I know that this is a terrible thing to do but today I have been googling more than I should. I ended up going down a bit of a rabbit hole because I had picked up on something stating that women who have had a baby in the last five to ten years have a poorer prognosis. No one has mentioned this to me before but it has freaked me out as I had a my youngest just under 6 years ago and my eldest 8 years ago. I was wondering if anyone knows anything about this or if having children in the last few years is something that has come up in discussions with medical teams.
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Eight years of reading posts on this forum and Iāve never seen this discussed so
Iām presuming itās not something that doctors see as a majorly important factor in predicting outcomes ? If you Google hard enough you can find evidence for just about anything and itās very easy to torture yourself . Maybe give the nurses on the forum a ring on Tuesday when they are back and ask about this to it to put your mind at rest ?
Hi eb13, I googled risk factors for breast cancer and I remember, along with smoking and drinking having children after 30, being overweight and being tall (?) were mentioned. I had to find out more about the tall thing as I am 5ā 9", and it was mentioned that tall women have more cells than short women in their bodies. Go figure. 
I try not to google about her2 breast cancer anymore.
Dear eb13
Hope you are well lovely.
I honestly wouldnāt be looking at Dr google. There is so much misinformation.
Unfortunately Breast cancer doesnt discriminate. You could be the healthiest person and you can get it.
I read if you breast feed you are less likely to get it. I breast fed both of mine for over a year each,and i still got stage 4 BC denova.
Discuss it with your medical team to put your mind at rest. I havenāt heard of this before.
We all do it google away and then get anxious.
Try not to, i know its hard but your medical team are the best for advice.
I hope you and your beautiful kids have a wonderful New year. Keep strong 
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Thank you for your lovely message. I know you are right about Google.
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I think there is a lot of agreement about having a baby within ten years being an independent risk factor for cancer spreading. However, I wonder if it has only been established recently so doesnāt impact on treatment. I find it hard because I want to be really well informed but itās impossible to have all the answers and I just scare myself. It just feels so surreal.
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Cancer is surreal lovely. Try not to scare yourself.
Anxiety and stress dont help.
My children are 17 and 15 now. I think there will always be different risk factors. Like i said, i breast fed my kids but still didnt help me.
I just went for my normal yearly mammogram in 2022 at 49 years old. Within 3 weeks i was told i was stage 4 . I have it in my bones and liver.
I accept that i will be on treatment for ever as its a chronic disease i have now.
I am on my 4th line of treatment already including 2 clinical trials and i kept getting progression.
I asked for a second biopsy on my hip bone and now i found out i am triple negative. I was originally diagnosed er+pr+her 2 negative.
So i am now on doxorubicin pegylated liposomal. I have the pik3ca mutation to, so its just getting the right combination. I am having radiotherapy next Wednesday on my spine and hip then chemo on Friday. My chemo is only every 28 days so not to bad.
Here if you need to chat. I live in Australia but from the UK. I just been out to watch the fireworks in my town. So busy.
Try to relax lovely, i pray 2024 will be a better year for you.
Treatment for BC is evolving all the time. I did two clinical trials and i learnt so much and how much research is going on. My recent biopsy has been sent to Sydney to a research centre as my oncologist wants me to try more trials. Its quite exciting really. Not the side effects admittedly but knowing i am helping the next generations.
Take care, keep strong Cheryln x
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I was first diagnosed in the summer of 2006 my youngest turned 5 in the January of that year. I had a mastecomy and radiotherapy then Tamoxifen. I made it to my 10 year all clear. I was later diagnosed with Secondary there have been various treatments and yes its been hard but Im still here. My little one turns 23 in a few days and her little girl will be 4 in March.
I donāt think thats too bad. Forget Dr Google and live each day as it comes. Set little goals or treats to look forward to and just keep going.
All the best.
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Iād like to say a word in favour of Dr Google - I really do not get this blanket advice to ignore it.
I can think of nothing more natural than wanting to research a disease with which one has been diagnosed. āDoctor knows bestā is surely completely out of date - as patients we should be collaborative with our treatment plan, not simply recipients. I think it is enormously helpful to arm oneself with as much information as possible in the small matter of what may be life and death. I was able take my decision not to continue with Letrozole precisely because of the power of knowledge. I am comfortable with and accepting of the level of risk. I wonder how many ladies in the past have had their lives wrecked because they erroneously believed that endocrine therapy would prevent them from a recurrence of cancer?
Of course if you are the sort of person who imagines symptoms of bubonic plague from a blister on your toe, then probably you should stay in ignorance and accept what the good doctor hands outā¦but otherwise my advice would be do your homework and evaluate carefully.
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Donāt agree. How can it be right not to research something like cancer that fundamentally affects every aspect of your life?
Hi, my daughter had just turned 5 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had a lumpectomy, sentinel lympth node biopsy, chemotherapy (HER2 positive), radiotherapy and targeted therapy (herceptin injections). No one mentioned my daughter being a factor in my prognosis and Iām now 4 years with no sign of it coming back. Iām hoping this helps put your mind at ease.
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Hi teddy271
I do agree with you to some extent with Dr google, there are some good websites to look at, but there are also many that have misinformation and very out of date
When i was first diagnosed stage 4 denova in 2022, i was looking at everything and made myself worry till i was physically sick.
My oncologist then gave me the best websites to look at and as i have done two clinical trials i study particular treatments for my diagnosis.
I am now being studied by CaSP in Sydney so fingers crossed i can get on another trial. I am on my 4th line of treatment in 15 months.
I just feel though if you are getting so anxious with googling then for sanity you need to take a break and ask your medical team.
I feel very fortunate i have a great team behind and i ask a lot of questions as i am the only one who can really advocate for me.
I hope you are well and wishing you many blessings for 2024.
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Hello @eb13
The conclusion I have reached with regard to my diagnosis of breast cancer: 50 at the time, one child at 38 who I breast fed for 2+ years (because I could and wasnāt working at the time) I havenāt touched a contraceptive pill since my early 20ās Iād not taken HRT no family history: why me?? I pulled āthe wrong cardā from the pack
Would or could I have changed anything? No
Can I reduce my stress levels? Yes
As you can tell from my user name I live in Manchester, which is the home of the charity āPrevent Breast Cancerā the purpose of which is to research why some women and men develop breast cancer with the hope of one day being able to predict and prevent breast cancer from developing: unsurprisingly they are a long way from achieving this aim but progress is being made all the time.
Over the past few months I have attended a number of events where PBC have been fundraising, and absolutely endorse everything they do and what they stand for, having said that I have asked them to rethink their name again (it was previously known as the Genesis Trust) because I think that at this point in time the idea that you can somehow prevent yourself getting breast cancer creates a false impression. Women have been and continue to face so many life choices: to pursue careers or not, to have children or not, contraception choices, IVF choices, at what age you might choose to parent, whether to breast feed or not the idea that a life choice somehow ācausedā the cancer or a different choice may have prevented it is in my view unhelpful in the extreme
Yes there are some very useful and helpful websites which can help you to gain some knowledge and insights into treatments which are available but simply typing āwhy did I get breast cancer?ā Into a search engine is not going to give you anything approaching a helpful answer, only an expert analysing your individual case would in theory give you that answer. My husband has an unusual congenital kidney condition: the Wikipedia entry on his condition was very helpful to him to understand the workings of kidneys and how his condition affects him, however the last line of the entry said āthey are also delicious when cooked and served on toastā 
AM xxx
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