Triple Negative breast cancer

Hi Khloekat 

I am sorry you have TNBC. It’s good it hasn’t spread to your lymph nodes. If your cancer had had receptors for oestrogen or human growth hormone, they would have been able to give you targeted drugs to reduce the risk of recurrence or of stray cells metastasising. They don’t have the equivalent for tnbc, so chemo is usually recommended.

It’s daunting to contemplate the best part of 6 months of chemo treatment, but hopefully that will soon be in your past. Losing hair matters to many of us because it is such an important part of our identity. The chemo drugs they use for breast cancer are harsh on the hair. Cold capping could be an option, although it doesn’t work for everyone and didn’t work for me. I don’t think anyone enjoys chemo, but it’s not horrible all of the time. You are unlikely to get all the side effects in the literature. I was in my mid 60s when first diagnosed, and semi retired. I continued to do a fair amount of desk work, but I probably couldn’t have worked full time or in a more physical role. I found keeping a symptom diary helped me get through it. I also kept a blog on this site, which you can access by clicking on my name and scrolling to the bottom of my bio. Beware it’s not a straightforward story although I am in a good place now. 

Hey Khloekat 

I started chemo in April this year following successful removal of a small 10.5mm TNBC tumour, but unfortunately was diagnosed with an early local recurrence with three new tumours totalling 36mm just a few days after my first cycle. I started a different regime in May designed to shrink those tumours before surgery and my oncologist confirmed last week that my last MRI showed no cancer remaining in the breast.

While I obviously would have preferred not to have had the recurrence, it has been very interesting to see the effects of the chemo on detectable cancer cells and it has given me confidence in the treatment as prior to starting, I really was on the fence about doing it. Same as you I was mostly worried about losing my hair (I think this was actually my very first concern when I was told chemo would be on the table!) and my job. I'm on sick leave from work as going into the office or working from home are not possible for me currently, I am bald and there are definitely days when I don't feel too good. Especially when those temps go up to 30 degrees! I do have days however where I feel mostly fine and they are more than the days where I feel under the weather.

I must say the treatment sessions turned out to be quite surprising! My chemo unit feels more like being in a salon if you ignore all the medical stuff and the day I go in is full of breast cancer patients so it's generally just a bunch of women sitting around drinking coffee and chatting and I've learned so much from all of them.

On the whole for me, it's not been the horror show I thought it would be at all.

Hope this helps!

Hi Khloekat, I've had one cycle of treatment and remember how overwhelming it all felt at the start. I was basically waiting daily for a new side effect to occur. Everyone reacts differently to treatment so you feel like you're entering the unknown hoping you bypass the most common reactions. The only advice I could give is to keep hydrated. I am for 2l - 3l of water daily. 

I have HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer and I’m currently having chemotherapy alongside targeted treatment. One of my biggest fears was losing my hair, but I honestly wanted to reassure you that, for me, it hasn’t been as awful as I imagined. I decided to cut it short as it started thinning (after 14 days for me), and I now wear a wig. The wigs available are amazing – so natural that most people can’t tell I’m wearing one unless I tell them.

There will be hard days, but you’ll probably surprise yourself with how strong you are. Take everything one day at a time and be kind to yourself.

If you’re working, please remember you have rights at work too. Don’t feel pressured into doing more than you’re able, and ask for the support and reasonable adjustments you’re entitled to.

I wish you the very best. 

It’s good to hear the pembro has worked for you MsC, that must be a huge relief. 

Thanks Coddfish .

While it is of course amazing news, it took a while to sink in and I've been a little cagey about sharing it. I think I was mentally protecting myself against potential disappointment as we know how these things can go sometimes, but I eventually decided not to hold back as it could be massively encouraging to others.