Join our Webinar: REAL Talk: Healthy Body and Mind After Breast Cancer Treatment - Jan 23, 2025 at 4pm ET Register here.

Calling all triple negative breast cancer patients in the UK

11516182021557

Comments

  • mccrimmon324
    mccrimmon324 Member Posts: 794

    Hi Sylvia,

    Thanks for thinking of me.  I thought my 5th treatment was a breeze then when I normally start feeling normal I started feeling bad.  I think now I'm just so worried about my WBC being low and having to hold off on my last treatment.  I know that's my anxiety and I'm blowing it out of proportion but I'm a worryer and won't feel better until I'm in the chair. 

    I hope you keep your thread going.  I am always amazed at the amount of research you do and I find I always learn something. 

    Simply because I've been feeling down maybe we could discuss how far the medical field has come in learning about TNBC?  

  • BernieEllen
    BernieEllen Member Posts: 2,285

    I know i don't post often but i've learnt so much from this thread.  Keep going Sylie.  There is nothing like this in Ireland and you seem close to me.

  • BernieEllen
    BernieEllen Member Posts: 2,285

     Hi mcrimmon324, i was knocked off my feet from the 4th and was late having the 5th cos of low blood count.  Back on track when i had the 6th and last, have been getting stronger every day since.

    Hang in there - you'll do it 

  • christina1961
    christina1961 Member Posts: 450

    Yes, thank you so much, Sylvia, for the time and thought you put into this thread.  This is a wonderful, supportive place to learn and connect.

  • mccrimmon324
    mccrimmon324 Member Posts: 794

    Bernie Ellen, Do you mind if I ask what type of Chemo did you get?  I notice you and I are extremely similiar in our diagnosis.

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943
    Hello mccrimmon324


    Thank you for your post. Try not to worry about your white blood cells being low, as everything should improve as you move on from this last treatment. Do everything you can to get plenty of rest and look after yourself. When the date comes for your last treatment, as you know, there will be blood tests before proceeding, and, if all is not up to par, they will give you that last treatment when they think your body can take it. They will have treatment to get your white blood cell count up if needed.

    I can understand your anxiety, as I tend to be a worrier too. Remember worrying does none of us any good. Since I was diagnosed with cancer I have learned to relax much more and to tell my mind not to worry.

    I am going to think about how far the medical field has come in learning about TNBC in this country. How do you think it has done in the US?

    Wishing you well.
    Sylvia.

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943
    Hello BernieEllen


    Thank you for your post. You have become invaluable on our thread. I am glad that you have learned a lot and hope that we have helped as you go through treatment. I was glad to know that you are getting stronger.

    Thank you for supporting mcrimmon234.

    Hello christina1961.

    Thank you for your post. I was so glad that you find this thread a place on which to find support and to learn and to connect.

    I know that you have had chemo and surgery. When will you be having radiotherapy?

    Keep well.

    Sylvia.

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943
    Hello everyone


    I was looking through the general list of active topics and came upon a thread that caught my attention. It is called Dr Oz - Biggest Cancer Myths (http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/73/topic/774295?page=1#idx_1). The references are:

    http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/biggest-cancer-myths-exposed-pt-1?sp_rid=OTQyNDg2NzUyS0&sp_mid=1928048

    http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/biggest-cancer-myths-exposed-pt-2

    http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/biggest-cancer-myths-exposed-pt-3

    I had a look at these references and found the reading and the videos most interesting. I am going to have another look at them tomorrow, as I looked at them this evening after a busy day and I want to give them more concentration. When I have done this, I may be able to give some more details.

    I do not know if any of you have looked at this thread, but if you have, please post and let us know what you think.

    All for now.
    Sylvia

  • bak94
    bak94 Member Posts: 652

    Sylvia, I hope you do not stop posting, as you have a knack for research! Not much new going on in my life, I have finished 4 of 12 abraxane and have done one avastin and one zometa. I do think my doc does things a bit differently. I have abraxane number five on friday. I really have been feeling pretty good on this, much better than I did on taxol 8 years ago. I will look at the links you posted.

