Hello, I'm new here and new to forums in general. Just looking for advice or to hear from other people with similar diagnoses. Background: Long family history of breast cancer. Mum, Aunt, Grandma, Grandaunt + more Most of which passed away due to side effects of treatment not the Ca itself History of fibroadenomas Diagnosed 16 April 2019 with 13mm Grade 2 TNBC IDC in auxiliary tail, has not spread to lymphnodes. CT clear Bone scan clear MRI found no additional tumours ECG clear Was due to start chemo 23rd May but my Neutophils (infection fighting cells) level was too low. 0.8 instead of the normal range of 2.0. They won't start chemo if less than 1.0. All blood tests have come back clear for any underlying issues, so now I have to decide what treatment I want. Having chemo with an already weakened immune system seems like a very bad idea to me. They have offered me GCSF injections to boost my WBC - but that is going to put my body under more strain. The thought of having chemo makes me so anxious as I have seen too many family members go through it. The toxicity, the chance of heart, liver and kidney problems, infertility, early menopause and all the other negative side effects are making me not want to do it. The chemo regime they have recommended is an accelerated dose dense regimen AC (Doxorubicin & Cyclophosphamide) bi-weekly for 3 months Paclitaxel and Carboplatin weekly for 3 months Then Surgery Then RT I have tried to discuss integrated therapies, holistic therapies even homeopathic and natural therapies but medical team not interested. I asked if I could try immunotherapy - which has shown good evidence for TNBC in clinical trials but I'm not eligible for study. Mistletoe therapy and IV Vit C were not things they were aware of. I want to prepare my body as best as possible to try to limit the negative effects of the chemo if I have to have it. I've read a couple of posts on here from people with TNBC who weren't advised to have chemo so would be very interested to hear from you. Are there any other therapies either integrated or otherwise that have evidence to show they work for TNBC patients? I am very active, am due to move house in the next 6 weeks and have 2 toddlers with no additional childcare support (Grandparents not around), all other relatives working age so at work all day. Kids at nursery 3 days p/w - can't afford to put them in for more days. I've already cut out sugar and trying to eat alkaline. If you've read this far - thank you
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