TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP
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I breastfed DS1 for 18 mo (7.5, I week early) DD1 for
20 mo, (10.4, 1 week late) DD2 for 24 mo (9.8 to the day ) DS2 for 28 mo, (9.5 2 days early) they were all weaned direct to the cup, except DD1, she only got water in the bottle, cup for everything else. So lots of nursing over my life!0 -
Never had kids. Never nursed. Except for nursing a beer now and again.
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More interesting stuff. I only have one daughter and she was born just a few months after I turned 30....but I did breastfeed her for 2 years. The first year she had exclusively my milk and no food.
I never took birth control pills or hormone pills (until these hormone sucking pills).
I'd like to also see connections TonLee. The big one I seem to be seeing more and more is the low Vitamin D.
Hi SpecialK: Glad the vaccine trial is going well.
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Hi, I am new here, it's nice to meet everyone, fairly new to all of this, I meet with my MO on Tuesday next week to see what my postop adjuvant treatment will be.
I breastfed four babies, I had the first when I was age 25, he was 7 lb 2 oz and breastfed for 9 mos, second was 9 lb 4 oz and breast fed 12 months, third 8 lb 13 oz breastfed for 22 months, 4 was 7 lb 2 oz and breast fed for 28 months.
I did have periods every 21 or so days which means I had more cycles than many women, I only took BCP for 2 months at the age of 50 to control bleeding from heavy periods until they were able get me in for a hysterectomy, my hemoglobin was quite low due to this.
I was told two years ago at my annual physical that my Vitamin D level was low even though I was taking 1,000 units daily so I upped that to 2,000 mg daily at that time.
I have never smoked and I don't drink alcohol, I have been quite physically active, mostly walking for up to an hour a day and I am not overweight.
My father and one of his brothers died of colon cancer and my mother was told following a hysterectomy in her 60's that one of the ovaries had a contained cancer in it. I have two cousins on my mother's side who had breast cancer, one diagnosed when she was in her early forties; the other in her early fifties.
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Welcome Websister. We are sorry (but happy) that you are here. This is a great group of ladies and we laugh and cry together....I think mostly laugh. We've all been (or some still are) where you are at. You'll get a lot of wonderful information here and LOTS of support.
We are here for you!
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Welcome websister!0
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Welcome websister, too bad we had to meet this way. Don't be afraid to ask anything usually Someone has had, or done it. LOL. I see you breastfed longer with each child, so did I. It was just easier! MUCH LOVE.
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TonLee, I had a miscarriage when I was 27. Had my daughter when I was 28 & she was 7.5. I breastfed her for 8 weeks. Had my son when I was 31, he was 8.3, and I gave up breastfeeding after 2 weeks because the kid was eating around the clock! Ha ha. I was on the pill for over 20 years when diagnosed at age 41. For both successful pregnancies, I took progestin for 37 weeks. I've wondered if that was a factor in all this for me. No family history, fit and healthy in every other way, no BC risk factors.
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Loulou
Just read your post and so glad to hear you are doing well. We have chatted before and have a similar dx and age. I am 42 next week and 2 months post my last Herceptin. Like you my periods returned but I am on Tamoxifen. I look forward to being many years out. I imagine hitting 3 years is a big boost.
best wishes
Liz
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Eve, thanks for the analogy. My fear is they will be rolling me down the hospital corridor and I will scream "let me off, I've changed my mind". I would like to try the cryotherapy, but so far haven't found a place that does it. As for my stats...I found the lump mid June, had a mammogram, a biopsy, axillary node needle biopsy, ultrasound, mri, bone and ct scan. Dx is 2.9 cm mass IDC with at least 2 nodes involved...Her2 +++, ER+, PR+..Grade 3..not sure about the stage...no one will say, and the paper work doesn't say. The scans were clear, so not officially past stage 3. I know the her2 and the grade are not good, and I know this is a more aggressive cancer, but I decided not to jump into the fire(treatment) until I had researched everything possible. The surgery is scheduled for Aug2, but I may move it to Aug 9 to give me time to talk myself into it. My Texas relatives think I should totally avoid surgery and treatment and use diet (juice, barley life, tumeric, apple cider vinegar etc). My integrative M.D. is kind of into that to, but she did say my diagnosis might be too far gone to use those remedies. She is against the surgery as she feels you let the cancer cells go wild once you cut into it. There is no way to get clear margins according to the surgeon which is why she wants the chemo/herceptin. She did say there might be an onc who would do just the herceptin, but she wasn't sure. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking.
