Calling all TNs
Comments
-
OMG..I just typed this whole freaking book and somehow I lost it..oh well..
Alex..Suze was the one who said about "people in your daily live thinking that BC is nothing"...and very treatable...tho I think that about everyone would agree with that comment anyway...
epgnyc..hang in there with the chemo..hopefully you can still do the DD..gets you done quicker...we will help you get through..really!
About that virus..very interesting..trying to think if I had a virus during the last 5-10 years and I can't think of anything...I guess it would make sense if it brought your immunities lower than normal.
0 -
I am 62 and was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer at the end of last summer . I've finished lumpectomy, chemo, and radiation. Just waiting for hair and energy now. No matter how good your support is, cancer is a lonely experience. I hate not recognizing myself in the mirror.
0 -
Welcome SusuieSGB. I wish you'd found us sooner then we could have helped you through all your treatment. However it's good to meet you now. I hope hair and energy return soon.
0 -
I had a virus last winter and put it down to my immune system being so low after the shock of two of my cousins dying within weeks of each other from sudden death syndrome. Never felt so ill.
0 -
I totally think some BCs are triggered by a viral exposure. A viral exposure during pregnancy increases the likelihood of the baby having a congenital heart defect, so why couldn't it also be a trigger for BC?
0 -
Alexandjb- I have gotten "fever blisters" from the herpes type 1 virus my whole life. So did my Mom. My Dr. told me that is likely how I got it too, by my Mom kissing me. I do wonder if viruses don't make us more susceptible to other things. My Mom passed from cancer too, but it was cervical that had spread to her colon. I try my best not to kiss my kids ( very hard) when I have a sore. I get them around my mouth, between my nose and mouth and just inside my nose!
Welcome SusieSGB!
0 -
Hello Ladies!
I was exposed to Agent Orange through my DAD. He fought in the Vietnam War. I remember going to the Doctor and rec'ing radiotheraphy as a teenager. Nobody told me what was going on at the time. Years later I am dealing with BREAST CANCER and now all the facts come out.
This is a rough journey I was reassured by my doctor that after THIS my chances for anything else is drastically reduced due being that I am so many years out from radiotheraphy.
There could be so many reasons why we are all here. I say let's find out what is really going on. My lovely Granny is 94 years old w/ no health problems, and I think it is b'cuz she grew up in an era when CHEMICALS wasn't in great use.
I don't think chemicals cuz cancer solely however they do have a profound impact on your immune system!
0 -
I see we are still debating why we got cancer and what to avoid now that we have it LOL
everything in moderation girls. Doesn't matter what healthy lifestyle you lead or what you eat, if it intends to come back it will. i'm proof. Been healthy living forever and now it's progressed to my skin.
just do what you can to enjoy life. anything less is a sin at this point
0 -
My DH and I watched a Nova Documentary on Stress and how it can destroy the immune system and the scientific proof. I can just imagine the reaction of insurance companies if they had to start covering stress related illnesses. I am sure mine was stress plus a damaged thyroid in a car accident. Never felt the same afterwards. There are so many things: environment, chemicals, viruses, genes.
Fighter: Wow, I had no idea you had gone through that. What a brave little girl you must have been.
0 -
I am trying very hard not to do the second-guessing. I think I hope that if I can find a cause, then I can find a way to keep it at bay. So if it was my diet, then if I improve that, I have a better chance. But I agree that it is a confluence of events - the environmental pressures, the stress, diseases, who knows - I had a mammogram then bam, 5 months later cancer - maybe it was the mammo! I'm working with my therapist to get past this phase, but I'm not sure you ever do.
I also have the herpes virus in my system, although I rarely get cold sores - maybe 1 time a year.
I DO think environment plays a key role. Cancer rates are climbing overall, as well as other things such as autism, ADHD, etc. Somewhere along the line, we (general) are damaging our children genetically. I'm a big advocate for organic, so even though my kids might eat chicken nuggets, I make sure they are free of antibiotics, etc. I can only do so much, but I'll be damned if my kids spend their childhood rolling around on chemical-laden lawns, eating fruit and veggies sprayed with poison. Okay, end of rant.