    Honestly, since I was diagnosed 8 years ago with triple negative and then again this past April, I do not really see much of a difference in treatments, except with the clinical trials. WHat I do notice is different is the more negative press and articles on how bad triple negative is, and it is kind of scary hearing all of this. 8 years ago my doctor told me that my cancer was very treatable and most likely would respond favorably to chemo, never saying that it worse to have what I had in comparison to other types. I think herceptin was becoming pretty widely used back then also. I remember being happy that I did not have to take tamoxifen after chemo! It just seems there is more info about triple neg, but still no extra treatment options. I was hoping the parps would be the magic bullet, but it seems like that is done with. I still can't believe I was being watched and wound up with a new stage 3c cancer because my tumor couldn't be seen on a mammo and insurance didn't want to pay for mri's after 5 years of being cancer free. I should have fought for an mri, but I was just tired of worrying about cancer, so I just continued on. Probably the biggest mistake of my life! Oh well, can't go back, can just move forward.

  • mccrimmon324
    mccrimmon324 Member Posts: 794

    TNBC seems to be the new HOT topic for research so here's hoping they find something soon!

  • BernieEllen
    BernieEllen Member Posts: 2,285

    Hi mccrimmon. I did 6 rounds of A/C. Last one was two weeks ago.  It's now i start to feel really run down.  Starting my rads soon, 6 weeks worth.

  • christina1961
    christina1961 Member Posts: 450

    Sylvia,

    I have a radiation therapy "blocking" appointment tomorrow and then go to a different oncologist for a second opinion regarding additional chemo on Friday.  The radiation oncologist wanted to wait to start until I got back from my appointment with the oncologist just in case they wanted me to do chemo before radiation.

      I have sent in a consent for a clinical trial involving CMF and Avastin and am hoping that I will get in the treatment arm because it is a randomized trial.  There is another trial available locally also that has Halaven treatments.  Both trials are designed for patients who had residual disease left following neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

    My sister, who has been a tremendous support to me during all of this, is going with me to the appointment. 

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello bak94


    Thank you for your post, which I found very interesting. As long as I feel that I am helping people through their challenging time with breast cancer, I shall keep on running the thread. It helps when people post, as it is important to have feedback and make it a two way thing. I think you American women are amazing. Of course, I realise that most of the people viewing this thread are going through treatment and I have to make allowances for all the tiredness and other physical side effects they will be experiencing, not to mention the psychological effects.

    Thank you for your latest news. It is good to know that you have been feeling pretty good on the Abraxane (denosumab) and I hope it will be the same for Avastin (bevacizumab) and Zometa (zoledronic acid). It sounds as though you have a conscientious doctor. I hope all goes well on Friday with your next Abraxane treatment. I was glad to know that you are feeling better on the Abraxane than you did on the Taxol (paclitaxel) eight years ago. I think I have mentioned before that Abraxane is solvent free compared to the solvent based Taxol. Keep up the good work.

    I am full of admiration for you in the way you are coping with all this second time round and I am sure that I speak for all of us when I say this.

    I was interested in your comment about you do not see much difference with the treatment for TNBC from when you were first treated eight years ago. I can believe this because the medical establishment is very slow to change, in my opinion. It is the trials, depending on their success, that will bring new treatment.

    I would not take any notice of the press and any negative comments about TNBC. We all know that the press thrives on bad news and sensationalism and that they are not interested in good news. We do not know the proper statistics about TNBC or, indeed, probably other breast cancer statistics, or cancer in general. The only reason we are told how awful it is to be diagnosed with TNBC is because there is no after treatment such as Tamoxifen. What they do not mention is all the awful side effects and risks of taking Tamoxifen, or, indeed, Herceptin. I now feel glad that I do not have to take Tamoxifen or Herceptin, and that my body is free to heal after all the toxic effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, not to mention the trauma of surgery.

    I do not know where we are going with PARPs. I have read they are not without side effects either.

