TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP

Oh nursenay I'm so sorry this happened to u. I have never had a clot )Thank God) so I don't know anything about it But I'm sure it is painful the way u say--I hope they gave u some good pain meds. Let us know how it's going.

Pbrain I had no SE for 3 months. But my SE was only stiffness. I found the more I kept moving the less of an issue it became. Now that I've been regular with exercise I don't get that stiffness after I've been sitting for a few hours. Just a little stiffness in the morning for about a minute or 2. It really did get better after a year for me but was never terrible.

goutlaw They really don't know about the nodes for sure till the get in there but if your onc says s/he doesn't feel any issues then that is a good sign. Exercise and maintaining a healthy weight are the 2 best things your can do to prevent recurrance. I won't even go into smoking. We all know its carcinogenic. BTW I was 1 lymph node away from being stage III. Don't focus so much on stage. If the chemo works then it really doesn't matter what stage. I know 2 women that were diagnosed the same time as me. The stage IIB now has mets and the stage IIIB is still NED (no evidence of disease). Both were hormone positive HER2-, grade 3.

nursenay clots are a risk with ports. Sorry you have to deal with this.

Here's my quick answer: If you are getting a lumpectomy then you will get rads. If you have positive lymph nodes and don't have them removed you will get rads… and sometimes even if you do. If your tumor is over 5cm typically you get rads but not always. There are so many reasons why/why not. What rads does is kill any cancer cells left behind. Even if you get chemo, once you have had surgery the blood flow is not the same and the chemo might not get into that area so they do rads. Hope that makes sense.

I think that also limiting alcohol helps prevent recurrence.

Flaviarose, that's funny you say limit alcohol. I dint really drink but got pisssed at my arm today for swelling. I asked a doc I work with if I can drink wine on lovenox, he said" yeah fine, just one glass" but yes I was never a drinker, just thought I would help my blood get thin.



Kaye, I've heard that about this type of breast cancer, that its the best one to get. I just still can't get over that I was a normal healthy person, and now I am a "sick" , person. I hate that term"sick".

nursenay, i got a clot in my neck from the port.  was in the hospital three nights and on cumadin for 6 months.  thankfully, i had just finished herceptin, so the port was removed while i was in the hospital.  it was just another bump in the road and i'm fine now.  (i remember feeling very powerful when i gave myself those lovenox shots!)

hi, lago!  i LOVE your new pic (at least it's new to me).  you look so beautiful.

had my two-year mammo and i'm clean.  still need to get an MRI but i feel in my heart that i'm good.  started arimidex 3 months ago and not having any bad problems.  i need to get on here more often and check on you girls.   

Pbrain, I have been on the study since I started chemo in july, they gave me pertuzamab or a placebo along with everything else.  The idea was to keep up with the “P” until I finished my herceptin, which is the end of july (hurray!  And also scary.)

Chickadee, so sorry to hear about the bone pain.  It sounds awful.

Nurse, how awful and terrifying.  Eesh I don’t think anyone told me blood clots are a danger with ports … not that any of us have much choice about this stuff.  You sound like you’re stage II though, your tumor wasn’t over 5 cm and node negative.  So that’s good because that is considered early stage.  Why are they still throwing all this stuff at you?   I kept saying to myself, geez, the cure is worse than the disease!  And then I realized, no it’s not.  The disease is much worse than the cure, even though the cure is pretty bad.  I mean at this point the disease itself wasn’t really hurting you, as no one dies from breast cancer that never moves out of the breast.  But all these things are meant to kill it GOOD.  And I hear you about the healthy thing--the cancer never made me feel unhealthy, but all the treatment they throw at you is another story....  It was weird to realize I had cancer and felt perfectly healthy.  It's a sneaky ass disease!!

Cami, you are my idol.

Goutlaw, all the things they say to do to prevent a recurrence are good for your overall health, including your heart—and the treatments they give us for bc are hard on the heart.  If you are exercising at least a half hour every other day, not drinking much alcohol, not smoking, and eating a healthy diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates, you will naturally lose weight and keep it off.  I always exercised and had a pretty healthy diet and I have still had to make a lot of changes to improve it, but just start substituting out one unhealthy thing for something healthier at a time, and gradually you’ll get there.  And walking counts, so you don ‘t have to kill yourself at the gym.  Trust me, if you start doing this stuff you will start to feel better – not just in a cancer sense but overall. 