Susie - welcome! I hope we can offer you support as you end treatment...that is often the hardest part.
Fighter - boy, you have earned that name! I'm so sorry you have had to go through so much.
Titan - I've started writing my posts in WordPad and copying and pasting. Saves me a lot of grief, lol.
0 -
Pamela Jo! How the heck are you? We missed you!!! Glad to see you back here but what the heck with the skin mets? What can be done about them?
0 -
My cousin passed away 3 years ago from bc. Toward the end her husband and parents almost went into hiding with her. We couldn't get a phone call in or a visit. They always turned us away. The only reasoning I could ponder was that they were all suffering and in those moments could have cared less if they were hurting our feelings. It was so painful for them. I wish I could have visited and offered my support but I respected their wishes to not share their pain and grief with everyone. Sometimes I guess it is a very private intimate moment in time. Myself having my crazy bunch around me is exactly what I need. My best advise is to respect their privacy and just make themselves available but don't push. Absolutely don't be offended or have hard feelings about it.
0 -
Has anyone heard of a connection between polycystic ovarian syndrome and TNBC? My daughter was just diagnosed with PCOS. I wonder if I had it and it was never diagnosed. I had many of the symptoms. My onc didn't do genetic testing on me. He said I was too old at diagnosis to be worried about that. I worry about my daughter. She has always worried about not being able to conceive, even when she was a little girl, but more than that I don't want her to have BC. Her gyn prescribed Metforim which is also a diabetes drug.
0 -
Tiffany...thanks..I spoke to my friend and they did see this couple over the weekend. She thinks that he is definitely starting to withdraw..the situation you described with your cousin sounds exactly what my friend and her husband are going through now.
0 -
It's been a while since I've posted, but wanted to pop in to say hello.
I'm with Pamelajo - getting BC is a crap shoot. Did you know that they've found BC in mummies adn in women hundreds and hundreds, thousands of years old? They didn't have plastics, processed foods, chemical plants, etc. I think being healthier helps us to fight the disease a little better, but still a crap shoot.
Titan - so sorry to hear you're being pushed away. I guess when the real stress of the end is near people withdraw unintentionally trying to handle their own stress and loss and sometimes forget about others (((hugs))).
Jenn
0 -
I scheduled a mammogram the minute I felt a lump. It didn't show on the mamm or on the ultrasound and was diagnosed as a cyst. Well 5 months later when the "cyst" started burning I went to a surgeon and had it removed. Turns out that it was actually a 5cm TN tumor. We were all floored.
Did 12 Taxol, 9 Avastin, 4DD A/C bilateral MX, 28 rads finished 1/31/11. Thought I had done everything right. On April 7, 2011 I was dx with mets to liver lung and t-spine. Now being treated with Gemzar / Carbo and will start rads tomorrow for spine. Doc said he wants to do rads now because what is there is small and he wants to keep it that way.
This stuff is evil and I am certain it is from the devil.
0 -
You know what Ty's mom? I agree with you!
0 -
Teka - do you think those women in their 60s who have not had mammos don't know about them? That they are ignorant about mammos and BC? I don't think so.They have CHOSEN not to have a mammo. (Though I do know there are women out there who can not afford to have one - that is a different problem). It is hard to find any woman of any age who is "unaware." I am tired of the money spent on awareness which would be better spent on finding a cure. (I an dreading October.)
Awareness is simple - every mother teaches her daughter to do self exams, (it should be as normal a thing as brushing your teeth) and get mammos at the appropriate age. The cost? Nothing.
What scares me is the number of women who have mammos and then believe they must be safe! If only it were that simple.
0 -
My best friend is 43 and never had a mammo. She always has something "more pressing" to do. Even with all I have been through, she won't make an appt. She also has said she was embarrassed to go because of her weight. Well, she has lost 200 pounds in the last 2 years. Any suggestions I can use to to convince her to get one? Even her mother and sister have tried to get her to go!
0 -
Just had a shot of lemoncello to commenorate the first anniversay of the day and time I received the call that I had breast cancer!
