Newly Diagnosed with TNBC

Nique

Hi everyone my name is Nique. I am 54yrs old and I was recently diagnosed with TNBC in December 2023 and I have had my first chemo and Immunotherapy on Friday Jan 12th. It is taking me a long time to process this information and sometimes I think it is surreal. My family has been really supportive throughout all of this especially my husband and one of my sister who herself went through her own journey with Breast Cancer (She had the Hormone positive). It is hard at the moment to say if the side effects are bad or not as I recently had COVID. Apart from the body ache (Which could be from COVID), everything taste metallic in my mouth and I do feel tired. I made the decision to cut my hair really short and then my husband will shave it off once it starts falling. For me cutting off my hair was a reality that this is real but it is still hard to digest at times. I am still working full time as I work remotely for an interstate company, but I Know that eventually I will need to decide whether to stay fulltime or part-time. My Chemo is every Thursday from my next session and I was lucky to have my sister there with me during my first one, unfortunately she is here on holidays and will be returning back to Dubai. I honestly don't know what I would have doe if she wasn't with me. She was there in the doctors office when I got the news and as I was in shock she took over and asked all the questions. Her and my husband have been with me to all my appointments, apart from being my support person she was also my husband's support person and for my kids. I honestly don't know how I am going to go through Chemo without her being there. Thank you for listening to me.

Jabba

Hi Nique. I am so sorry to hear about your diagnosis, not a nice Christmas present! I am a 51 year old mother of 4 that was diagnosed with TNBC in early September.  It definitely is a surreal feeling, you feel like you are operating on auto pilot.  I had Paclitaxel and Carboplatin first and I didn’t find that too bad. I have now started AVC and I am finding this exhausting. I think there are so many questions and so much information to try and process when you are first diagnosed that you really need a good support network. As chemo progresses, you get into a bit of routine and things become more familiar. The nurses at chemo re amazing and are incredibly supportive and can help heaps with questions. 

I have a friend who is ahead of me in her treatment and I find it really helpful to ask her questions and reassuring when I have symptoms that she has had too. Please feel free to message me if I can help in any way!

Nique

Hi Jabba. Thank you for those your message. It's been a while since I've logged in. My update or now is that I do have a lymph node that is cancerous. Found put after I did an ultrasound and a biopsy. My surgeon also wanted me to do the BRAC Gene test, just waiting for the results. I am currently having the A/C first and I had my second session 2 weeks ago. Yes it does take a toll on you. Wasn't the best the whole week after it. Even now doing things around the house I do get tired very easily. On top of the A/C I am also having Immunotherapy. I will start the other lot around April for 12 weeks and then have the surgery later. Like you I do find the chemo nurses to be amazing and very supportive. I guess for me when I felt unwell after the 2nd session of chemo I really just wanted to give up and felt sorry for myself and just cried for most of the day. How are your kids coping with your diagnosis?