Anyone with knowledge of TNBC?Scared of chemo

Moopy23 said:

TLynn, unfortunately, bc can
TLynn, unfortunately, bc can be either. Woman can have a primary hormonal cancer and later, a hormone-negative primary (or vice versa). All cancers have a genetic component, but it is also possible that an error was made with her original diagnosis. Testing of bc has increased as new aspects are identified and tests are developed for those aspects.

Confusing, I know.

Thank you
Moopy
Thank you for the response. Confusing is not the word for all the information out there! :-) It should be a law that everything should be written in plain old english without all the big words so people understand. Appreciate your feedback.

LadyParvati said:

Hi, Darlene!
Welcome to the TNBC Club--the second club you never wanted to join! As Mimi and others have noted, there are several of us here.

I am currently undergoing chemo for TNBC. I was dx'd Sept 30, 2009 (officially) and just began chamo 1/4/10. I am doing a dose-dense regimen of Adriamycin and Cyclophosphamide (AC) every two weeks--this is one of the NCCN treatment recommendations for triple negative cancer. After 4 cycles of AC, I will be doing another dose-dense regimen of a taxane (probably paclitaxel) every two weeks for 4 cycles. I chose this regimen because, after reading all the negatives to having triple negative BC, it seemed to me to be the strongest counter-attack against the TN beast I could choose.

So far--I just had my second AC treatment yesterday--it has gone extremely well. Very mild queasiness except for one day upon which I had a wave of nausea that didn't go away by itself, so I took half a phenergan. The phenergan stopped the nausea without making me too sleepy to function. After that day, everything just got better and better.

As several others have noted, the oncologists have gotten really good at helping you cope with the aftereffects of chemo through preventative measures. The anti-nausea meds they give you prior to the chemo really help!

I like to think of all this as my new adventure in life. Not where I was expecting to go--OK, so here I am! I'm planning on following in Moopy's and Mimi's footsteps--well, I won't be brokering high-powered deals, but Hey! I might just jump up on a bar table & dance! LOL! I love their positive spirit and sense of adventure!

Hang in there, Darlene--we're all rooting for you!

Sandy

Thanks for the information
To everyone on this thread, I thank you so much for the information that you have offered. I will be starting chemo next Friday for TNBC. My drug combo will be TAC and will run 6 - 3 week cycles (followed by radiation). This information on this thread is some of the only information about Triple negative that I have found useful, but not disheartening. What you have all mentioned is encouraging and comforting in that I currently feel like I am going into this totally blind.
I am working at not anticipating specific side-effects from chemo, but at the same time I need to have a clue within the same ball park. I was fortunate that I caught the tumor before it spread into lymph nodes, but it was so large, fast growing and aggressive that they are treating it in an equally aggressive manner.

Thanks again, Lisa

I am also TNBC.. I did 4
I am also TNBC I am 37 ( 36 when diagnosed) stage 2b with aggressive grade 3 cancer cells .. I did 4 rounds dose dense adromycin/cytoxin and 4 rounds taxotere. I had very little nausea and no physically sickness. For me.... the chemo drugs just whipped me out. and my biggest challenge was PAIN esp with the taxotere... the tax also made my mouth weird and food had no taste.

Moopy23 said:

Darlene
Hi, Darlene, I was treated for triple negative breast cancer last year. Had mastectomy, then chemo, and finally, radiation. The chemo I had was 6 rounds of TAC, one chemo infusion every three weeks. TAC is: taxotere, adriamycin, and cytoxin. It sounds like that is what you will be getting. I can assure you chemo is very do-able. For every side effect, there is something that can be done to help.

One big thing you can do is research this board. The wealth of wisdom, experience, and compassion that I found here helped me through every step of my treatment. My husband and I found a lifeline in CSN and its members. You will, too. You can also research past posts. Just enter a key word in the Search feature at the top right of the main page. Or, post your question.

As for TNBC, you will find several women diagnosed who post here. Beware what you read, get the best care you can, and have faith. You can make it, Darlene. You did once, and you can again.

My best to you.

Thanks
Hi Moopy23 - I have been reading your blogs for some time, and receive great comfort from them, and I so need that now. I will be starting chemo (TAC) on Monday, Feb. 1st., so not looking forward to it. This TNBC has such a bad reputation, I really am frightened to learn more about it, yet I am obsessed with reading more (nuts, huh?) I don't understand half of what I read, but the blogs and entries by others are always good, and I wanted to thank you and the others for that. Maybe one day I will be able to be a source of comfort for some others as well.

Darlene_Mays said:

question on the treatments
I also have TNBC, and will begin chemo in a couple of days. You saidthat you had very little nausea, and no physical sickness, but the chemo drugs whipped you out, and the biggest challenge was pain associated w/the taxotere...I am confused. Is there joint pain, or is it body pain, what kind of pain, and were you given anything to ease that discomfort? Also, how long did it last? Hope you can answer these questions, sorry to be so nosey.

Treatments
Hello, I am sorry for not posting earlier. I have found going back to work and getting physical therapy for my arm/shoulder to be very tiring. I come home and lie on the couch. My wonderful husband is so patient as the laundry piles up, etc.

Darlene, joint pain came later for me. Way at the end of treatments. It is like you've become your grandmother, slow to rise and move, especially in the morning. I feel creaky. I don't really need anything for the discomfort, though. It usually passes after I've been up awhile. My fingers tend to be a bit stiff, but again, not enough to warrant pain meds.

As for nausea, my only problems were under-medicating myself, and being allergic to compazine. After my first treatment, my jaws begin to clench, as if there were magnets on my upper and low teeth, forcing my mouth to shut. Joe grabbed a pencil, and I stuck it between my teeth as he dialed the 24-hour oncologists' line. The answer? Benadryl. Helped immediately, and I stopped Compazine. Was switched to Ativan. All told, I had several anti-nausea meds: Emend, Zofran, and Ativan. Once I took those as directed, I had no more nausea.

Just a warning: I didn't realize that some of the pre-treatment meds are steroids. Boy, was I amped up the first week of treatment. No pain or anything, just harder to sleep. The Ativan took care of that problem.

The first chemo treatment was the worst for me, emotionally and physically. For later treatments, I knew what to expect. Joe, my husband, kept a blog for awhile. It is on his Expressions page. He kept it to track my reactions per day as there is a pattern for each person. You might find the blog helpful. After the first couple of rounds, he stopped the blog and just referred back to it. For example, when I would get a sore throat, he'd go back to the block and confirm that yep, I typically got a slightly sore throat on Day X. So, a chemo journal will help you, especially the first round. If not you, maybe your spouse can keep it for you.

You are not nosey at all, by the way. We are all glad to be helpful. My best wishes especially to my tn sisters. We get some bad press, but we are survivors, too!