triple negative

Hello to all you lovely ladies who have also been affected by a diagnosis of breast cancer.
I am 57yo and had a routine mammogram recently which showed an area in one breast that looked abnormal. I cant feel a lump and neither can the Drs so its early stages.
Biopsies done and a triple negative diagnosis confirmed last week.
I have been on an emotional roller coaster since...having MRI, PET scan and genetic testing.
I've been told not to google it.
I can read between the lines that its a difficult breast cancer.
It would be lovely to hear some positive stories or words of wisdom about this breast cancer to help.
I am super anxious and wanting treatment to start ASAP...still no date to commence treatment.
Thankyou in advance
I am 57yo and had a routine mammogram recently which showed an area in one breast that looked abnormal. I cant feel a lump and neither can the Drs so its early stages.
Biopsies done and a triple negative diagnosis confirmed last week.
I have been on an emotional roller coaster since...having MRI, PET scan and genetic testing.
I've been told not to google it.
I can read between the lines that its a difficult breast cancer.
It would be lovely to hear some positive stories or words of wisdom about this breast cancer to help.
I am super anxious and wanting treatment to start ASAP...still no date to commence treatment.
Thankyou in advance
1
Comments
I don’t have triple negative but never felt a lump either. There are many ways bc can first be detected and a lump is just one. Don’t google. My symptoms screamed inflammatory breast cancer, according to Google. I didn’t have it. Having a medical team that you like (everyone responds best to different things) and trust is really important. So is feeling things are moving at a reasonable pace. There can be a lot of waiting involved with cancer but we all work out what’s reasonable and what is not. It’s perfectly possible to be a polite person but also to be ever so politely persistent! You are your own best advocate. Best wishes for a good medical team, good treatment and focus on the future.
If you click on this link, previous discussion on Triple Negative you will find others and links
https://onlinenetwork.bcna.org.au/discussion/23810/triple-negative/p1
Best wishes
Take care
Im definetly persistent and i do it as pilitely as i can.
So far everyone has been very helpful but it's possibly the private system...it's under staffed and under funded.
Unfortunately I don't have private insurance.
I'm thinking if I did things May be moving a bit quicker.
I know they have to cover all bases to make sure the treatment is right but what is a reasonable time from diagnosis to starting treatment?
I am 63 and was 62 on diagnosis ( September 2020).
I didn’t have triple negative but had ER positive lobular cancer.Most breast cancer is ductal.
I understand post menopausal women are more likely to have ER positive cancer and younger women more likely to have triple negative but that’s just a generality - everyone is individual and will get an individual treatment plan.For example I didn’t need chemo but that seems universally prescribed for triple negative.I did have radiotherapy which they do not often do with a mastectomy but I was recommended it due to the size of my tumour.
My treatment was in the private system and my surgery ( mastectomy) was 5 weeks from when I first saw my breast cancer surgeon ( I had received my diagnosis from my GP a few days earlier.)
They had to do lots of scans and tests on me first to see what the treatment plan should be and I lost a week with a cold and had to get a Covid 19 test etc.
The anxiety of waiting for all the various results is very stressful and even though my surgeon said my cancer was extremely slow growing and had been growing there for a while I just wanted it OUT!
We do have world class Drs in both the public and private systems in Australia but that doesn’t mean everyone always gets a 100 percent grade A experience and sometimes you have to advocate for yourself.
Take care.
Just sticking my hand up as a trip neg sister.
Tumours measured 75mmx35mmX35mm at excision. By a miracle I was node negative.
A double mastectomy
4AC and 12 Paclitaxel for chemo
then 5 weeks of daily radio (including central, subclavicle and arm pit lymph’s)
and a radical hysterectomy
treatment took around 12 months to complete in full.
Ill be chasing up tomorrow about an appointment with an oncologist as I havent seen one yet....only the breast oncology surgeon.
If I knew of a good breast oncologist in Melbourne I would chase up privately.
Any ideas on finding recommendations for Drs who specialise in breast cancer
I haven't worked out how to pm on here yet. lol
Thankyou
Hi, to pm someone, just go into your inbox and hit new message. You only need the BCNA name - like @Afraser. There are prompts to help.