OMG @big ive seen your posts on various threads and I am thrilled to read you’ve just done your last infusion!! Yeaaahhhhhh!!!
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Me too. Its like when you go to the garage and the mechanic does that sharp intake of breath and slow headshake.
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Not sure if I qualify for this group as not receiving active treatment but I have been through it all. Diagnosed with TNBC in January 2025. Managed 4 rounds of Paclitaxel, Carcoplatin and pembro before having to stop as pembro caused hepatitis followed by sepsis. Had mastectomy then restarted EC and finished off with 15 sessions of radiotherapy.
It was really tough and the emotional rollercoaster was exhausting but all worth it. On 15th June 26 I was given the news that I wanted to hear - NED.
For all of you going through treatment now, hang in there ladies 
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Gosh your message shocked me. My youngest daughter is 19. That is so young to be going through this and I’m sure she will get amazing support from her oncology team and BC nurses.
So good that you have tapped into BCN resources for both of you..
I really appreciated my family and friends taking turns to be my ‘chemo buddy’ - it makes a big difference just having ‘normal’ chats whilst you’re hooked up to the drugs to help time go quickly and not dwell on the cancer itself.
Sending hugs to both of you Xx
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I deliberately haven’t googled TN and only realised when I went to my Moving Forward BCN group and I was the only one with this type apart from one of the vols that it seems less common. Aggressive is such a horrible word and I try really hard not to think about it as the anxiety can take over x
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Hahhaahaha that’s it exactly. “Esssh, your big end’s gone’. (My ‘big end’ has recently gone apparently, and ive learnt its ‘not good’)
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Oh wow, you’ve really been through it- so glad you’ve finished treatment and got to the other side. I hope you’re making up for lost time!
Just starting to feel well enough to think about exercising again. Started Parkrun (walking) - lovely to get moving again.
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I was diagnosed with TNBC last Christmas after my first ever mammogram I had lumpectomy 4 days after results No spread no nymph nodes affected. I was stage 0 . Grade 3 ( hence chemo ) . Tg … started 4 red devil every two weeks followed by 4 taxol followed by radium x 15 Was tough. I got thru it. Radium no problem cept I had to drive 2 round trip for 4 mins of radium I finished July 8 th. Could Nt n happier I did not have it too bad I was never sick Did not tell a lotta ppl. Got fab wigs @shein. Can give everyone that needs link. Also bought real hair @€1700. Never wore 
losing my hair was more traumatic than diagnosis ( I was devastated ) Jealous of all who bare all But not for me If anyone going thru treatment now has any questions please feel free to message me The
Blockquote
end of treatment will come It’s six months out of life with a new family 
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Hello all, I was diagnosed in October 2024… I made it through x6 taxol and then all X4 carboplatin which was horrible. The steroids really made me feel out of it brain fog and lack of energy however I worked through I’m lucky I WFH. Then was EC X4 I found that really messed with my mental health I knew it felt like a chemical reaction though. Then therapeutic mammoplasty she got all the margins officially cancer free by June 2025 then x15 radiotherapy. I have had a lot of side effects since, which have been stomach upset but I have no gallbladder and also my periods have only just come back a full year after finishing treatment.
I know a lady who had it 20+ years ago, she’s my positive story. And I’ve come to realise each diagnosis is very different, there must be so many more women out there who have had it and it’s not returned. Unfortunately we don’t see their stories,so stay positive and I know you can get through it 
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She is so brave and strong, I’m so incredibly proud of her but feel so bloody helpless. We’ve had a massive cry this morning as she lifted her hair to say “still there” and a clump came away in her hand. No words
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I don’t come onto this site very often as I ended up being persuaded to be a Community Champion on the various breast cancer forums on the MacMillan site, and that takes up a lot of my time. But I just wanted to wish you all well on this regime and offer you some hope.
Pembrolizumab hadn’t been approved for tnbc when I was first diagnosed in Feb 22 so I went through 4 cycles of EC and 12 weeks of paclitaxel as standard adjuvant chemo, only to find out part way through that my tnbc had already spread to my liver. Small tumour, no lymph node involvement but grade 3 and the surgery pathology report said it had invaded a blood vessel. The assumption was I had been metastatic denovo without anyone realising because it had looked so early stage. The vascular invasion hadn’t den deemed a sufficient risk for them to scan me. I was lucky to find out when I did due to having a CT scan because of other issues caused by treatment. A lucky accidental discovery.
