Triple Negative Breast Cancer: What treatments are you having?

I can only tell you what my experiences were with chemo that had these same side effects. There was not the effective drugs for nausea that they have now. So that was a bigger problem. The constipation became a huge problem and continued for years after my initial chemo. If you can stomach it, whole grain oatmeal every day will help this, it might or might not be enough. I now mix up whole grain rolled oats and milk and kefir, add some blueberries and a touch of honey, I refrigerate over night and eat cold in the morning.
You can ask your oncology doctor for a consult with a nutritionist specializing in oncology if there is one in your area. They will have more tips and tricks for you to use. How are you feeling after your first treatment?

There are also NCCN guidelines, which one oncologist I saw referred to that don't exactly recommend no radiation for older women with low-stage cancer lumpectomies but suggest that skipping it be considered a viable, accepted protocol.

I kidded my breast surgeon, asking if this is just another economic triage idea (as recommended by Ezekial Emmanual and Cass Sunstein who advocate severely cutting funding for health care for the elderly) and she laughed, being in her late 50s.

And said that it's more a function of three things: there is very, very little data in breast cancer in older women since, until recently, routine mammograms in their case were not even offered; breast cancers in the elderly tend be less virulent and grow considerably more slowly; and the majority of women in that age group have comorbities and other health issues that can increase the risks of poorer outcomes.

She added that a lot of healthy active women also concentrate more on quality of life ("remaining years') issues and are far less likely to willingly tolerate side effects of various treatments.

All of that makes sense to me, variables that affect younger womens' decisions are viewed differently by older women with maybe a differing package of responsibilities.

Apparently my chemo combo of Gemzar and Carboplatin - the biggest side effects is nausea and constipation plus low platelets with low red & white cells. Does anyone know of any foods that could help? Thanks

TNBC is a beast! I would do both chemo and rads! I am dealing with a reoccurrence and started chemo again today 🙏🏼

There are also NCCN guidelines, which one oncologist I saw referred to that don't exactly recommend no radiation for older women with low-stage cancer lumpectomies but suggest that skipping it be considered a viable, accepted protocol.

I kidded my breast surgeon, asking if this is just another economic triage idea (as recommended by Ezekial Emmanual and Cass Sunstein who advocate severely cutting funding for health care for the elderly) and she laughed, being in her late 50s.

And said that it's more a function of three things: there is very, very little data in breast cancer in older women since, until recently, routine mammograms in their case were not even offered; breast cancers in the elderly tend be less virulent and grow considerably more slowly; and the majority of women in that age group have comorbities and other health issues that can increase the risks of poorer outcomes.

She added that a lot of healthy active women also concentrate more on quality of life ("remaining years') issues and are far less likely to willingly tolerate side effects of various treatments.

All of that makes sense to me, variables that affect younger womens' decisions are viewed differently by older women with maybe a differing package of responsibilities.

I agree....at 80 I wouldn't try chemo or radiation either. I would fear the treatment would kill me faster than the cancer.

I agree....at 80 I wouldn't try chemo or radiation either. I would fear the treatment would kill me faster than the cancer.

I was diagnosed with invasive carcinoma, triple negative breast cancer in January. I had a lumpectomy in February. I had clear margins and clear lymph nodes. Because I am 80 years old I didn't feel it was right for me to get chemo or radiation. The study which I read ( JAMA Oncology) suggesting treatment, were done on much younger women (average age 51).

May I ask what your age is? My decision would be different if I were younger and hadn’t had clear lymph nodes.