Triple negative

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So today I had my appointment to meet my oncologist. She seemed really pleasant and nice.She confirmed that I have ‘Triple Negative Breast Cancer.’ I had no idea what that meant, so I googled it! 😂

 Google said “Triple negative breast cancer is an uncommon type of breast cancer.Some women with triple negative breast cancer also have a BRCA1 gene fault.”

That’s me! 🤷🏻‍♀️

 She talked about the different medicines in the chemotherapy and the side effects and gave me a million bits of paperwork and leaflets on the medicines.
The chemotherapy I’ll be having are:

  1. EC - which is made up of Epirubicin and Cyclophosphamide. I will have 4 lots of this dose every 2/3 weeks.
  2. Carboplatin - several of these over a few months
  3. Paclitaxel - which will be given every week for 12 weeks 
Alongside this I will be having an injection called Zoladex which will be used to preserve fertility during chemotherapy. As chemo damages the ovaries, this injection acts by temporarily ‘shuts down’ the ovaries.
We have seen a fertility specialist but due to us having a child already, the real chance of it being funded is slim to none. Not that we are trying to scrounge on the NHS (or what is left) but financially we are not in a position to fund it ourself. My breast DR sent a referral and they agreed to see us! With the injection, it may suppress my ovaries and not age them as quick, but doesn’t guarantee that I will be able to have another child. Which was something I always wanted to do.

 Because they couldn’t complete the CT scan, they are going to have to refer me on to have another one. They managed to get a bit of a scan but not a lot. The image that they got showed a lining/extra lining/something on my heart. So again another referral for that as well!

 She referred me to the wig team, to have my PICC line fitted, another CT scan and an echocardiogram.
That was the end of that.

 She booked in for another 2 weeks to see her and she will give  me the schedule of the chemotherapy and finalise everything.
It is ok to feel scared. Because now it’s all becoming very very very real.

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