    It does seem strange that you were being watched but that you wound up with the new stage 3c cancer, because your tumour could not be seen on a mammogram and you could not get and MRI scan. I do not know if MRI scans are used as standard practice here in the UK for breast cancer. I certainly have never had one, just a CAT scan and bone scan on diagnosis, and the same after treatment. In more than six years since diagnosis I have had only physical examinations and mammograms every two years. I have asked about blood tests and have been told they are of no use. With the physical examinations I have been told the medical team are looking for everything to be smooth. How effective this is I do not know. Every so often I can become very afraid and wonder just what is going on inside my body.

    You will never know whether something would have been picked up on the MRI scan. As you say, all you can do is move forward. I can understand how you grew tired of worrying about cancer. I think we all go through this and get fed-up with knowing that we can never be completely free of it. Most of the time we can put it to the back of our minds, but it can always come to the front without warning.

    I have read a lot of books about cancer and sometimes you get very confused with all the different opinions, such as are mammograms good or bad, the pros and cons of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, mastectomy versus lumpectomy and so on. I was even once told that if your tumour was not hormonal then it was not cancer!!!

    Best wishes.
    Sylvia.

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943
    Hello mccrimmon324


    I hope you are feeling better today. I am sure we all share your thoughts about hoping research will come up with something soon to help with TNBC, but research is slow and will it just come up with more drugs that have toxic effects on our bodies. What we need most of all, and that applies to all breast cancers, and that is something to stop metastases. I do wonder whether women with hormonal breast cancers are really any better off than us, given that Tamoxifen appears to be an awful drug and that it can stop being effective, not working in the first place and, apparently, can cause negative breast cancer if taken too long. Aromatase inhibitors, such as Arimidex, for post menopausal women, have side effects, such as causing osteoporosis.

    I know we need drugs to help those already diagnosed, but I feel we need more emphasis on dealing with the causes.

    I was glad to see that you and BernieEllen have found treatment in common. It looks as though Bernie was unusual in not having Taxol or Taxotere. I thought they were standard treatment now.

    Hello BernieEllen

    I hope all goes well with your radiotherapy. Let us know when you start and try to give us as many details of your experiences as you go through this. Six weeks of radiotherapy is a lot and it will be exhausting to have to go to the hospital five days in succession for six weeks. I know you can get through it.

    Hello christina1961

    Thank you for your interesting post. I hope all goes well for your blocking appointment today. I shall be very interested to know how you get on with the different oncologist for a second opinion about chemotherapy on Friday. I do hope you will be successful on getting on a trial and that you end up with the drug being trialled. Good luck!

    I was glad to know that you have a sister who is supporting you through all of this. It makes such a difference. I could not have got through my own treatment without support from my husband and a retired nurse who has become a good friend.

    Sylvia

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943
    Some snippets of information from a very recent book that I have been slowly reading. The name of the book is "Why Millions Survive Cancer, The Successes of Science" by Lauren Pecorino. What I am writing is my own understanding of what I have been reading.

    Most cancers develop by small changes to cells over a long time. However, evidence suggests that, in some cases, cancer can develop from a single cellular catastrophe that results in chromosomal damage and large numbers of mutations.

    It is said that putting a man on the moon is a much simpler problem than curing cancer.

    Death rates from cancer peaked in 1990 and are now about 10% lower than in 1970.

    Cancer occurs because of changes that lead to permanent mutations of specific genes. Since genes are found in every type of cell in the body, every cell can be a candidate for the origin of cancer, thus producing many types of cancer.

    There are many carcinogens that cause cancer, such as smoking, UV rays, chemicals, etc. These carcinogens target genes and eventually cause mutation of the DNA. If the mutations happen in genes involved in regulating cell numbers, such as cell death, cell growth, or cell specialisation, this can lead to abnormal cell growth. It is the role of tumour suppressor genes to deal with these, but if they are also mutated, then other abnormal cells are not dealt with. In this case it is not one mutation but an accumulation in different genes.

    90 to 95% of breast cancers are not inherited but are due to exposure to a carcinogen and only one cell is affected. As this cell keeps dividing a tumour eventually forms.

    Lifestyle factors influence exposure to different carcinogens.

    You might be interested in looking at http://globocan.iarc.fr/. This site enables cancer profiles in different countries to be analysed.

