually?

Thanks

Asknomore, Kadcyla is a combination of Herceptin and emtansine (chemo). Because the chemo is bound to the herceptin, it is better at targetting only the cancerous cells, and not all the others that cause your neuropathy. It is believed to be close to approval as a frontline therapy in early stage Her2 positive cancer. There's an ongoing trial, about to end, results to be published in 2019, and I understand the results have been quite positive. There is a thread here about that trial, where you can read about some other members that were participating. It's called the ATEMPT trial.