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nancedawg They won't stage you till after surgery. The reason is, as discussed the scans may not be 100% accurate. They thought my tumor was 7cm according to mammo/US. MRI showed it as 6.5cm. The tumor was around 6-6.5cm (probably closer to 6cm) but only 5.5 was invasive. They only measure the invasive part. I know my neighbors scans showed only a small amount of cancer so she went in for a lumpectomy. Ended up there was other tumors that didn't show up. 3 days later she had to go back for a MX. Same issue goes for the nodes. They don't know for sure till they get in there. I would do your research on the node issue. Things have changed a bit and they don't take out as many (only do sentinel) in many cases since chemo has been found to take care of the remaining node issues and has no effect on survival. TonLee has more info on this. I do believe it also depends on the size of the tumor as well.
My feeling about surgery I wanted ASAP. I had this fast growing large tumor. It wasn't in my nodes and didn't have mets based on the scans. What are we waiting for? I didn't want it to spread anywhere else. I had to wait 6 weeks after my "official" diagnosis which was more like 3 months from the time I had a mammo/US. It was driving me crazy.
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nance - As far as I know they don't cut into the tumor during surgery, they 'scoop' around it. They don't want to disturb it, they want to take it out whole. At least that is my understanding. After my biopsy I realized that the biopsy procedure might have actually disturbed the tumor and so read a lot about possibly releasing cells into the blood stream during a biopsy but what I found suggested that possibility was thankfully small.0
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Hi,
Additionally to the posts of nance, I would like to refer about two BC cases I have to live through in last years.
One of my relatives got BC in her 70's, declined all therapies saying: My friend got through all these, however died. She lived till 90! But how! In some years her tumor broke through the skin, her breast decayed, her upper body was a big wound, had an offensive smell, it was really displeasing to her neighborhood.
When I was having surgery in 2009, there was an old lady practically dragged to Oncology from a far small village. I was helping to translate her dialect to med stuff. She related to have a small spot on her breast, being bigger and harder and finally opened as a wound. She smeared it with home remedies and was hiding from the family. When the other wound was opened in her armpit, she was send from the land doctor to oncology. She has had offered chemo and rads to ease the situation, it was already too late for surgery. She declined both. Asking her, what should be done for her, she said to change her dressing of wounds and let her go home.
Hoping it isn't too awful, but it's true!
Take care!
Usha
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I nursed #1 for 4 months. #'s 2 and 3 for 6 months. #4 for a year.
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I might be the few that is going to do herceptin and hormone therapy without chemo, meeting with the 2nd MO on Wed to discuss my benefits and risks. This should be interesting, I'm not from the US and I'm now hearing that there's a trial going on for women doing herceptin alone without chemo. I heard it works, maybe not as good as with chemo but I've started juicing and wheatgrass and also throw out all my makeup and personal care products and subsistiute them with all natural and organic ones. I firmly believe that my cancer was environmental. I have no family history, Asian, 35 years old, don't smoke, have been weight lifting for 15 years, maybe 2 drinks per month.
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I would consider doing the trial with Herceptin only. How do you find out about that? Thanks. Still interested in cryotherapy. I have about decided to do the surgery just to prevent offending my children with the stenchy smell of my rotting breast....lol. I know, I know, it isn't funny. If we don't have our sense of humor, we may not get through this. I will not decide about the chemicals. today.....I will be Scarlett O'Hara and think about that tomorrow.
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Also, from my understanding, they can cut around the tumor specifically, but cannot get clear margines because of the invasive cancer into the lymph nodes. They basically cut across the cancer line to cut off your breast. They also cannot get every node for many reasons....therefore their desire for you to have the chemo/herceptin. I could be wrong, but that is how I understood it.
