Triple negative grade 3 breast cancer

[isaxx]

I have just been diagnosed with TNBC grade 3. Appears to be stage 1. Surgery in just over 3 weeks. Just looking for experiences, outlook, etc. Does anyone else have any experience of this?

@SandraGail Thats the same treatment I had too. I coped ok with it, the fatigue was a bit intense. Good luck.

@isaxx I know! Bit nuts really isn't it?! wasn't even on my radar that itd come back so quick, On the day i was told it had returned i was meant to be having the first of five days of preventative radiotherapy. How ironic eh.

Hi OP. Sorry to hear of your diagnosis. My sister was diagnosed with grade 3 stage one triple negative breast cancer in June aged 33. She had chemo then a double mastectomy and reconstruction and then radio and is now NED. Her boobs look incredible and she is delighted with them- she is very slim with no spare fat so had implants. It was all done in one surgery. Recovery was hard for the first 2 weeks. She was able to keep her nipples. She found chemo ok but very tiring.
Really hope for the best for you op.

Thank you. Good to hear about your sister and that she is well. Gives hope in all of this anxiety.

I had a mastectomy and immediate reconstruction with implant because I didn't have enough fat and it went really well. Lost the nipple and was going to get a 3D nipple tattoo (look it up they're absolutely amazing) but I haven't actually bothered. Very happy with the reconstruction and two years cancer free now.

Good to hear you are cancer free and that you are happy with your reconstruction. I'll look into the nipple reconstruction options if I can't keep my own.

Has anyone had night sweats as a symptom of triple negative breast cancer before treatment?

I have yet to start treatment but for the past week have been waking up at night soaked in sweat. It has got me wondering whether this is a bad sign or whether my perimenopause has just coincidentally accelerated.

Just been told the abdominal CT scan to check blood vessels for DIEP showed up something on my right hip. They now need to do an mri to check it. Has anyone had hip spots which turned out to be nothing?
I have gone from being told it was caught early to such random 'incidental' findings that need further investigation. This is so scary.

@isaxx it is really scary, having come through it all this whole bit is definitely the worst bit. I felt for a while like every time I had a procedure it was bad news! “Not in your lymph nodes” then it was. “Oh it’s grade 1” then it wasn’t. “It’s only 1mm” then it wasn’t. “You won’t need chemo” then I did. Etc…

Anyway, I had a lung nodule in my right lung and it turned out to be nothing, probably scarring from a previous chest infection or covid. Scared me witless. Fingers crossed yours is also nothing, and try not to google ❤️

@WorryMcGee thanks so much for replying. That is how it feels like. An endless stream of bad news, each worse than initially suggested. I cannot understand how one can feel OK enough to lead a normal life (working, seeing friends, going to the gym) and then suddenly be told one has a deadly disease. It just makes no sense. Great that your lung nodule turned out not to be anything. As to not googling, easier said than done..

I had something show up on my hip that turned out to be nothing. In fact throughout the whole process I had various things that caused me temporary worry but were later found to be fine so I know exactly how you're feeling. My Oncologist said to me that if you scanned most healthy people there would be various things that showed up that are generally nothing to worry about so I took some comfort from that.

@MadamBuxton that is very useful to hear. The consultant just left me with total uncertainty. I will just have to tolerate living with constant uncertainty.

It does get better in time. I needed to look back at all my documents recently and there were loads of things I’d almost forgotten about now, but it brought it back to me how it feels with the worry and uncertainty. I’m over 2 years post-diagnosis now and there are still things that crop up that concern me more than they would do otherwise (niggles and pains) but that’s part and parcel of it I’m afraid. I generally feel fantastic though and my DIEP boob is magnificent!

Yes, I absolutely had wee bits and pieces throughout treatment that turned out to be nothing on further investigation. Even now, nearly ten years on, I get a bit paranoid about niggles.
The thing about breast cancer is that generally you feel absolutely fine when it's diagnosed!
Good luck.

Well, the hip thing turned out to be nothing, a 'bony island'. Massive relief. Now surgery to look forward to (not).
I have been asked whether I want to keep my nipple or not in the reconstruction. Pros and cons it seems to both options. Don't know what to do! Any experiences of choosing either way? Have to decide by Wednesday. Agh.

Great news - can’t beat that feeling of relief. I lost my nipple (wasn’t given a choice due to position of tumour) and haven’t missed it. My PS assumed I’d want a second procedure to create one or at least a tattoo one but I’m happy to leave it alone as I’m content with my outcome. I had just enough belly to make a boob that matched my other one really well so no fat grafting needed and I was all done in the one (long) op.

I too have apparently just enough belly fat for one boob. We'll see how it turns out. I might ask the PS's advice on what to do about the nipple. I have a feeling they prefer removing and tattooing rather than keeping it. Interesting that you didn't feel the need to reconstruct or tattoo. Having symmetrical nipples seems like a big deal now but maybe it isn't such a big deal. Such a surreal decision situation to find oneself in..

Great news that your hip turned out to be nothing to worry about. I had a scare after a scan too which thankfully was nothing but the anxiety waiting for results is a horrible experience. Good luck with your surgery. Best advice I could give is to bring a rechargeable fan, headphones & a really long charging cable with you to hospital :)

I had my surgery last August & am really pleased with the result xx

Hi! I had a diep reconstruction May 2022 (and a reduction of the other breast).
I had to have my nipple removed as one of the three areas that they found cancer was behind my nipple.
I had a nipple reconstruction in August 2022 as I didn't have radiotherapy (they would have had to wait a year after radiotherapy if I'd had it).
Then I had a two stage tattoo areola (first appt before Christmas 2002 and Feb 2023.
I'm really happy with the outcome.
Any questions just ask.

Thanks for all the replies on breast reconstruction. Will have immediate reconstruction with nipple removal and reconstruction after.
On another scary matter, have any of you had abnormal blood counts before starting treatment. My neutrofils and WBC are really high. Any experiences of this and of its significance?

Hello OP.
Any updates on how you're doing now? X