New here and looking to see if I’m normal

I was about 52 when I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer- Stage 2a. I had a right mastectomy which was followed by 4 rounds of Adriamycin/Cyroxan and 12 rounds of Taxotere. I remember all too clearly taking a shower and getting dressed again and saying, "that's it for me for today." I have never experienced such fatigue in my entire life. I had a number of other side effects, too. There were definitely days where I said "I just can't do this anymore." But I finished every last bit of the recommended treatment. What I CAN tell you is that all happened 12 years ago. I have never had a recurrence of disease. I saw both my children graduate from college and my daughter will be getting married next year. There IS life after cancer and yes, you ARE normal.

IRENE

Hello Karen and Irene,

I also was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer on my left breast that was caught early (under 2 cm area) I did the BCRA test (which cost me around $800) to see if I had any heritary impacts - all came back negative which was good news to hear.

I did 12 sessions of chemo for 4 months. Chemo was taxal and carbo as I didn't want to take the regular chemo given Adriamycin due to its impacts on the cardiovascular system. Taxal was given every session and a taxal and carbo mix was given every 3rd session. All in all, I did pretty well. The later part of the series I became more fatigued but I pushed myself to jog 3.5km each morning and walked most evenings for 1/2hr to 1hr with a friend. I am a strong believer in exercise to boost the immune system and I know I felt better for the exercise even though near the end I had to do more walking and going upstairs and hills made me feel a bit out of breath. Exercise also helps to clear the head and reduce the anxiety. Some nights I would walk a short trail that went in a circle and felt like a zombie but it felt better to be a walking, relaxing zombie than a tense zombie lying on the bed trying to rest when no rest would come due to too much mental stimulation and worry.

Worst side affects were bleeding and stuffy nose, some tingling in my feet - especially in the morning when I got up. My feet didn't feel numb however. Also some sensitivity in my thumbs and very end of my fingers but no numbness. My recommendation would be to do as much exercise daily as you can muster ie: walking, biking, yoga etc. It will help, even if it feels like a real slog to begin! I avoided any additional medication as I didn't want further complications.

Food started to taste very metallic and my stomach was very gassy. I found eating healthy food in smaller amounts and more frequently was best for reduced side affects. Lots of water, I avoided caffeine as I am challenged to drink 8 glasses of water a day and new that caffeine diminishes the benefits. I resorted to hot water with lemon and a bit of honey and herbal teas. Fruit became my treat - especially raspberries, strawberries and cantalope.

I am now onto surgery next. While I was aiming for a lumpectomy now I am not so sure. I have small breasts to begin with and after a consult with the radiology specialist, the long term impacts and related side affects don't seem worth the effort. If my sentinel nodes are clear and I do full breast removal I can avoid radiation - which seems like another onslaught to my system that I would like to avoid if possible. Lumpectomy means I have to do radiation and there could be an issue with enough healthy margins to do a complete job if I go this route.

Given that I have triple negative cancer, I guess I am leaning to full breast removal to be on the safe side even though that was not my original plan. I was hoping to seek the least invasive route - now its not so clear.

Any thoughts on this Jessie??

Ann