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nance - My understanding is that cancer cells can leave the original tumor and travel to a lymph node through the lymph ducts and then set up shop there. I don't think there is usually a continuous "line" of cancer from the tumor to the lymph nodes. I think of it as a freeway from one place to another and the cell or cells travel through but don't park. Cells can also get out through the blood unfortunately and I don't think they have a way to know if that has happened.0
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That is interesting. I thought you were cutting into the cells if you cut across the path of microcacification. I think those tumor marker tests are supposed to measure somehow if they are in the blood or system wide. I know those tests are questionable, but apparently they are still used by professionals as an additional measurement of metastisis. It is ALL a system of guess and check and take your chances. Not a fun disease to be afflicted with.
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Tonlee, I nursed all five of my kids for 3 years each. They never had formula. They never sucked their thumbs or used a pacifier. I was the human pacifier for 15 years of my life. I think there are probably more variables that should be addressed in that study. I do not regret nursing my kids, but the radiologist who did my biopsies said they should chop off all little girls breasts when they are born. No kidding...she said that. I told her I was glad that they didn't because I had nursed my five children. Some part of me thinks this is God's plan and we shouldn't mess with it. I really don't fear death, but I am sad when I think of my children's sadness and disruption in the regular flow of things after I am gone, but I know they are strong and will be fine.
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Didn't mean to sound so morbid.
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nancedawg the only way to get through this is with humor IMHO! Joke on! There have also been improved results with Herceptin & Tykerb combination. T-DM1 also looks very promising. I do believe the former is in trails for early breast cancer but I think they get chemo as well. T-DM1 is still in phase III for metastatic disease only.
HER2+ is tricky. There are women that are HER2+ that have no node involvement but then get mets to places like the liver. Then there are some that are node +, also do treatment and never get mets. Granted that can be said of all breast cancer but happens a bit more frequently with HER2+
Soy & Pepper there are so many women here who can say the same thing. Did your know that luminal B cancers (that includes triple positives) are more likely not to drink alcohol yet they say drinking can be a risk factor. I will admit I wasn't leading a perfect life but I'm pretty healthy and slim. I do have dense breast tissue and never had kids… both are risk factors. With all my risk factors at the age of diagnosis my risk was under 2%. I just happened to be in that percentage. I mean someone has to fall into that category.
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I am thin, never smoked, nursed all of my children, eat healthfully, exercise regularly. I do drink, but not to excess. I live in upstate NY and there seem to be a lot of people with breast cancer. I am wondering about the environmental factor. Kodak....etc....water contamination. I'm not paranoid, just sayin'. I am from Texas, so I guess I'll just blame it on NY...lol.
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nance - the trial for herceptin alone is only for people over 70.
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Ok, sorry to change subject yet again but I have another question for those who have been through chemo.
I am very nearsighted - my contact script is something like -6.5. Have been wearing glasses since age 8 and contacts since 11. Lately my vision seems to be every so slightly worsening in one eye. Not like omg scary double vision or blurry vision to make me think brain issues. Just slightly worse, like my prescription needs to be changed. The eye that seems a little worse is also slightly irritated a lot. (the false lashes were not my best idea right now). Anyway, I have TX tomorrow so I will ask MO but just wondered if any one else had this issue.
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kitb04 - my script changed significantly during my 12 weeks of weekly Taxol. I also developed bi-lateral cataracts (I'm 47!). Turns out it's not the Taxol that would have caused this - it was most likely the Dexmethasone (steroid) pre-meds given before each infusion!
I have new glasses for the script change and my eyes will be monitored for worsening of the cataracts as I will need surgery when they worsen.
I don't seem to have any long term effects of the chemo - just the premeds:-/
Jenn0 -
but how old are you? The older you are the higher the risk. Cape Cod area in Massachusetts has a high occurrence of breast cancer but if you factor in the age it is not unusually high. Lots of retired folks live there (including my parents. Mom had never had breast cancer).
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Nance I do not know about microcalcifications and what they mean.
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Thanks Jenn - when I took my girls in for their eye appts right after I was dx, the optometrist was telling me how cancer can go to the eye, I needed to be sure and have them dilated the next time I had an appt, etc. etc...(it was one of my only "can you be more insensitive right now???" stories). Anyway, I guess it would be silly to get a new prescription, etc...while I am in the midst of this.
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My eyesight changed on chemo but came back a few months PFC… except the astigmatism. It actually improved. Go figure.
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