Newly diagnosed TNBC

Hi Hifromthedam. I was diagnosed with TN 2 years ago ( just before my 41st birthday), and had a similar treatment plan... 4 rounds of EC and then 12 of pacli. Also didn't cold cap, so lost my hair. Well, actually, it started coming out in the shower  17 days after the first treatment and on day 19, I had my husband shave it off. I guess it gave me some small sense of control, and it was the right decision for me. Other women prefer to get a short haircut before treatment starts. I'd been practising with scarves for a few weeks, as I didn't want a wig (again, personal decision, there are some great ones out there, I believe, and many women take this route), and I actually kinda liked how the scarves looked, so the hair issue wasn't huge for me.

As for the chemo itself,  while it certainly wasn't pleasant at times, it honestly wasn't nearly as bad as I'd been expecting. Everyone's experience is different, but I felt fine immediately after treatment and didn't start to feel a bit crap until day 4 or 5. There were 3-4 days where I wasn't feeling great, and then I felt fine again.

Take good care of yourself, physically and mentally. During treatment, whenever you feel up to it, do the things that make you feel happy. But give yourself permission to have days where you do nothing at all if that's what your body is telling you. Lean on friends and family whenever you need to, they'll be more than happy to be able to help in any way they can.

Wishing you all the best x

I had 4 rounds of EC and then 12 weeks (4 cycles) of Paclitaxel. I finished chemo 2 weeks ago. I also have TNBC. I did try cold capping but with fine, straight hair, I lost most of the hair on top of my head within 3 weeks. I didn’t bother cold capping after that and in some ways it was a relief just to clipper it short and stop worrying about it. It started to grow back once I switched to Paclitaxel but it’s now pure white. Chemo wasn’t as bad as I had feared. Some days  were rough but there were also a lot of days when I felt relatively normal. Everyone’s experience differs, but I found it helped to try not to consider myself as being ill and to stay active and live as normally as possible. All the best.