    We have to remember that new drugs are being developed all the time and new ways to administer them. It appears that, by using dose-dense chemotherapy, every two weeks instead of three, have lowered recurrence by 26% over a three year trial.

    I shall post more information as I read. This is not a book that you can read quickly. It is more scientific than most books I have read, so I enlist the help of my husband, whose background is more scientific than mine, which is languages and literature.

    Wishing everyone well.

    Sylvia.

  • mccrimmon324
    mccrimmon324 Member Posts: 794

    Hey Bernie Ellen,

    Just out of curiousity how come you did 6 rounds of A/C and no T?  My first oncologist wanted to do the 4 x A/C then 4 x T, which seems to be usual treatment.  However, my second opinion oncologist and the one I stuck with told me that with my stats 6 x TAC was better for me.  I've just been curious as to why the difference?

    Slyvia,

    I know this is a BAD thing to admit but 2 months before diagnosis I finally quit smoking.  So I'm hoping that not smoking will help me with not having a reoccurrance.  As well as eating right and exercising, both of which I started out doing well at the beginning of chemo however, it's taken its toll and I'm trying to eat well but not doing so well.  The exercise has pretty much stopped as well, but I'll be right back at it after my last treatment.

  • josephine_
    josephine_ Member Posts: 41

    Gosh Sylvia

    what a question? you have been great, and countless woman must have benefited from your input and contiually drawing together issues and responding to people (I think you must have a giant white board in your kitchen!!) but all things move on.  It is very healthy for TNBC stage 1 post treatment to leave this community and get on with their lives, because I can say from personal expereince they will need every ounce of their energy, resource, power, fortitude etc.. to cope if it returns and metastasizes.  As you know I do not consider myself stage IV (clearly I am) and enjoyed this smaller group communicating on this thread, although recently (and please friends do not take this the wrong way) the issues that are discussed (in the grand scale of things) sometimes seem to me to be pretty trivial (although I absolutley understand they are very real concerns to people going through them).  Just that, if all you are suffering from is side effects from treatment ; please count your blessings. Active bone mets are the pits, and every scan for me now is quite simply agony (I cannot lie on my back for more than 3 minutes).  I can imagine what torture must be like (and this is with very high dose opiates). Once they are all mapped, I will have them irradiated, but for now I am a pretty odd bunny (sleep walking, get things wrong, yet insist I am right, ) and in constant pain...............so Sylvia, if you feel that this is taking up a significant part of your life, why not move on? or alternatively continue to do the great job you are doing.  I never quite make my self understood to our American cousins, yet I work professionally with them.

    J

    P.S  hope I have not upset any stage 1 sisters, just that you become very cranky and slightly mad when tumours progress

  • bak94
    bak94 Member Posts: 652

    josephine, my heart goes out to you for all the pain you must endure. I was just thinking of pain as I was driving home today. My onc. always asks me if I have any pain, and my answer is always, no, but I tell him I am so tired from chemo. I started thinking of all those like you on this board that do suffer pain daily, and what a challenge, to say the least, it must be. I know I can get very whiny about small things, like the cold I have now:) and I can see how that can be frustrating to others going through so much more. Please know that I am not offended by your comments (and I am not stage 1) and that I hope you find some relief from pain with your radiation treatments. I just wish that nobody would have to go through any of this crap, from stage 1 to stage 4, and then all we would have to complain about is an occassional cold, or the annoying coworker or any other small stuff!

    Also, what do you mean that you don't make yourself understood to your American cousins? You seem pretty understandable to me!

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943
    Hello mccrimmon234


    Thank you for your post. First of all I would to congratulate you on having given up smoking. I have never smoked, but I know from people I know that have given it up, that it is very difficult, as the toxic chemicals in cigarettes are very addictive. Your having given up smoking can only be of enormous benefit to your health. Well done.

    Do not worry too much about your eating and exercising. Your immediate goal is to get through chemo. Eat as well as you can. As for exercising, wait until you have finished your treatment, and just go for a gentle walk if you feel up to it. The most important is to get plenty of rest and drink plenty of fluids, especially water. If I were you, I would stay away from all alcoholic drinks. As for the food, I found it easier to have small meals and healthy snacks. Home-made vegetable soup helped me a lot.

