Hello,
I’m new on here.
Just wondering if I could chat more about Triple Negative & your experiences!
I actually don’t know much about it… Don’t like to ask or Google… But I’m ready to learn more now
Thanks xx
Hi
I’m so sorry you find yourself here but it is the right place if you are looking for support and ideas about how you can deal with your diagnosis. And (not patronising) a huge well done for resisting the temptations of Google. I held out till after I’d completed my primary treatment and just one little peek and it was a disaster lol. Google has no interest in our emotions and the nuances of each diagnosis.
A triple negative diagnosis is like a double whammy: breast cancer is bad enough but TN?? But it’s time to leave behind the old ideas and understand that research is going on, new drugs specifically targeting TN are appearing on the scene and the picture is no longer the frightening picture it was. With treatment, there is no reason why you too can’t achieve the No Evidence of Disease (NED) we all want.
Because TN is one of the more aggressive breast cancers, you may find you are moved onto adjuvant treatment like chemo quickly, sometimes even before surgery. It’s important to tackle the cells asap. Much will depend on the size, grade etc of your tumour. I had the misfortune to have 2 tumours, one hormone-receptive, the other TN. They treated the hormone-receptive cancer as the priority and, in fact, I had no idea I’d had a TN tumour till much later. I’d chosen to know as little as possible, to avoid my usual catastrophising, and it worked comfortably. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
Trust your team, decide how much information you want to know (do you really want to hear a prognosis?? Once heard, no going back!) and make sure you get answers to your questions. Sometimes the answer will be a genuine don’t know yet but sometimes you need to push if an explanation is important to you. Use your breast care nurse, ask questions, write things down. Your head will be all over the place so writing things down is essential. Forget about the ‘don’t like to ask’. That’s fine if, like me, you choose the play ostrich and just get through the treatments, but sometimes you have to be your own advocate and speak up. Staff may be busy but supporting you is part of their job. You may find the nurses’ helpline here (number top right) is a good resource - they run a fantastic service imo - and there are options like talking directly to another person through the Someone Like Me service where you are matched up to a trained volunteer who’s been through the same mill. Personally, I’d wait till you know more from your team about the practicalities of your treatment plan and take it from there.
I do hope everything goes well for you. No one would choose to be here but, once diagnosed, there’s some comfort in finding you’re not alone in this. You’ll have ups (wait for the steroid effect!) and downs all along. Just do your best. This is not a battle, it’s not a journey, you don’t have to be strong and positive all the time; it’s just a nasty experience life has thrown at you and, like everyone else, you WILL get through it. Good luck.
Jan xx