Forum Discussion
Scared of recurrence!!
HI there Ladies,
In March I had a lumpectomy and sentinal node biopsy for my grade 3 TNBC. Then 3 Rounds of FEC and 3 Docetaxol followed by 30 sessions of rads and BRCA testing.
The testing came back inconclusive, which I am aware is very common, but now I have this nagging fear, I am sure you all have it. Reccurrence rates are floating around in my head, day and night.
I can't help but keep hearing, aggressive ... aggressive.... aggressive. I now wish I had gone the bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction for my original plan.
Have any of you out there had a lumpectomy and treatment and then decided to go back for a mastectomy? Have any of you made it past the dreaded 5 year mark and gained the all clear?
23 Replies
Sorry for the late reply - I'm not on here often. I was diagnosed with TNBC in Canada in 2008, had a lumpectomy, then chemo, then had a unilateral mastectomy with reconstruction instead of radiation. My genetics test came back inconclusive. My motto throughout treatment was "no regrets" and I stuck by that - once I made the decision, I didn't think about "what if?". And once I was done treatment, I threw all the numbers out the window. I remember feeling like a ticking time bomb for the first couple of years post, but I thought about recurrence less and less each year and now I celebrate each year as another milestone of health. The comments above are right - there is so much you can do to stay healthy and fight cancer without medical intervention. An agency I got connected to early on in my cancer journey was www.inspirehealth.ca - I loved going there and feeling all the positive vibes from the doctors and other practitioners there!