    Your chemo treatment is coming to an end and, usually, you will have some weeks of rest before starting radiotherapy. That is a good time to build yourself up before the radiotherapy treatment. Try to keep as well as possible and do not push yourself. This is a time for some TLC.

    Best wishes
    Sylvia

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943
    Hello Josephine


    Thank you so much for your post. Thank you for all your good advice. Your posts are invaluable to all of us.

    My heart goes out to you for all that you are suffering and I think of you a lot.

    I do not mind dedicating myself to this thread and the time I spend on it I consider to be time well spent, so long as this thread is useful to people. I can understand that those women who have gone through their treatment for primary BC will want to put it behind them and get on with their lives as normally as possible. I think, to a large extent, we all do this and that fear and anxiety come back when we go for check-ups. I know that is what happens to me. I do think that, however much we put our experiences with cancer treatment to the back of our minds, it always remains there, even if it is in just a little corner.

    I have always helped people, and help the people who are older than I am, where I live. That is the way I am. I think it is the teacher in me that wants to help and get out information on this thread. I like helping people to learn.

    On a thread like this it is good for people to be able to express any fears and concerns, and also sometimes to write about things other than their cancer, if that helps. A diagnosis of breast cancer really sends a woman into shock and opens up a whole new world of hospital visits and treatments. Each stage will be a challenge from diagnosis, through tests, through chemo, surgery, radiotherapy and check-ups. After that comes a lull and a certain peace of mind, but there is always that concern about recurrence, metastases or a new primary. Somehow we deal with it.

    I know that the biggest challenge has to be metastases, and the great leap forward will be if research can come up with something to prevent this, and it would be even greater if it could prevent cancer in the first place.

    I really feel for you, Josephine, and I am sure it is the same for everybody on this small thread of ours. None of us can imagine the pain that you are in from mets in the bones and how awful it must be for you to go through the scans and not be able to lie on your back for than three minutes. It is terrible that even high doses of opiates cannot alleviate that pain. I hope that the bone mets are mapped very soon and that the irradiation will deal with the pain. I have read that radiotherapy for bone mets is very effective.

    Your days must be exhausting, but I hope that you are managing to get some little pleasures out of your life. I certainly do not mind how cranky you get and if you can let off steam on this thread then please do so. From your first post I admired you for your intelligence and knowledge. Are you still going to work? I cannot imagine myself being able to work with all the pain, but I know that you are a very strong-minded woman.

    I was quite intrigued by your comment about our American cousins. Is this a "subject" for discussion? Since I lived in Canada for 17 years, I am used to feisty North American women. In addition to that, I spent seven years in France and three in Morocco working for the French Ministry of Education, so I am used to very outspoken French people. Are the Brits just more reserved? I have plenty of energy and can speak my mind without fear.

    All our support and admiration goes out to you, Josephine.

    Best wishes
    Sylvia

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943
    Hello bak94


    Thank you for your post and for giving your support to Josephine.

    I hope everything goes well today with your Abraxane treatment.

    I was wondering who among the Americans posting here have roots that go back to the UK. I know that Gillyone is British by birth. What differences do you find between American women and us Brits, if any?

    Best wishes
    Sylvia

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943
    Hello everyone


    I just wanted to wish all of you an enjoyable weekend. Make the most of each day and make the most of the last of summer.

    To suze35, I hope you are keeping well.

    To those of you who posted in the beginning, I just wanted to say that I hope you are all well and have moved on. It would be nice if you still view just to let us know that you are well and have put your cancer behind you.

    Sylvia.

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943

    Hello everyone,

    I was wondering whether you have managed to access the Dr Oz site. I did the first time. I then put it into Favourites for future reference and then found I could not access it. Are you able to help?

    Sylvia.

    I have just tried again and found that it has come back. What do you think of Dr Oz and his site?