Colleen
0 -
Cheers cmksocal. I wish I could forget, dont we all. Well I am in the chair tomorrow for round 4. I am done with FEC thank god, I had so many SE, couldnt get the nausea under control for all 3 treatments I am soooo hoping that doxotaxol is better, it has to be right cause its only one drug compared to 3. I am starting to grow hair already on my head, does that happen to most?Also I still havent lost my periods, weird rigth?. I am looking at all my typing errors lol my brain and hand do not work together anymore at all. God I cant wait for this to be done. Speaking of awareness, one of the radio stations here in town are calling for all womens old bras to be dropped off and they are going to hang them across the bridge really????? LOL
0 -
Teka,
I sure hope so. BC seems to be epidemic so I worry about her.
0 -
Pamelajo, I'm SO sorry it's come back. I agree that's it's no use trying to figure out how we got cancer. My dr said no-one knows why some get it and some don't. He said I did nothing to cause it and so I couldn't do anything to fix it, other than go through with the protcols that have proven to work the best. Good luck!
0 -
Gillyone, thanks! When can I dye my hair?
0 -
Ty's Mom. That's tough; I'm thinking of you.
0 -
Susie..I'm not Gilly
but I dyed my hair (what I had anyway)..about 10 weeks after chemo..it was 1/4 inch long..I looked punk and I loved it. It did "take"..I dyed it again about 6 months later...I wasn't worried about the chemicals because I had never had my hair dyed before..what "they" say is that you want to make sure it takes..I had it done professionally and it wasn't cheap..I wanted to make sure it "took".I have a friend who is 51 and has never had a mammo..not sure why..I have offered to go with her but no go...
0 -
Good evening ladies! I've been busy attending Jury Duty this week.
Pamelajo - sorry to hear of your recurrence. Titan's right, we've missed you on this thread. Keep in touch!
I know women who haven't had mammos until their 50's, too. In fact, my sister was one of them. In Ontario, Canada... the mammogram screening program doesn't start until 50 years old. Unless a person has a family history, which I didn't, it's left to the GP's discretion. Fontunately my GP likes a baseline at 45 years old so mine was discovered on my very first mammo. My sister immediately had her's, which tuned out to be fine. She's now goes faithfully because she now has a family history (me!). I should point out that she had breast reduction surgery in her mid-forties and she was screened and tested for that surgery.
I died my hair (...or should I say "scalp") at 12 weeks post chemo and stopped wearing my wig that day. I had it done professionally with a demi permanent and it took really well. I liked the way it turned out and have kept it up ever since. It's pretty close to my natural hair colour so it's so nice not to have to worry about roots anymore. Blond and lighter brown was so much more difficult to manage for me.
Okay off to watch American Idol. Take care everyone!
0 -
gillyone: I am so in agreement with you--the only awareness there seems to be is ignorance about it and I do dread pink October, too. I have been doing self exams since I was in my early 20's-anyone who has been to an OB/Gyn was taught to do so. There isn't any excuse not to be "aware" in this day and age. We so need a cure.
I just watched an interesting documentary by Michael Pollen and this is a list of his Food Rules to live by which basicly turns back the clock to eating the way we did a 100 years ago before corporations started processing food like items and non-real "foods". : http://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/30952060.aspx
polycystic ovarian syndrome: I had this and was plagued by fibroids for years. I think the foods we ingest are largely responsible for these problems as every time I quit eating dairy and meat, the symptoms would dissappear.
0 -
I agree. People should be well aware of Breast Cancer. It is not a celebration of any kind. I know people have good intentions but giving me things with the pink ribbon on it just doesn't seem right. The pink ribbon stuff has been commercialized so much and yes, I know, some of the proceeds go to the cause, supposedly. My Avatar is of a chia pet type thing wearing pink and the pink ribbon, I did get a kick out of that b/c another tnbc friend gave it to me as a joke about my hair growing back. But I am really not interested in wearing the white ball cap with the pink ribbon and I was given a Columbia pink fleece jacket with the ribbon embroidered on it that I mostly just wear it home. I am not embarrassed or ashamed, but BC does not define me, label me, or enthuse me.0
-
Another TN passed yesterday. Nothing to say except read my Avatar (the only reason I'm posting).
I'm not in here much anymore.
0
