Triple Negative Breast Cancer: What treatments are you having?

Doing really good, but took a long while. I was Stage 3B with lymph nodes, chest wall, and skin involvement.

After the chemo/surgery/radiation process plus a year of Keytruda from 2020-2021 I did a year of Xeloda, 1 week on and 1 week off for reoccurrence prevention. Last summer I was good on .my PET/CT so now I just get bloodwork every 3 months, and alternate mamo or MRI every 6 months with a yearly CT.

He's now 3 and 5 months - so much fun. I had some radiation side effects last year, so this year I'm finally able to spend some days with him without treatments and doc appts every week and it's been awesome. 😊

It was so tough, and even stuff that now make my life really great, like my reconstruction, were sooo frustrating at the time. It's a crazy journey. Hugs, hugs, hugs.

Thanks for the feed back.
2020🙏 how are you doing now? What was your status? I’m stage 3 with no metastasis to the lymph nodes
Are you taking any meds to prevent recurrence?
Also how old is your baby (bright spot in your life I bet)’

I started chemo in Aug, too (2020) for TNBC. I bought a wig but ended up using hair coverings until my hair grew out. It was easier with my baby and with the heat that way. Friends bought me head coverings over the Internet and there was a free basket at the infusion center.

I wore the wig out a couple of times in the fall and winter. If I had been in a colder spot I would have worn it more, I think. Our cancer wig shop was closed all through my treatment because of lockdown, but bought a wig at a costume shop once non-essential shopping was allowed again.

Good luck with the shave today! I actually really was happy when I finally got it all off - a lot less itching and no more micro hairs everywhere.

I'm sorry to hear about all you have been through. When I read this, I can better appreciate the things my own surgeon has said, that it is important to treat the cancer enough but not over-treat it. (I'm not passing judgment on your providers, just considering it in light of my fears of having been under-treated.) I did not have chemo before surgery - or after. I have not had any radiation. I was fortunate to have a small tumor and no lymph node involvement. I'm assuming that your TNBC was more advanced than mine, but I am regularly struck by how differently oncologists and surgeons view treatment when I read others' stories. There will always be risks, surgery has them, chemo has them, radiation has them, doing nothing has them. While there is a lot of information that can go into calculating the relative risks of each of these choices, in the end, we don't know what will happen until it happens. Many blessings to you as you journey through these hard times.

Thank you for your reply. Since this surgery was difficult because they had to take part of my back dorsal flap to close the wound, it was a bit invasive. the radiation following caused my chest wall to tighten up as it was a second radiation on top of this invasive surgery. I live with an uncomfortable tight chest wall daily that has affected my quality of life. I am still in process of accepting what happened and moving forward in my life. despite the discomfort. Myofascial massage has not worked, nor lazer therapy and 2 other therapies I have tried. Qijong seems to be a good therapy for my mind, body and soul right now. Best of luck to you, Nancy

My TNBC was four years ago so protocol may have changed since then, but my tumor was gone as a result of chemo and I still had lumpectomy and radiation as was recommended by my oncologist, surgeon and radiologist. I don’t know if that makes you feel any better.

Best wishes to you, Cindy

I start my second round of chemo and keytruda 8/24 . I’m now experiencing hair loss, any suggestions on shampoo and conditioner to use before and after. I plan to have what’s left shaved on 8/28 , do y’all use a wig or just head coverings.

Thank you for your reply and the details of your treatment. Unfortunately, the oncologist I had did not try chemo before the surgery. Had this happened, my tumor would have disappeared and surgery could have been avoided. It was a complicated surgery followed by radiation, which left my chest wall fairly tight and paralyzed. After he went on medical leave, another oncologist was assigned to me at Stanford and sent my tissue to be further diagnosed. The results showed that I had 11 mutations which put me in another category for chemotherapy. He put me on the correct chemo medication, and the leftover small tumors just disappeared. I am not on any medication at this point as I don't have any active breast cancer going on at the time. Best of luck with your breast cancer.
Nancy

Good luck with your continued treatment and your appointment with your surgeon! Hugs to you!!

Cookbooks really help! I was given 3, What to Eat during Cancer Treatment, Cooking Through Treatment to Recovery, and Eating Well Through Cancer.