Triple Negative Breast Cancer: What treatments are you having?

I first had 6 rounds 1/3wks. I did not have a port and I did just fine. Some chemo regimens require a port, but mine did not. I had a second round of 12, 1/wk. the second time, a port was recommended due the the frequency. Unfortunately, my lung was punctured when the port was installed. I was in the hospital for a week and my treatment was delayed. There are two ways to install a port and I was later told that the one that was used to install mine was more likely to cause that. Ask some questions about how it will be done. It is surgery and not a simple matter.

Your infusion nurse will not only use the port to administer your bags of treatments, but also to draw blood before the infusions to make sure your white blood count is in range so that you can have chemo. Therefore a port is the way to go in my opinion. My port surgery was not a big deal.

Beat wishes to you, Cindy

A port

Definitely a port!!

Question, my oncologist said I would have 6 to 8 weeks of infusion and then evaluate should I advocate for a port(I think that’s what it called) or just go with the regular IV ?
Or will my infusion team be the lead on that?

@lynnj3 - I think I was told to try to have between 50-75% of my body weight in protein a day - so I started each morning with a very high protein shake. I'd use a high protein milk (Fairlife) with plain greek yogurt, I'd add a protein powder to the drink and frozen banana, or berries and would get probably close to 30-45 grams of protein in that meal alone - so the rest of the day I just tried to eat other things that were also high in protein. I did keep on hand high protein snack bars. My numbers stayed really good (except one weekend when we went away and my numbers weren't high enough for treatment); but otherwise I was able to do my treatments. I also researched vegetables and other foods that were high in protein. I did a fair amount of organic chicken, and quinoa (which I had never tried and found some pretty good recipes to do in the instant pot).

Honestly I did not even think to ask what what immunotherapy or or chemo regime I’ll be on , will for sure add it to my list of questions.
One thing i’m wondering now is what kinds of protein did anyone have on hand after the infusion? Protein bars? What are something that worked best ? How prepared should I be?

@lynnj3 things are moving quickly for you. Keep us posted! It is overwhelming but those I know who have gone through the immunotherapy and chemo found it doable in the end and I hope the same is true for you.

Welcome @lynnj3, I moved your post to this existing and active discussion:
- Triple Negative Breast Cancer: What treatments are you having? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/triple-negative-breast-cancer/

I did this so you can read previous posts and connect easily with other members with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) like @thielmann1 @kk57 @olg1 @drummergirl @bpknitter53 @rahrah6263 @leolion811 @mkb4435 and more.

You've certainly come to the right place to un-pack that sense of overwhelm and prepare your questions for your upcoming appointment next week. What immunotherapy and chemotherapy regimens will you be starting? What questions do you have from others in the group who have been there?

What is TNBC stand for? It is not fun going through all of this I know! I have invasive lobular BC on one side. Thinking good thoughts for you.