Waiting for wife’s results

Wishing you both all the best. 

It's really hard and we tend to forget that you guys our partners go through it as well. Good luck for treatment. 

My one piece of advise to you is keeping talking asking questions and supporting your beautiful wife and you will get through this so much easier if you are both open with how scary this is for you rather than trying to brave it out 

All the best 

Hello you two,  I hope that you get all results soon so you can begin treatment.  This is not an easy time as our minds go wandering all over and we can think thoughts that are the worst.  I was a worrier and I can tell you it didn’t help me at all.  Made it through my bilateral lumpectomies and radiation so feeling good now.  This forum is so full of wonderful people who understand how cancer impacts the whole family. Your strength is powerful and sending all my positive vibes to you both.  
Barbara

Just had the final test done. The one called hep2 and it came back that my better half is now triple negative. She burst into tears as she had read that this is considered to be the aggressive form that’ll come back and was hoping for a positive . The oncologist said that it’ll be chemotherapy and immunotherapy. With a list of frightening possible side affects from the immunotherapy like diabetes brain , kidney  and other scary things . He wasn’t very helpful and we left feeling hopeless. We’re having a meeting on Monday for consent with a nurse and then a meeting with the consultant Wednesday . It’s now day 45 and the lump is very visible now . The oncologist said it could be 2 to 3 weeks before chemo starts . Worried that’s it spreading as we wait . We were  feeling more positive but now feeling quite gloomy. 

Oh my goodness so very sorry to hear this. When you see the nurse make sure you tell them how you felt after seeing oncologist. People skills are a must but they have a duty of care to tell you every possible side effect before you sign consent. It doesn't mean you will get them just that you might. I remember when my oncologist told me everything I thought goodness but I didn't get half of them. Sometimes these oncologists are old school and tell you things that with modern techniques etc are out of date. Mine said I would have tattoos for radiotherapy and a canula for my chemo. They haven't done tattoos at my treatment centre for 2 or 3 years and the chemo I had meant a picc line not a canula for safety! 

Take care both of you and remember we are here for you both. And don't use Dr google!

Hello Plonkinski,  well I can certainly understand that this news was very upsetting and overwhelming right now.  It is a hard thing to digest.  I have to tell you that there are so many advances that have been made for triple negative BC so there is so much more hope for good responses.  I have an excellent booklet on triple negative BC that I got from the Cure and would gladly send it to you as it is excellent.  Let me know if you want it snd I will send to you.  Really explains so much.  I was ER and PR positive so totally different treatment. Take care of each other and there are many excellent YouTube videos on breast cancer symposiums that talk about advances in triple negative.  Just have to search reputable sites. 
Barbara

I was diagnosed July 2021 and was found to have her2 pos, hormone neg breast cancer. It was a long stressful time waiting for results to come back and treatment to start. I was told that although hormone negative breast cancer is aggressive it also responds really well to chemotherapy so hang onto that. 
I am out the other side of treatment now and life has more or less returned to normal. There is still that little voice at the back of my mind that says what if it comes back but it’s not so consuming. 
I felt the most stressful time was the bit you are in at the minute. 
Take care and look after each other. X

Sorry to hear how you are feeling.  Totally understand it.  I would echo what Gilliebean says that triple negative is known to respond very well to chemotherapy.  Ask your nurse or oncologist to explain more about this.  All of the treatments for all cancer types list really long lists of POSSIBLE side effects, but you won't necessarily experience them.  I had 18 weeks of chemo last year - paclitaxel for 12 weeks and EC for 6 weeks and overall I didn't have major side effects except for the very few last weeks on EC where I was extremely tired.  That stopped once the chemo had finished. In terms of time to treatment, I got my results on 24 March 2022 and started chemo on 4 May - like you I worried at the time about the days passing - but I now know that probably wasn't a major factor.  My 5cm lump shrunk significantly with chemo and was then removed by surgery in November. Now on some follow-up chemo in tablet form - some side effects but not too bad.  Keep talking to help manage your anxieties.  Wishing you all the best.

I have metastatic TNBC and am on immunotherapy (Pembrolizumab) plus chemo. If your wife has been offered Pembrolizumab (or Atezolizumab which is similar) it is because her cancer, like mine, uses the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway to avoid attention from the immune system. The immunotherapy is designed to break the pathway so the immune system can ‘see’ and attack the cancer. The large and scary list of possible side effects arise from the possibility that the immune system will also be able to attack organs that are normally protected by the same pathway, such as the endocrine system.

These are relatively recently approved treatments for TNBC and if your wife’s oncologist only works with breast cancer, they may not have much direct experience of them. I found mine had no direct knowledge, in fact I am her first Pembrolizumab patient. I was also somewhat concerned by the risks and arranged a discussion with an oncologist who had 6 years experience of Pembrolizumab with melanoma and small cell lung cancer, so I could understand it all a bit better and put it in perspective. I found that to be hugely helpful. 

I have had 3 infusions of Pembrolizumab without incident. 

Hi Polkinski

Sorry to hear that your wife’s breast cancer is triple negative. As others have said triple negative responds well to chemo.

I was diagnosed with triple negative nearly three years ago and after having chemo, surgery and radiotherapy I made a full recovery.

Wishing your wife the best of luck with her treatment.

Best wishes

Daisy53

Thank you all for the kind comments and support. I suppose we might get more info from the nurse on Monday. I’ve got my paper and pen ready and need to write down the timings and chemo names . I’ve also a big list of questions to ask. I’ll post back on Monday when I know more .