Confused
Hi, was diagnosed 11/4/2024, surgery for what drs call closest thing to 0 as possible, no biggie 9mm tumor. Pathology came back as showing triple negative in breast tissue, fastest most egressive there is but lympnodes & margins clear with additional 3.9 mm tumor. 2nd pathology states it appears the 1st tumor was triple neg with size now being 12mm. Biopsy said one thing pathology is saying 2 differant things. Needless to say I am bery confused. Drs tell me I need to take ac chemo x4 treatments every other week the tc x 12 once a week. This seems awfully strange agressive if nodes & margins are clear. They say it is preventive measures. My last surgery was 1/13/25. I had first ac treatment 4/18/25. Usually tiredness, weird taste in mouth, short of breath but no nausea thank goodness. So far no hair loss and praying that doesnt happen.
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Hi @denial, I’m sorry that you have to do the chemo you would rather avoid but that is the standard for treating TNBC. Even if the tumor is tiny and the margins are clear cells could have escaped into your blood or lymph system. The chemo is meant to destroy those rogue cells. It’s not unusual for the surgical pathology to be different from the biopsy pathology since a biopsy only samples a small part of the tumor. I hope your treatment side effects remain tolerable. All the best..
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hi @denial -
Sorry for your dx and that you have joined us in your journey, but glad you have found us.
It is disappointing after surgery when they find more than they anticipated, but it does happen. Diagnostic tools are not as good as examining the biology of the tumor itself. I had hoped to avoid chemo too, as my tumor (in my 2nd dx) was small and I had no lymph node involvement. Unfortunately, it was grade 3 which is considered more aggressive, just as yours is triple negative which is also considered aggressive. For that reason we both were told to have chemo. BC is sneaky and science has learned that cells can even escape through your bloodstream, so that is the reason for the more aggressive treatment. Hopefully, your side effects will continue to be manageable, though it is likely that you will lose at least some and maybe much of your hair. 😕But you WILL get though it!
Take care.
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