Newly diagnosed at 28 weeks pregnant
Hi, I’ve just been diagnosed with stage 2 tripple negative breast cancer and I’m 29 weeks pregnant. I’m struggling to find much information on stories of women who have been through this and hoping their might be women on here that could share their experience with me if they have been diagnosed whilst pregnant x
TNBC diagnosis - pregnancy related
Hi everyone. I was diagnosed 11 November 2020 with TNBC, 10cm tumor in my right breast, no lymph node spread. Specialist says that if it was graded it would be between a 2 & 3. I was 36 weeks pregnant when I noticed the small lump, which would have been in May. My baby girl was born early July. Didn’t think anything of it until it became uncomfortable due to its rapid growth. I breast feed my baby until I had to start chemo on 25 November. Just wondering if anyone out there has had the chemo, surgery and then radiation? I’ve had my second last chemo today and surgery is set for end March. It will be a mastectomy and an expander inserted under the pectoral muscle. Implant will be at least 6 months after this. Oncologist said there may be follow up chemo tablets after the radiation dependent on the pathology etc at time of surgery. Just wondering if anyone out there has a similar story?Pregnancy after breast cancer
Hello. I’m hoping to find others who have had a baby after breast cancer. How long did you stay on hormone blocking medication? And how long did it take for you to fall pregnant? As a bit of background about me. I was diagnosed in 2018, aged 32, with hormone positive breast cancer. I was treated with 18 weeks of chemo plus radiation. I’ve been on Zoladex and Exemestane since 1/2019. I was told that I should stay on the treatment for 2 years before I could have a break to have a baby. But I think I want to come off a few months sooner. I have a 4 year old, who will be at minimum 5 and a half by the time I have another, and that is if I fall pregnant straight away. I will speak to my oncologist about this, but keen to hear others experiences.
Treatment
Hi everyone I don’t know how to start this, I was diagnosed with breast in 2017 when pregnant. My baby and I went through mastectomy, chemo and radiation together because she was still in my belly when I was going through all that, thank God she came out beautifully and strong. She is 20month and a very happy girl. But now unfortunately my cancer has metastasis into my bones and liver. Having chemo again with all that comes with it. I get really stressed and frustrated. The chemo knocks me down so hard I can barely get out of bed sometimes, can’t eat and am losing so much weight.. I feel like this cancer is winning but heal no am not going down without a fight.
Pregnancy after Hormone Positive Breast Cancer
Hi, I went through my journey at age 36 after having given birth to Mr5. Since then my children’s father and I have separated and I am now dating someone new. Whilst neither of us want children my 2 pre-cancer children were both unplanned pregnancies so I know my fertility rate was rather high. Just wondering how others went with having / not having more children post-cancer journey. Did this increase the likelihood of your Cancer returning? I caught my Cancer in the very earlier stages so had lumpectomy, tamoxifen and Zoladex. If I fall pregnant now I will be classed as a High Risk pregnancy due to age and weight issues, let alone the cancer side too.
Women diagnosed with breast cancer while pregnant
Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer while they are pregnant face additional challenges in their treatment and care. Dr Lesley Stafford, from the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne, is doing some research on the needs of people diagnosed while they were pregnant. If you have been diagnosed with breast cancer while pregnant in the last five years, and had your treatment at The Royal Women’s, Monash Hospital, The Peter McCallum Cancer Centre, The Western, or The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Lesley and her team of researchers may be interested in interviewing you. Please email policy@bcna.org.au for more information.