Without other options at that point, the decision was that I should complete the chemo and then have another CT scan and liver MRI. The liver secondary was still there. So I had a liver ablation. 3 months on, the liver secondary had recurred in the same space, and another had popped up in another liver segment. 3 months further on, both were growing rapidly and the first one had spawned some satellites. It was looking like it was going to be really difficult for me.
By this time we were in May 23, and pembro had recently been approved for PD-L1 positive tnbc. I was one of the first 2 patients to be treated with pembro for tnbc at my hospital. For metastatic tnbc the protocol is pembro with either paclitaxel or NAB-paclitaxel. I had the latter.
I had a bumpy ride with serious complications from the pembro, having to stop treatment after a few months, but it put me into a sustained remission. I have been living without treatment, just regular scans ever since. I also largely recovered from the collateral damage it caused.
So for people worrying about how nasty tnbc can be, hang on to my story. Pembro was an absolute game changer for me. My full story is on the other site, same username.
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Sending you both so much love. I think I’d like someone to cry with me right now. We get told a lot to keep staying strong and that we are brave but to me, having someone close to me share my grief would be a comfort.
Please try and find some talking therapy to help you as well. Lots of love xxx
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So I’m not going to lie, the Pembro plus EC has been a bit of a rough ride! BUT…I think I might be pulling out of it.
Had the infusion on Friday and had an immediate reaction to the Epirubicin, which involved some itchy hives! To say it was a much milder experience in comparison to my Paclitaxel reaction is an understatement. The nurses administered some steroids and antihistamines and I was under orders from the unit’s doctor/comedian to “not react” this time, which I obediently followed! 
The infusions of the cyclophosphamide and Pembro went without a hitch.
I felt ok on the Friday evening, all day Saturday and Sunday morning, then a crash hit me Sunday afternoon and I went to bed and stayed there until Monday morning with extreme fatigue and on and off sleeping happening all through Monday and Tuesday. I actually felt quite rough upon waking up this morning, but have noticed an uptick in energy in the last couple of hours.
So far I’d say if my next two cycles go like this, I’ll take it!
All the best to everyone on this thread wherever you are in your journey. x
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Thank you for sharing- that sounds similar to my experience with carbo/pac/pembro weeks, so hoping it will be the same (not worse!) when i move onto EC! Hope you start feeling brighter soon, it’s hard being wiped out and out of society isnt it.
How long does the treatment take, is it similar to the carbo weeks?
For me, I would say the Pembro/EC has been worse in terms of how extreme the side effects are, but they’ve lasted a shorter period of time. When I had the Pembro/Pac/Carbo, I would get the same side effects to a lesser extent than I’ve had on Pembro/EC, although they were still bad, but they would still be lingering when I went in for the next Pac only infusion a week later. I don’t think they’ve been any more debilitating in terms of what I’ve been able to do though. I was equally as useless on both!
I was at the chemo unit for a total of four hours, but two of these were spent unexpectedly having to wait around so if everything had gone without any hiccups, I think it would’ve been only around two hours.
I’m actually feeling much brighter than I did even earlier today, thank you! And it is hard being out of society, yes. My mental health admittedly hasn’t been the best for the last three days, but I’m thankful it only appears to have been for those three days. Now to make the best of the next two and half weeks before it happens all over again. 
Where are you currently in your treatment now and how are you doing with it? x
Funny you should both report this as i had a pembro/pac/carbo on friday and absolutely shocking sunday night/Monday/Tuesday but better today
I think the pembro might be a belter…
I was prescribed Cetirizine for the day before, day of and day after the Pembro/Pac/Carbo and Ondansetron and Dexamethasone for after and I always assumed they were for the Pembro. But I wasn’t prescribed these for the Pac only or the Pembro/EC so I’m thinking they must have been for the Carbo? I think the Carbo might be more evil than it gets credit for!
Glad you’re feeling better today. x
You’re right, I just got back from the chemo unit for my weekly bloods, and my fav nurse said that Carbo is the b*stard!
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Haha oh yes im convinced carbo is my nemesis!
@mssteel on week 7 of the weeklies, so slowly chipping away at it all. Looking forward to the three weekly for a bit of a break from hospital, and general cancerland. You’re within touching distance of the end now!
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