Calling all TNs
Comments
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Thought I'd share an article about the effects of coffee consumption on breast cancer risk (interesting findings for ER neg) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/new-health/health-nutrition/leslie-beck/coffee-may-prevent-breast-cancer-among-postmenopausal-women/article2016968/
Here's the original abstract: http://breast-cancer-research.com/content/13/3/R49
Wondering if I should be substituting a few cups of pressed coffee for my green tea...
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Hello all!
Yeah Titan!
I heared about this article on my way to work this morning. Interesting. I am cold so I'll skip down to the cafe and get me a cup of coffee....
Not withdrawn but I have the need for people to treat me normal. I am just ready to be on the other side of things. Like being 17 years beyond my dx...
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Coffee, blech! I can't stomach the stuff, but maybe I should try...I do drink 2-3 cups of green tea per day.
Read yesterday that aspirin - which is believed to help reduce risk of BC and mets - increases your risk of blood cancer.
We can't win!0 -
And I realized I'm no good at taking a break. Posting here is truly therapeutic for me.
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Luah: Not sure I would put alot of stock in coffee curing cancer--I was a heavy drinker until my diagnosis. Now I can have 1 cup only. Too many other problems besides BC. Maybe Starbucks funded this study so we would all dring 5 cups a day. Don't get me wrong--I would love any excuse to drink more coffee and eat more dark chocolate, but I am not sure of the source of this article
fighter: I would stick with your green tea where there are huge studies confirming that it's good for us.
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Hi all you great TN ladies. You're all so young! I was first diagnosed with tiple negative breast cancer in 2002 at the age of 55 with a 2+ cm., Grade 3, 0 nodes TN tumor in my left breast. Opted for a lumpectomy but ended up needing a re-excision for a dirty margin. Had CMF chemo (8 treatments, every 3 weeks for 6 months) followed by 35 rads (including boost). Even that chemo was tough for me because I seem to be super sensitive, but I got through it (as we all do) and went on to many happy disease free years. Jump to January 2011 and I'm now 63. Was diagnosed again in early Feb., same breast, with a much larger TN tumor (4+ cm), again Grade 3, 0 nodes, which was actually entwined with the scar tissue from the first surgeries. I elected to have a bi-lateral mastectomy this time since I've had numerous biopsies on the other breast, as recently as 2 years ago. I definitely don't need to do this a 3rd time. I am scheduled to have 4 treatments of dose dense AC to be followed by 4 dose dense of Taxol. In the beginning I saw my surgeon and oncologist every 3 months but the time frames got longer as time went on. In the beginning I also had a CBC run every 3 months but they stopped doing that. By the end of the 9 years, I was only seeing my surgeon and oncologist once a year and having mammos once a year but now I'm back to the old schedule.
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Hi guys: I feel awful to read about the losses here, it really does make me feel sick to my stomach. It seems lately I am going from one catastrophe to another. I have taken a break from here, but I feel I need to be closer to people who know exactly what I am going through. Just when I thought I was kinda coming around.... winter over, good mammo., weather warming up.... my DH and I split. I know it is for the best, but geez the timing could have been a little better. Whoever is looking after this world could have planned this a little better.
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Kelben tell me about it!!! Urgh life *&^%$#@~!!!
No worries I am not a everyday coffee drinker.
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Epgnyc:
I am so very sorry that you have to deal with this crap for a second time. So much for the 3 - 5 year rule they drum into us insofar as no recurrences. This disease is just such a complicated mess of misery, so totally devoid of any mercy. (And I am not a young one, I may add - I am older than you, having been 64 last February). What you will be having for chemo is exactly what I had two years ago. I too am super sensitive and had a really rough time of chemo. I made it through as well, but not as a happy camper, for sure. Also did 33 rads with the last 5 as boosts. So, I am still praying that I will be one of the lucky ones to never have it reappear; however, I am truly beginning to worry if that is ever the case? Scary stuff this triple negative is.
