Wifes 1st diagnosis with tnbc - treatment

Thankfully we found out today her pet scan is clear.. so she is due to start chemo in about 2 weeks for a out 20 weeks.. a relief it didn't spread! Thanks everyone for the replies and advice.

That's great to read that her PET scan is clear.

Yeah, the wait and anxiety was the worse bit we all feel. Took about 2 weeks for the result..I hope anyone else waiting keeps there chin up, it's not easy and it's a rollercoaster of emotions.

Glad to hear that your wife's pet scan was clear.

Hello, 

My TNBC tumour was detected about two months ago through a routine annual mammogram. It was the same size as your wife’s. I had already had genetic testing and knew that I was positive for the BRCA1 mutation so I opted for a total bilateral mastectomy with immediate reconstruction, meaning that tissue expanders would be placed at the time of surgery and after all my adjuvant therapy was complete I’d have reconstruction (exact type TBD).  I had an axillary ultrasound and biopsy which came back negative so the surgeons proceeded with surgery first which I just had 8 days ago! After I heal I will start chemo but I don’t know the exact course. My oncologist was proposing one infusion every 3 weeks for 12 weeks (3 mos) but here’s the twist. During my mastectomy the surgeon removed some sentinel nodes and sent them to the lab. She did not see anything suspicious but the pathology indicated that one node was malignant so now I will likely need radiotherapy as well as chemo. I don’t yet know if it will be concurrent with chemo, before or after chemo. I will be meeting with both the radiologist and oncologist soon but right now I’m just concentrating on healing from surgery and trying to calm my nerves. 
How is your wife doing? How are you holding up? 

I should add that I had a PET/CT about 3 weeks prior to my surgery and got the all clear. My arms were positioned over my head the entire time and no malignancy was detected but when my surgeon did the sentinel mapping / biopsy and removed 6 nodes, 1 was found to have cancerous cells. The good news was that there was no “extranodal extension” which meant that it was contained within the capsule. I don’t know if any other diagnostic testing will be needed before I start my adjuvant treatment. 
Before this latest discovery,  chemo drugs my oncologist was planning to give me were Taxotere (docetaxel) and Cytoxin but that may change now that one node was involved. 
I hope your wife’s (and your) journey goes smoothly and that soon this will all be in the rear view mirror. Btw, we have one son who is 19. I wish I had a 16 y.o. too but we were late joining the parent club (we’re in our early 60’s)

My wife had a small tumour like you as you said, she had the gene test which came back negative so they went ahead with a lumpsectomy, during that they removed/tested four of her lymph nodes with one coming back as positive for macrometastasis (large deposit of cancer cells) .. despite all ultrasounds and MRI not showing anything up.. because of this they did the PET scan.. which thankfully came back clear... I don't think there are any other tests to be had after a PET.. she's had them all now.. mamogram, biopsy, gene testing, ultrasound, MRI and finally the PET.

We saw oncologist a few days ago and he said she will have EC (Epirubicin & Cyclophosphamid) and then PC (Paclitaxel & Carboplatin) for I think for 5 months in total.. than it will be radiotherapy.. this he said was because it was a grade 3 TNBC.. being in 1 lymph node also and under 2cm it was classified as stage 2.

It's been a stressful few months, we found out right in the middle of my daughter's GCSEs but decided not to tell her till her exams and prom was out the way, which made it harder, but we felt it was in her best interest to finish her exams and enjoy her prom which she deserved after all the hard work she put in..

I hope you are both holding up ok.. the waiting around for dates/results feels like the worst part so far.. 

You’re so right, the waiting and not knowing is so stressful. I feel confident that we are all getting the best care possible. Medicine has come such a long way in treating TNBC despite some of the things you might read on the Internet. I am trying very hard to just stick with forums like this and the experiences of friends who have been through a similar journey. The power of positive thought cannot be underestimated. Sending positive vibes to you and your family. 

Yeah avoid Google for sure. Fingers crossed for you all. Stay positive, eat healthy and look after yourselves.

I had my TNBC treatment that way round. The lumpectomy took the tumour (10mm) with 5mm clear margins. I had lymph nodes removed during that surgery (supposed to be 4 but ended up being 8). All were clear. I then had chemo which included carboplatin. I did not have immunotherapy as my understanding is that you would have that if it's stage 2 (20mm tumour and up).