I don’t know what to say, feeling so helpless

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My sister has just been diagnosed Triple negative with spread into lymph node.  Shes waiting on PET scan results.  Prepping for chemo to start but no set plan jn place yet until scan result is with oncology.  Shes understandably feeling totally broken.  We’re all in shock & devastated for her to have to go through this.  We’re only a small family so support network is small too.  Im just at a loss as to how to help her, what to say.  I feel utterly helpless !!

  • So sorry to hear this. I was diagnosed with metastatic triple negative in 2022 and understand that it feels overwhelming. My advice would be to not rely on google for your information - a lot has happened and is still happening in the treatment of triple negative breast cancer which is very positive so a lot of the infomation available particularly stats etc can be quite out of date. As difficult as it is she needs to wait for the scan results as these will best inform her treatment plan.

    Btw if I could change one thing it would be the name of this cancer - triple negative - it's enough to terrify anyone. And yet all it means is that it is negative for the three most common markers. This used to mean this cancer was harder to treat but now they have new treatments for triple negative eg immunotherapy and antibody drug conjugates so things have definitely improved.

    Wishing you and your sister all the best.

  • Thank you for your reply Timewatcher, it is much appreciated & I wish you all the very best too on your own journey.  There is so much information online, I know my brain is swirling trying to make any sense of it so I’m sure my sister is completely overwhelmed by it all.  Like you say I’m sure she will feel a little more in control of things once her treatment plan is in place.