Another question for you ladies – before you were diagnosed, did you have a sense that something was wrong?  Or were you blindsided by it?  I have had a lot of lumps looked at in my life, and this one I had a bad feeling about.  I was actually surprised when they called me to say I was in the clear …. Before they called me again three days later to say oops they needed to take more tissue before they could be sure.  I wasn’t surprised when they called me and told me it was cancer, though I was definitely NOT happy to hear it!

So a/c and then 4 doses taxoteretaxotere/herceptin one year is aggressive?Just seems it ain't strong enough...had two treatments now ....tired for 3 days after...besides being bald....I feel nothing else...I thought I be more sucker plus I stay up now and can't fall asleep before chemo I was tired at 8pm lol

Talked to cancer society 3 to 4 times likely to go in other breast! I just want them both cut off :-P Even if I am genetic negative! Why would cancer b more aggressive in younger ones? You would think older ones....Immune systems are down

goutlaw Yes you are getting very aggressive treatment. the "A" is really strong stuff. The "T" is almost as tough and  you're getting both plus herceptin. The reason why it is more aggressive in younger is older women tend to get more slower growing (grade1) HER2-. Younger women seem to get more grade 3 (fast growing) and/or triple negative. Also dense breast tissue is like a petri dish for cancer. Once the cancer starts it seems to really like dense tissue. Younger women usually have denser breasts. I had dense tissue too. All the women in my family do. Also I  haven't had any children so that kept the pretty dense as well.

I think there are several other factors that make it more aggressive in younger women. Best to check all the information with your oncologist. S/he is the one that has the medical degree and should be able to explain more to you.  I would also talk about that 3-4x more likely statistic and what that really means. Remember you will be watch closely and if it did show up in the other breast it might be caught before it goes invasive. I'm not trying to talk you out of doing a BMX. I did one and I'm glad I did but you need all the information so you can make an informed decision and not make it based on fear. You wouldn't cut out your lung because you were a former smoker and afraid of getting lung cancers.

Also note that BMX doesn't remove all breast tissue. That's impossible. You still could get a  new breast cancer but the likelyhood is very low… But this is why we still get physical exams of our breast area.

Kayb is correct. That 3-4x more likely (than someone who was never diagnosed) in other breast is about a new cancer not recurrence of any sort. But you need to understand your statistic. If you were at a 1% chance to get it in the first place then that would mean you now have a 3-4% chance of getting it in the other breast. This is why you need to talk with your oncologist. (Note: My chances of getting breast cancer at the age I was diagnosed with all my risk factors was less than 2%.)

goutlaw You so sound like me when I was first diagnosed. I was ready to rip everything out if it would help. You need to discuss with your onc about the hysterectomy. While estrogen might be feeding your cancer right now it also helps protect your heart and bones. You might do all this stuff to be sure you don't get recurrence, that could be over-treatment only to cause other serious health issues.

There is so much to learn at the beginning it make your head spin. Be sure to write all these questions down so you can ask your onc the next time you see her/him. Getting a hysterectomy might be the right course for you, or might not.

Where is Lee A?  I miss you!

Cypher, I agree, I knew something was wrong.  I found the lump on a lazy Fall Sunday morning and as soon as I felt it, I knew.  I couldn't find it again, and neither could the sonogram tech or the radiologist.  I had to find it for them.  When I finally did and they did the sonogram...I knew.

Im a LPN at nursing home but had to take leave but seen so stupid in cancer areas lol



Well cancers can occur other places with other cancers at well not just breast. My aunt was just dx with uterine she only get 3 radiation treatments had to remove 3 lymph nodes ...now checking her kidneys bc they see something...so guess it's no difference...any cancer comeback or go elsewhere

Goutlaw--oh u have so much responsibility with small kids--this has to be extremely hard for u. I hope u can get help for u'r family and friends--I really wish u all the best--U need to have all this done, but as u go u will see the whole picture. And we're here for talking, but I do hope u have help. I know that in a lot of places they have people who clean u'r home (no$$), can take u to app't,-do child care lot of things from the cancer Society maybe u can contact u'r hospital for how to do all this it might reay take some stress off of u.

Katherine..you had small tumors...my tumor made my boob shrink...dumplined breast and inverted nipple...not good...I don't know what to think anymore