Topic: Triple Negative IDC and radiation?

Kenziemommie,

I can understand why you would be concerned about the level of care your Mom receives.  I am triple negative as well and luckily had no nodes involved.  I had a bilateral mastectomy and am currently going through 6 months of aggressive chemo.  I won't be having radiation because my tumor was right at the surface of the skin away from the chest wall.  The mastectomy was enough in my case.  Triple negative breast cancer is extremely aggressive and can only be treated with chemo and radiation.  Since the cancer is not hormone receptive, there isn't any drugs we can take once we are through with treatment.  Aggressive chemo and radiation is your Mom's best plan of action to keep the cancer from recurring.  That being said, it is always good to get a second opinion whenever possible.  Take care of your Mom the best you can and come to these boards often.  There are many great women here that are more than willing to help anyway they can.  Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.  Stay strong for your Mom, she's going to need you to help her get through this.  Good luck.

Dee 

Pennylane: So nice to meet you. I just got my path report back and was reeling from my trip neg diagnosis, also I have one of 4 nodes with micromets. :(  I'm getting opinions now on whether to have a complete node dissection first, then move into chemo and rads; or potentially move right into chemo/rads. Feel like a time-bomb's ticking! 

There's so much bad news out there about trip neg - congratulations on being disease free 4 years out!

kenziemommie: From what I understand about this cancer, you want to be as aggressive as humanly possible!  No nodes is great, but coolbreeze is right - there's always a chance of some random cancer cells floating around.

kenziezmommie,

Was she given the option for reconstruction with expanders placed at the time of her mastectomy?  What do her doctors say about the reconstruction?  I had expanders placed with my mx, completed aggressive chemo, and rads, and will complete my reconstruction next year, so it is definitely doable, but her doctors may have specific reasons for their recommendations.  Or did she initially decide against reconstruction but now wants it?  If so there may still be options for her, even after rads, so don't count it out yet.  Has she consulted with a breast plastic surgeon (the one who did her mx may have been a breast surgeon but not necessarily a reconstruction expert.).  

It sounds like her treatment is pretty much standard care for TN.  I had a 5-cm tumor but no definite node involvement, but I did have radiation because of a "suspicious" IM node and because of the large size and aggressiveness of my tumor. Do you know why they were so certain that it had metastasized?  Do you have more specifc information abot her pathology?  If so and if you feel comfortable sharing, I bet someone here has similar experience they can offer.

She's lucky to have you to help support her through this!  Best of luck and let us know how she's doing!

Hi Kenzie Mommie -

I am sorry to hear about your mother, but so glad to hear the bc is not in her lymph nodes. That is good news. I was diagnosed at 39 with triple negative bc and had a 5cm tumor (as well as a 1cm tumor) and three positive lymph nodes.

I had my mastectomy first, then chemo followed by radiation.

My rads onc. explained to me the reason I had to have radiation was due to various factors: 1. The tumor being 5cm. 2. 3 or more lymph nodes involved. 3. vascular involvement.

Now, she told me if the tumor was 5cm or less in size and I had no lymph node involvement, she would not press for the rads, but because I had three lymph nodes affected (one being 1cm), she insisted I have radiation. She also said that if I had had no lymph node involvement, but had my tumor been larger than 5cm, she would again recommend rads.

Perhaps your mom has vascular involvement? It sounds as though her tumor is large, maybe a bit larger than 5cm?

Please note that triple negative cancer responds well to chemo. That is good news.

If you want to PM me, please do. Also, there is a thread called Triple Negative. You will find more information and lots of support there.

Best wishes to you and your mom,

Raye

hello to all of my TN sisters,

just reading all of the posts just gave a boost of encouragement.  first hearing that i was TN was a blow. i had my lump on Oct. 30 recovering from that and my mammosite placement for internal radiation is tomorrow.  then i have to joy of starting chemo next month wooooooo hooooooo.  my tumor was 3cm, but i am a DD so a mast wasnt really needed and all of my tests before surgery showed no lymph involvement.  they did a sentinel lymph biopsy and my lymphs are clear!!!  Kenziemommie,

i have to agree with everyone here, it sounds like your mother is getting great everything that she needs.  I live in a small town. Noblesville, IN.  BUT all of my drs. are top rate and my oncologist did his internship at Johns Hopkins. i moved here from Los Angeles and i dont believe i could have gotten any better treatment there!!!!

 STAY STRONG AND LIVE LONG

kenziesmommie,

How's your mom doing? How are you holding up? Just thinking about you...!