Ovarian reserve testing + Letter to ex GP
Since my last post I decided to be proactive on the whole trying to get pregnant soon thing. I stopped Tamoxifen on the 8th of November and need to wait 3 months before trying to start a family. I had been wondering if it was a gamble to try naturally first since time is so precious in this game or if we should go straight to a specialist for help. I phoned to find out if there were any tests which could help make this decision and was happy to find out it is a simple blood test! It cost me $90 to have my AMH levels tested. I had to google what that ment.... 'Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) is a hormone secreted by cells in developing egg sacs (follicles). The level of AMH in a woman's blood is generally a good indicator of her ovarian reserve. AMH does not change during your menstrual cycle, so the blood sample can be taken at any time of the month - even while you are using oral contraception................An AMH test gives us some insight into the remaining quantity of eggs and number of fertile years you may have, but it cannot tell us much about the quality of those eggs.' I had the blood test last week but wont get the results till December 13th. Fingers crossed we have good enough numbers that trying naturally is an option! On a side note. While at my GP it came up in conversation that my old GP who misdiagnosed my cancer 4 times over the space of a year does not actually know that cancer was the final verdict. My new GP suggested writing a letter to her so that she is aware and wont make the same mistake with anyone else. I think this is a great idea and have been thinking about it since this all started but hesitant to begin the letter as the emotions are still pretty raw on this front. Between my first doctors appointment with boob concerns to diagnosis was a year and a half. Her oversight due to my age could have literally cost me my life if my cancer was faster growing. Talk about a terrifying thought! Pretty much I am stalling starting the letter by posting here instead. I also thought that some ladies who may not be quite at the stage yet but will be looking at pregnancy in the future might like to know about the AMH test. Well. Enough stalling. Will go and write the letter now so I can post it tomorrow. Hope I find the right words to make this GP more vigilant and proactive on the BC detection front. Will copy and past what I send her in the comments later xoStopping Tamoxifen - CT Scan & Bone Scan
Two Mondays ago I had my check up with my oncologist and was told that I could stop taking tamoxifen IF I have a CT scan and bone scan to be 100% sure things were all good first. I was more than happy to do this and even though I had no reason to think anything would show in the results I started to get really anxious. The scans were booked for Thursday and I had to wait till Monday for the results. The reason for stopping tamoxifen after only 2 years was so we can try start a family. I was diagnosed at 34 and had only been married for 6 months - on the 16th of November (yesterday!) we had our 3rd wedding anniversary :) Not knowing if BC treatment has taken away the possibility of having children has been really hard (massive understatement) and I know that even if your periods come back it is still no guarantee you can get pregnant. Stopping tamoxifen for me is exciting but scary as it is the next rollercoaster ride in this shitty BC amusement park. We may be one of the lucky ones and get pregnant naturally, we may have to go down the IVF path or it simply might not be on the cards for us. I guess I am just scared to get my hopes up in any way at this point. Anyway. CT scan. You get a cannula in for some dye to be injected during the scan and you lay on a bed similar to a rads machine. All very easy/straight forward. Bone scan. You get injected with something which needs to be in your system for 4 hours before you have your scan so there is lots of time to waste waiting for the next part. You can stay fully clothed for this scan which was a nice change but the machine is a little confronting. Your feet and arms are velcroed into place so you dont move (you are lying on your back) then a large piece of the machine is lowered so close to your face that I swear if I stuck my tongue out I could have touched it! If you have any issues with claustrophobia I would recommend closing your eyes before it is lowered to avoid any stress. Results day I was holding it together/calm but scared. First words out of his mouth were - All clear! There is nothing in your bones, lungs, liver, bowel..... all your internal organs are all fine. I wasnt expecting the level of relief that followed. It wasnt just yay my results are good but more of a Holy Crap - I am finally DONE! It is one thing to have confidence that your surgery and treatment got it all but an entirely different feeling to actually KNOW that there is nothing else hiding somewhere. The piece of mind I have gained from this has been so amazing that I dont know why it isnt standard to have these tests on completion of active treatment. I was told flat out that if I kept taking tamoxifen then I wouldnt need these tests. I am assuming it is the cost and possibly the fact that the dye is radioactive?? Would love to know the answer if anyone is clued up on this front. I stopped taking tamoxifen 10 days ago now and have broken out in pimples but otherwise good. Been told to wait 3 months for it to be out of my system before we can try get pregnant so I guess I have some time to mentally prepare for whatever comes next. Reading other peoples experiences in here has helped a lot over the last few years so a massive thank you to BCNA for this forum and all the lovely ladies posting and replying. Sad that so many people are going through this but nice to 'have each others back' so to speak. Am now going to hunt through old posts and see if I can find any pregnancy success stories to get some positive mojo going :) Didnt mean for this to be so long winded. Thank you for reading!
