Stage 1 Breast cancer Recurrence

Hello there,

I'm so sorry you find yourself in this position. 

I have had a similar experience although my initial lumpectomy had unclear margins on the first attempt and I had a slightly bigger growth which tipped me into a stage 2 diagnosis .It was triple positive. I had surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and targeted drugs, herceptin and an aromatose inhibitor. I found 2 tiny lumps 1mm and 5mm just above the lumpectomy scar, before the year of herceptin was completed and neither of these could be seen on mammogram or MRI. I went on to have an ultrasound scan with fine needle aspiration which confirmed that they were cancerous. I had surgical biopsy and then a mastectomy. That was 2 years ago now . My only other treatment has been that the aromatose inhibitor was changed from anastrazole to exemestane.

I was totally devastated, terrified and felt very resentful that it should happen before my treatment had even finished but had support from my GP and some counselling which helped.

Well done for changing your life style and diet , it will help you going through your surgery next week and your recovery. Remember that having a local recurrence doesn't automatically mean that you will have recurrences in the future.

Wishing you all the very best for next week and a speedy recovery.

Sending lots of love and hugs.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and for the well wishes for my surgery. Glad you are 2 years on remission. Mine was ER/PR+ and HER 2 negative. Receptors are pending in the recent diagnosis.

Hi,

I 100% understand your frustrations. 

I was Triple Negative, had some chemo (but it made me too sick, so I had to stop it), then surgery (clean margins and no lymph nodes impacted), radiotherapy and then oral chemo for 6 months.  No evidence of disease and discharged from oncology. 

I have had this cough that has lingered, so they decided to do a CT scan. I just got off the phone with the hospital.  It seems the CT scan picked up that some kind of nodule in my lung. They've just referred me for a PET scan. 

I thought it might be radiotherapy damage, but it is on the opposite side to the breast cancer and where radiotherapy happened. The PET scan will hopefully show if it is only in the lung or whether other places are also affected. Maybe it is nothing, but I've obviously worried, as I know that TNBC has a very high recurrence rate. 

So, back to the waiting game and the prospect of further surgery and treatments. Crossing fingers for both of us. 

I also had TNBC 4 years ago just had CT and PET scan for lung nodule waiting results . Fingers crossed for us all xx

Will be thinking of you.

Hi... Thanks for sharing your story.. I really hope its nothing..Waiting is the hardest bit in this journey. Take care. xx