HER2 positive & Triple negative invasive ductal cancer

Hi I was her 2 positive and er positive. My chemo was different but I self injected filgrastim for 7 days following my second lot of chemo, 4 cycles. The self injecting not nice but knew it had to be done. Side effects of the injection were horrible. I had pains in lower back and was like a big pulsating wave. I was prescribed co codamol 30/500 and took it hour before my injection which really helped. Best wishes and hopefully treatment goes fast for you xx

Hi Hmfm, Thanks for the reply. Sounds like you've had a rough ride but it seems you've made it!! From what I've read everyones journey is different and that's what's so terrifying... the not knowing what to expect. I have so many different emotions and feel it has totally consumed my life. It's very encouraging though to read some of the posts which are very positive.... there's some lovely people out there.

Hi Pol59, so sorry you find yourself with breast cancer .it 's a very frightening time and all the waiting is horrible.

Although I don't currently have a double diagnosis I know that some of the other ladies on the forum do and I hope they may get in contact with you at some point when they see your post.

Everyone has a different way of coping and however you do this is OK , I find distracting myself with housework etc works best for me,

Once you have seen your oncologist  hopefully you will feel more able to move forward with a better understanding of your diagnosis. I have had similar treatment to yourself, surgery, chemo, radiotherapy and herceptin with an oestrogen inhibitor and, although not much fun, it was certainly much easier than I had anticipated

I have always been bad at googling and  have made myself  very unhappy and terrified in equal measures in the process and so I would recommend only looking at the sites recommended by your health care team .

Take care and  sending you lots of love and hugs and hope your treatment goes smoothly for you.

Hi Pol59 - I'm sorry you're struggling. It's all so scary and I completely get the feeling that it takes over your life because it does - it feels like a full time job sometimes will all the appointments!!

I have the same cancer as you - diagnosed in March. The care I have received has been great and very efficient so I've had 3 rounds of EC chemo and have just started Paclitaxel which I'll have weekly for 12 weeks. As Hmgm said - I had to have Filgrastim injections x7 days each time I had the EC chemo - I only mention this because I also had terrible bone pain the first time so started taking Clarityn the day before and throughout the week on the second and third time - amazing difference with no bone pain! Bear in mind that it seems we are sometime on different treatment regimes depending on individual factors so don't worry if you read that other people are having different things.

Things will settle for you - once you get started and do each thing for the first time it gets easier I promise. There's loads of support out there - see if there is a local Maggie's centre as they are brilliant and can offer financial advice, relaxation courses etc.

You also don't always have to be brave - everyone understands and I think they worry when you're too brave as if they are waiting for you to crumble. Tell them how you feel and get a hug in the process. 

I wish you well and I'm sending you lots of love and encouragement  

Thankyou both for your lovely replies. Lots of very helpful advice... lots more positive and encouraging than google!! Wishing you both well with your treatment and recovery.

Hi Pol59

Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear that you have been diagnosed with two different types of breast cancer. You probably can't find information on having both HER2 positive and triple negative in the same breast as it's unusual to have those two cancers in the same breast.

While I haven't had both of your cancers in the same breast I did have triple negative breast cancer in my left breast which was diagnoxed nearly 3 years ago and after having chemo, surgery and radiotherapy I made a full recovery.

As regards Google the information on breast cancer is out of date so you are better off relying on this site and Breast Cancer Now fort your information.

Wishing you the best of luck with your treatment.

Best wishes

Daisy53

Thanks Daisy53.... fantastic to hear that you have made a full recovery from triple negative breast cancer. Gives me hope. I'm sure I'll feel better when I've seen the oncologist & understand more about what lies ahead. Best wishes.

Hello Pol59,  Sorry to hear that you are dealing with breast cancer.  It is like a kick in the gut.  You are so correct when you say all you heard was breast cancer and didn’t get all the details.  Our brain can only take in so much .  I have an excellent booklet that I just got a few days ago from Cure and it is a resource guide for triple-negative breast cancer.  Would like to send to you if you are interested.  It is up to date scientific information.  You can message me privately with address and I will send to you.  I live in Florida so could take a few days.  Here I is a photo cover and table of contents. Very current too.  June 2023.

I wish you the best of everything in your upcoming treatments and we are all here for you.  We all have had different experiences and types of cancers but we understand. 
Barbara

Hi Pol59, sorry to hear of your diagnosis. I didn’t have a double diagnosis like yours I just had triple positive grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma. I had surgery first, then chemo with filgrastim injections (I didn’t suffer side effects of bone pain with the filgrastim) my bone pain/soreness that I had was from the EC chemo. It was only about 24 hours maybe 48 then it would go. I then had docetaxel with Phesgo injections (combination of trastuzumab (herceptin) and pertuzumab). Then I had radiotherapy. I now still have the Phesgo (for a year) and hormone treatment for 5 years. Maybe it’s possible you have a second area that is a triple negative area. Your oncologist should be able to explain this and confirm what combination of chemo you will have. There are lots of others on here who have a combination of 2 types and hopefully they will be along shortly to help explain in more detail.

If you click on my name you can read my journey so far.

Wishing you all the best.

Hugs from cuffcake x x x x x

I was diagnosed with tnbc last June, stage 2. I did iv chemo, surgery, radio. And because i had some residual, now on xeloda. My residual also had her2 positive, so I am now also on herceptin shots every 3 weeks for a year. It’s been a hectic year to date, but I’ve got through it. I would say the initial few months are a whirlwind, but once a plan in place, i felt more secure. I also did loads of on line classes, relaxation etc, to keep me busy and connected getting through it all. Never did them before, but gave me another focus in the whirlwind. Best of luck.x