  • BernieEllen
    BernieEllen Member Posts: 2,285

    Hi mccrimmon, don't know wht i just had the AC that's what the onc recommended.  I did ok up until the 5th - that knocked me but only because i was tired and run down - i worked all the way up until then just having chemo on the thursday and then next day off.  Worked saturdays and extra hours to make up the time.  Went back to work again last week, still tired but it's getting easier.  I was very rarely sick but i did have chilled red wine or rose in the evenings - even the nurses said that could help with the side effects.  The worst was the metallic taste, ruined the tast of food.

    Hang in there girl.  I'll hold your hand through it all.

    Bernie 

  • mccrimmon324
    mccrimmon324 Member Posts: 794

    Bernie Ellen,

    Thank you, I swear I'm counting down the days now. In the US we are coming up on the 10 year anniversary of 9\11.  I somehow got myself sucked into watching a 2 hour documentary on it and WOW did the tears flow, first time I've cried really since the start of chemo.  It felt really good to release all the stress and tension.  Now hopefully I'll get a good nights sleep and be brand new tomorrow.

  • sylviaexmouthuk
    sylviaexmouthuk Member Posts: 7,943
    Hello everyone,


    I have a few more snippets of information.

    There are several official sites that classify human carcinogens. They are The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the US National Toxicology Programs Report of Carcinogens.

    We all have to be careful about radiation There are two types of radiation that cause cancer. They are ultraviolet radiation and ionizing radiation. It is not safe to get too much exposure from the ultraviolet rays of the sun or from the same rays from a tanning salon.

    Ionising radiation causes cancer through the radiation from X-rays. This radiation can cause mutations of the DNA.

    Exposure to natural and man-made chemicals accounts for two-thirds of cancers.

    These chemical carcinogens can occur at work, in the home or where you live.

    There are many chemical carcinogens. For example coal tar, cigarette smoke, cooking at high temperatures, which generate carcinogens, smoked and barbecued food contain carcinogens, household cleaners and aflatoxin, a mould that can form on peanuts.

    In 2007, apparently, the IARC added alcohol to their list of carcinogens. Alcohol has been linked to tumours of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, liver and breast.

    Steroidal oestrogens are listed by the IARC as a carcinogen. These are used in oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy (HRT). There is evidence that increased exposure to oestrogen is carcinogenic. Having a first child later in life also increases the risk of breast cancer.

    Viruses and bacteria have also been linked to certain cancers. The human papilloma virus and the Helicobacter pylori bacteria have been linked to cancer.

    I am posting this just so that we can all be informed of all the work and research going on in the world of cancer. Some of it I am sure you already know and some of it may be new to you.

    I have been giving a lot of thought to why so many young women are being diagnosed with breast cancer, especially when we are told that it is a disease of old age. I have been wondering for a long time about whether there is a connection between birth control pills and breast cancer. We know there is a connection between HRT and breast cancer. I know there is a lot of information about not having children, having them late in life, the incidence of breast cancer among nuns, starting periods early and late menopause, and the development of breast cancer.

    I have been wondering why younger women get triple negative breast cancer. Have you any views on this?

    I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

    Sylvia.

  • josephine_
    josephine_ Member Posts: 41

    Hi Bak , Sylvia, Tek and all friends on this web

    yes I was crabby on my last post.  but sometimes it is really difficult  as the pain is pretty much constant, but I gave the garden a good going over today (I am down but not out!!).  Bak you are right I need to explain more about what I meany re understanding with our US cousins.  For sure things have changed post 9/11 and tonight on Radio 4 I have listened to a really interesting program about 9/10.......!!

    Bac I do not count you in at all.  You joined this thread after all.  What I think I meant was that despite speaking the same language etc.. (and these are all well understood arguments) we miss the nuances.  This is a US thread, and the reason I look through it is beacuse cancer research and treatment is better in the US (may be not the reseach) so I want to make sure that I get the best deal.  The down side is that many contributors are on planet US, and sometimes it is just too difficult to engaage.  That said I have had no specific instace to quote¬!! so I am quite mad and aluding to things as opposed to reporting on them.....have to go because max time lying on bed upright and typing before met kicks in has past

    happy w/e friends

    J

    P.S  and apologies to all stage 1 and more................just that if you are currently cancer-related pain free please celebrate it

  • bak94
    bak94 Member Posts: 652

    Hi Sylvia,

    I did like what Dr. Oz said in the video that you posted and I do agree with it. I can't remember how he said it but basically said we have the dna or genetics that we are given and then our outside enviroment can trigger them to allow cancer.

