TRIPLE POSITIVE GROUP

Welcome Mandy someone will come along and answer u'r questions as I always say I don't know anything, but I post anyway-=But u have come to a good caring thread.

Chicky Rads can tire the hell out of u so just relax.

Lago glad you found your way back here. I hope your Walk goes well next week. Sorry about OP. BSDs really SUCK! Just wish theyd suck fat instead of bone......

Hello Mandy. With +++ the Her2 trumps and usually chemo is needed. The two kinds they like to use are TCH (taxotere carboplatin and herceptin) and AC/TH. (Adriamycin Cytoxin/taxol and herceptin) those seem to be the ones most used around although they xan mix and match. They rarely use A with the Herceptin because of heart issues. So the other two are given first and T and H later. Usually TCH is x 6. Thats what I had but sometimes x 4. The other one someone else will fill in as I did not do that one. . All of the chemo may have side effects but you dont get them all. And some people wont have any. Some have more or a rougher time. You just dont know how your body reacts. But wait and see how you react because its so different for everyone. Others will fill in and /or correct anything I missed. LOL. We keep each other honest around here. Much love.

Mandy I was 49 when I was diagnosed and treated. I was scared as f@#ck! Trust me diagnosis is the absolute worst part. All the unknowns. Also lots of bad or old information on the internet so be careful. I kept reading HER2+, worse diagnosis when I did my searching… but that's old info now that we have Herceptin its one of the better diagnosis.

I too was peri-meno. Cycles were regular. My last period was 2 weeks before chemo. Chemo put me in chemo-pause. It wasn't that bad for me. Had some night sweats, but I wasn't really sweaty just warm. They practically went away even though I am on hormone treatment. Every so often I get one between 2-5am… usually because I had some jalapeno peppers for dinner. Yeah I like it hot.

Like moonflower says don't expect to get all the SE. Believe or not I had no nausea. I thought for sure I would be spending the next several months with my head in a toilet. Also even if you do get SE you are not down the entire time. I found keeping active (I power walk) as much as you can helped. Feel free to PM. I'll send you my phone number and we can chat more. Trust me this is doable. It's just a damn time suck.

fingers crossed for no nodes!

Thanks moonflower

!!!! Make your own ChickD: http://www.saifou.com/entry/20925.htm

NickyJ We're doing OK. The donations are down but I'm currently just over $2K. Last year I raised over $34,00. My team has raised almost $6K. Smaller team this year and again donations are down. Last year we raised over $13K. We do have till the end of the year though.

As far as the cab driver, He's from Pakistan. Asian cultures are always very physiological as are religious people. I have to say though it has made me smile all week.

But ironically my cab driver back was from Somalia. We got talking about family. He told me his mom had breast cancer twice… died from it the 2nd time. He felt if they had good medical care she would have survived it. He didn't know where I worked or that I was a survivor. Planets were aligned on Wednesday or what!?

Welcome Mandy. I think most of us triple+ (most not all) had surgery, then chemo with Herceptin followed by Rads. I had TCH but 4 treatments versus the standard 6.

Lago: Darn! What are they putting you on to bring the bones back? I'm stiff off the Boniva until I have my Dexa in July and then I think she'll put me on something else in needed. Since I started out with Osteopenia, I'm pretty sure I won't escape without something but I'm running lot (always did) so maybe the old bones will hold their own.

Welcome Mandy. You have found the right place. I hope your node does indeed turn out to be clear! Absolutely get a second opinion and even a third if you need to. Make sure you are comfortable with everyone on you team and your course of action before you move forward. And make sure you take someone with you to all appointments. It is amazing how much we miss when the docs start throwing around all those new terms. What you miss, the person you take with you will hopefully catch. It is so helpful when you go to review when you get home.

Here is a link that is very helpful.

http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/6/topic/797454?page=1#post_3331871

Hi everyone! Welcome Mandy and welcome back Lago. You were missed.

Sorry about your osteo issues. I'm about to have my first post treatment , one year on anastrozole bone density test. I was only slightly osteopenic at the start of treatment. I'll let you know.

All I know now is that I can hear my bones when I do yoga. Scared they'll tell me not to do it. Yoga has helped me so much with the joint problems.

Hi everyone. havent posted here for a while. I tested her2 equivocal with both methods. on my pathology report, by the time it went to my nodes, it was some kind of other animal than the tumour in my breast, and they even used the words "with occasionally large and bizzare forms". although i love that they used the word "bizarre", i would have preferred it not be on my path. So, they said that they would like me to do herceptin. so i am not sure if i am triple positive, or not. I guess it really doesn't matter what they call it, as long as the herceptin stops it in its tracks!

Thanks, lago! I added +++ to my favorite topics. Not favorite, but you know what i mean.

Kathec I had a mixed pathology. Some cells were er/pr negative and some positive. That's actually somewhat common. If I hadn't had a second surgery to clear margins, we never would have known I was actually mostly hormone positive. I had 3 pathologies done to make sure. I also remember the surgeon showing me slides and pointing to something and rolling her eyes and saying, " And we have no idea what that growth actually was..." I think the idea is that cancer follows no rules.

Lago!! Nice to hear from you! I just had knee surgery and the doc came back and said I had severe osteoarthritis..the bones of someone 25 years my senior. I'm 46. Grrr.

I'm sorry to hear about the bone issues cropping up among you. It may not be much consolation but in regard to the results of this study, I opted not to take an AI at all and yet I still suffer from some bits of chemobrain:

http://www.breastcancer.org/research-news/20131014-3

SusanHG123, ouch! that is a perfect mess of bad reactions. Some of us just HAVE to be different. wanted to let you all know i am leaving this very minute to go to utah for 10 days. Thanks lago. i will miss reading all of you, and will look forward to seeing you all the minute i get back in the door! I am almost 100%er and pr pos, even 5 years after meno, dont know if that has to do with anything, or not. i was always wondering, saying hot flashes arent so bad. on tamox for 2 mos now. arimidex HURT! love

Kathie. If you go back this far. My MO and I will discuss tamoxifen Wednesday. Have tried Femera and Aromasin. Both with horrid SEs. Have been off for 6 weeks. Have researched the stats myself and will listen to his. Will be anxious to hear how tamox "feels"

hi, I am GG2 and am new to breast cancer and to this group. Feeling pretty dumb about all this negative/positive stuff other than knowing I am triple positive, whatever that really means. Trying to learn as fast as I can.

I did ok with first chemo of TCH, and the next one is in 3 days.

One very strange thing happened right after surgery. Suddenly I was getting hip pain, and it kept getting worse. A pet scan showed no mets there, but lots of bone damage. An orthopedic surgeon told me it's osteonecrosis and the only fix is a total hip replacement. He gave me ibuprofen 800 mg and Percocet. I'm trying to use a cane or crutches to ease the pain. I'm finding it real hard to believe that this sudden osteonecrosis is not somehow connected to the cancer.

Maybe it's connected to the triple positive?

I've found a lot of good advice on this site.

Gg

Hi Gg. Welcome and I am sorry you are having to join. Your info says you have mets. Do you mind saying where the mets are and how old you are? The nurse in me is surfacing. The word osteonecrosis-as you know-means bone death. If you are of the age to be post menopause have you had a bone density prior to BC? I had a PET scan as part of my initial work-up. Was this your second PET? No bone changes elsewhere? Lots of questions for your oncologist and ortho doc.

Miss Susan...sounded like my plan too which shot to hell....lol