Anyway, just wanted to wish you well and am glad you have joined us here. Please keep coming back here while you start this new journey, as we are all here to help you in any way possible, hold your hand when needed, laugh with you, cry with you and share collectively all that we have each leared and/or experienced. Having a bunch of extra arms to cyber-hug you at any time is always a good thing.
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Wow EPGNYC...9 years and then a reoccurence. As to what "they" say we hear that is almost totally unheard of. Did your onc. tell you that you were special?
I also did 4 dd AC and 4 Taxol.... When are you starting your chemo?
Now we have two Grannies on here .sorry...I'm really not that much younger than you guys...
Kelben..sorry to hear about the break up it does seem sometimes one thing after another...
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Oh..and I drink some coffee..and green tea too...I pretty much drink something all day long.
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((((Kelben)))): I am so sorry to hear this. Sometimes even the strongest of marriages do not survive BC. Please feel free to come on here and rant and rave and curse and get it all out. Big hugs!!!
Epgnyc: My closest friend's mom went through the same as you and just had an MX at 70. I really hate this disease. So sorry you have to be here, but you will find great support here from women of all ages.
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Well I'm thinking the 3-5 year thing is really about recurrence, either local or distant. It doesn't say much about a new primary, and I guess our lifetime odds of that are as high or higher than women who have never had BC (at least 1/8). Even so, epgnyc, it sucks that you have to go through this crap again. We're here for you.
Kelben: Sorry you're going through a break-up... things definitely change with a cancer diagnosis and sometimes relationships don't survive it, for better or worse. Hope you're doing okay.
MBJ: It wasn't really about curing cancer at all. The complete coffee study can be found here: http://breast-cancer-research.com/content/pdf/bcr2879.pdf (Believe me, I check legitimacy before posting because I know there's a lot of hogwash out there.) This was a peer-reviewed study, supported by the National Institutes of Health and by the Märit and Hans Rausing's Initiative against Breast Cancer (definitely not Starbucks.) The authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships. The conclusion: "We found no evidence that coffee consumption increases the overall risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. However, a high daily intake of coffee was found to be associated with a significant decrease in ER-negative breast cancer among postmenopausal women. Future studies are needed to confirm the effects of coffee consumption in the light of breast cancer subtypes."
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Luah: That is an interesting study, especially since the decrease was in ER-negative BC. I feel a little better about having my morning cup of coffee.
epgnyc: I am sorry you are having a second bout of this. I wonder if you have ever had the BRCA genetic test? I have a friend who had a second primary 10 years later and she was BRCA2 positive.
kelben: I'm sorry about your split, you are right, that is bad timing.
Suze35: I am like you, I really can't stay away! I'm glad you're back.
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Luah: Sorry, I saw the Starbuck's add and my mind just went there. 5 cups a day is alot of coffee and I did drink this much or more prior to TNBC so I just dont' think it's that simple. Interesting study, though.
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Hi Girls, just popping my head in the door to say Hi have been so busy these last few days trying to get all I need to get done done and back working full time this week. Crazy hard this go around and I cant beleive treamtent number 4 is just around the corner, sigh. oh well miss you girls and wish I had time to pop on more often
Hugs Kymn
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Lisa's flowers are just gorgeous. Rough week for us TN's I have to say. May she rest in peace.
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Kymn: Sorry you have to work while going through chemo. You are much stronger then I was.
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Hi All! I haven't been on this thread in a while. I've been on the April rads thread mostly. I just finished my #23 treatment/36 and am feeling pretty good. Burnt, but good. The coffee study attracted my attention. I drank a lot of coffee before I was diagnosed, but not 5 cups. I'd be a nervous wreck after 5! I swear coffee was part of my problem, but maybe I'm wrong. Coffee does give me sugar cravings, so maybe that's what did it, the high sugar intake. I was also obese at diagnosis, so perhaps this was the cause? I guess we really will never know. Just need to be as healthy and as thin as possible
Sorry to hear about your recurrence (or new primary-I wasn't sure), epgnyc. This is a great place to be when you are going through all this mess.