    I have an overwhelming number of reasons that I believe caused my cancer.

    1. BRCA 1 positive, strong family history

    2. Birth control from the age of 16 until my early 30's. I was put on birth control at such a young age because I almost died from a menstrual cycle where I bled so heavily that I was rushed to the hospital and was given blood transfusions, dr. said I was very close to dying. They ran all kinds of tests on me and could not find anything wrong with me. Every time I tried to stop birth control I would wind up with the same problem, it was miserable. I actually have an IUD in right now that I need to have taken out, but I am worried that will start the bleeding issues again, so I am trying to wait to as close to my hysterectomy as I can.

    3. My work, I have been a hair colorist since 1985, that is alot of years working with chemicals, and I have had problems with the chemicals such as rashes, allergies and just generally not feeling good while at work. Now that I only work part time it is better.

    4. And then of coursed there are my weight issues. I was very thin up until my mid twenties and then average until my 30's and then I put on weight. I had always been very active, love to exercise and am a wanna be athlete, but my eating habits have been pretty much bad from chilodhood on. As my exercise declined I put on weight rather quickly.

    5. Oh, and I must admit I had my fair share of alcohol in my 20's! I very rarely drink now, maybe once or twice a year for the past ten years, and never while I am in treatment, haven't even tasted it since treatment as I don't think it would taste good!

    So I think I was doomed to have cancer, and I should have been more proactive in preventing it, but I can only move forward now, and I must say I am still slacking in the eating healthy part, I need to get this under control. It does blow me away that those who have no family history and lead very healthy lifestyles still wind up with cancer. It would be interesting to see if there is any link to outside causes for them, such as pollution, plastics, or any other of the listed carcinogens.

  • bak94
    bak94 Member Posts: 652

    josephine, it is ok for you to be  crabby and to vent, I do think that is what is great about this forum. You need a place where you can feel safe in saying what you really feel with no judgement. I am so glad you got out into the garden! That is something have I ignored all summer and really need to get out there.

    I find it interesting how you say we miss the nuances even though we speak the same language, and so true! Bad thing is that since I am American I probably miss those nuances that you speak of because I am so used to them! I do think there are some changes in America because of 9/11 and the bad economy. It seems like everything got so materialistic for so many years (and many still are), people buying huge houses that they really couldn't afford, and didn't need, having the latest and greatest cars and toys. But it very sad that the gap between the wealthy and the poor is widening, that the middle class is seeming to disappear. It is very hard for many to find a job that can support a modest lifestyle, most need a double income just to survive. I have a brother that has been out of work for 2 years and a sister for a year and a half. I think there is age discrimmination going on and making it hard for them to find a job. And our insurance situation is scary. I am lucky to be married to my hubby who has great insurance. Before I was married I could barely afford monthly premiums, as my work has never provided insurance. My insurance was something that was called major medical insurance, so if I wouold have gotten sick then I would have had some serious financial problems.

    I know even over the internet our tone of writing can easily be misinterpreted, as somethings may come off as more harsh or different in how we inteded them to. I do know that I enjoy this thread and it seems to be so straight forward and very easy to communicate with all the women here.

    Sending best wishes to all,

    Brenda

  • BernieEllen
    BernieEllen Member Posts: 2,285

    Hi mccrimmon, just call me Bernie, had to use the Ellen (my middle name) to register.  Hope you slept well.  I've been watching the 9/11 services on sky news all day.  So sad.  It's good to have a cry - a release.  

    Freezing cold here and a severe storm warning for tonight - the tail end of one of the hurricanes is going to hit us.

    Hope you had a good sleeop.

    My hair is growing now and i have new eye lashes.  Looking good

    Bernie