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9 years out and a recurrence! I am so sorry epgnyc.
Kelben, it doesn't seem fair that you have to deal with a marriage breaking up as well. I know it didn't seem "right" to me that all of the other life problems didn't go away during treatment....treatment and coping with the disease psychologically should be enough but that sure isn't the way it works.
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epgnyc - I'm so sorry you are dealing with this again. It sounds like a second primary...? I hope all goes well with treatment again.
Lynn - thanks
.The flowers for Lisa are just beautiful. So very sad
.kelben - that just stinks. As if this isn't enough to have to deal with, life gets in on it as well. I hope you are treating yourself gently. Hugs to you.
I have my gameplan in place now...I will either do the study if I get in the treatment arm, or Xeloda with Avastin starting June 27th if I don't. She will also have me do Zometa every 6 months since the inital studies suggested that it could help prevent mets. And she said I can do Metformin if it doesn't kick me out of the study. Aggressive, but my MO said she wants to throw it at me. I'll have a PET scan mid-August. Just hanging on now hoping everything stays clear...
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Oh those roses for Lisa are so beautiful! I'm glad we were well represented. Thank you so much Sheila for posting.
On the coffee study (and all others, for that matter): It's important to realize that they work with large numbers of women to detect significant findings, overall. Not to say, there aren't individual exceptions, any of us could be. Another issue that was raised was the type of brew method... in Europe, they tend to drink percolated/boiled coffee (which creates different properties), whereas in NA drip coffee is the norm.. could that account for these novel findings? As they say, more research is warranted. It's not that coffee is necessarily the answer, but maybe if they can isolate what it is in coffee... scientists may have another treatment avenue to pursue.
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Luah: Good point.
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Kymn...good luck at going back to work! I worked the whole time...not sure if I would do it again but I did it anyway....I never slept well during chemo so I was up anyway..never was tired..I think the pre-chemo drugs kept me pumped for 12 weeks...two years out and I still haven't slept through an entire night...but it is getting better
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Hi to you all. Hope this cheers up up - My mother-in -law sent sent email yesterday, said she had been talking to a friend who was a nurse, they worked out that TN means it's only in one breast. I just have to explain back that sound like three breasts -Triple- . Any ideas ladies
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Just popping in to say hello. I am following this thread, because although I am ER+, my tumor was only 16% ER pos. My BS said something like " you're not a true TN, but there is something else at play here other than being ER pos."
I had a lumpectomy in Feb. and am currently in the middle of 6 TAC treatments. I'll then have a re-excision for a dirty margin followed by 6 weeks of rads.
I had yearly mammos and did self exams, and still can't understand how this thing spread to my nodes without being seen or felt. Even my BS couldn't find it with an manual exam, and I'm a small B cup. I have dense breasts, and the tumor could clearly be seen on an ultrasound.
I love the sense of support you give each other on this thread. Thanks for letting me lurk here.
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epgnyc - So sorry for your diagnosis. Big hugs and good throughts.
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Jules: I hope that the chemo/rads/surgery gets the remainder of your BC. You can lurk here all you want--there are a few ladies here who are slightly positive. Hugs!
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BernieEllen -
No ideas, but that's cute lol!Jules - I had a slight ER+ on my biopsy - 3%. My MO just recently did an Oncotype on me because it is a definitive measure of ER+, and it was a big fat 0%. Are you going to take Tamoxifen? I was initially, but with my recent 0%, won't bother. I hear you on how this disease gets missed so easily. I went from clear mammo to diagnosis in 5 months. No rhyme or reason, just nasty.
Question for those who have done rads - did it affect your stomach in any way? I've been having bad heartburn - had to up my Prilosec to the max after getting it down to one a day - and nausea later in the day after treatment. My RO swears it isn't related, but we've all heard that before, right? Just curious.
Have a great day everyone! We actually have a little sun here in the NE!!
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