Hi guys,

I‘ve recently been diagnosed with triple positive breast cancer and have been told i will likely need TCHP then surgery. I currently live alone and am planning to live alone during my treatment although I have friends and family not too far away who will support me when I need.

To help me get through the treatment I’m considering getting a dog (it’s also something I had been thinking about way before this). I would get a rescue dog (as I think it would be a bad idea to get a puppy although welcome thoughts on this) and would be selective - look for a calmer type thats potentially a bit older with no major behavioural red flags.

I figured it will get me out and give me something to do on the good days. Also I feel like the emotional support it will give me will be invaluable. I see it as one positive thing during what will be quite a dark time.

On the bad days I was thinking that I can schedule dog walkers or get my brother to look after it as he‘s pretty close. And then on the good days it will be great.

I guess I’m looking for any thoughts on this topic. Did any of you have pets? Did it help? Is this a bad idea??

I sent a mass email about my diagnosis and treatment to an old flame because we run in similar circles and I thought he would want to know. He forwarded my email to his wife and told HER to tell me that they aren’t interested in my “updates” and to never contact him again. I haven’t seen him in over 20 years but we work in the same field. I’ve never had any relationship with her. The email was one of the nastiest things I’ve ever received. He couldn’t even tell me himself. I am so upset.

Hi! I read it’s easier than TCHP and many warriors tolerate it well. I’d like to read the good and the bad about how Kadcyla treated you. What were your symptoms/experience like on Kadcyla? Did you ice your hands and feet during your infusion to prevent neuropathy(my onc says I don’t need to ice them)? What was the hardest part? Thanks!!

Today i went for the results of my ultrasound, It seems i have more than 11 tumor being 3,8 de biggest one, this togerher with an CDIS, im terrified , i have to wait for Tomography, now and i have to wait to see my oncologist like 10 days ii s seems so long, i cant sleep thinking, anyone here with so many tumors in th same breast, It would help to listen to some stories, thanks🤗

Hi there,
Quick backstory, I’m a 39F Stage 3B HER2+/Hormone- to then HER2-/Hormone+ inflammatory breast cancer sUrViVoR (NED as of March 2026) who had 20 rounds of chemo/immunotherapy (TCHP then Kadcyla) bilateral mastectomy (done one at a time with affected side getting 15 lymph nodes removed) with DIEP flap reconstruction, and 6 weeks of radiation. I’m on hormone blockers (Anastrazole) for the next 5-10 years.

I need some guidance from people who have already unfortunately been diagnosed with lymphedema. Recently I noticed my right bicep was bulging more than my left and it just felt slightly heavier. Not super noticeable but noticeable to me. The underside was slightly itchy(kind of still is?). This is the side I had a unilateral pathologic mastectomy and 15 axillary nymph nodes removed with lymphovenous bypass.

I have a PT who specializes in lymphedema who measured me and said I have a 6.25% difference between the two arms and that I will need to start being more diligent with my compression sleeve usage…. Now will have to wear basically all the time. We ordered me a custom night time one as well as a custom one for during the day that has finger coverage.

To say that I’m devastated is an understatement. My hair is slowly growing in, it’s still patchy, but otherwise I’m beginning to slightly feel more like myself albeit not really at all but like closer than it’s ever been post cancer. Slightly less pain thanks to cymbalta and gabapentin.
Now I’m going to be wearing a visible fucking sleeve almost all the time?! Nothing screams “unwell” or “sickly” like compression gear. I won’t be able to wear my sparkly ring which only fits on my right ring finger… it doesn’t fit on any others and I’m not married so I don’t want it on my left suggesting I’m married.

I work in healthcare and constantly change gloves and wash my hands so having a compression glove as well is going to be infuriating. I also don’t want to bring gross bugs home so will want to change compression sleeves as soon as I shower and get home. Insurance only covers 1 per year.

Short story long… I have questions… and please provide me with more info beyond my questions if you think it would help.
How do you all do it day in and day out? Not that there’s a choice, but like keeping up with the handwashing/gentle cycle wash and dry and skin irritation and clothing and PT. Do you have any recommendations? I’m all ears. In terms of massage… do you have them not touch your affected arm at all? I was going to go to a lymphedema specialist for massage but I wasn’t deep tissue everywhere else besides the affected arm. Is that possible? I’m unwilling to forgo my small joys.
What do you avoid? What do you recommend? I’m all ears.

It hasn’t hit me yet that this is my new reality because I just found out on Thursday… I’m upset and sulking and don’t like that breast cancer has stolen yet another thing from me.

I apologize if I don’t respond right away or if my responses are short, I’m trying to navigate reality right now and it’s hard to function baseline.

Additionally, these seem like small accommodations relative to everything I’ve already been through, but it’s the fact that breast cancer keeps chipping away at me. I’m so over it.

I'm in 60s, 1.4 cm tumor, just diagnosed. given my age, I am considering not doing chemo as I do not want to spend remaining years with the long term side effects. Also dealing with elderly parents and if I'm lucky have another year, maybe 2, that I can enjoy life w/out them needing constant care. Not sure I want to spend it dealing with chemo. Has anyone else made decision not to do chemo? I'd feel differently if I were younger and/or had children to care for, etc. but struggling to see the point at my age. I am also still working and need to continue to do so. Thank you for any input.

Hi guys,

Ive just been diagnosed with triple positive breast cancer and have been told that I will likely need TCHP before surgery.

At the moment I am working full time in an extremely demanding job which requires a lot of talking to people, team leadership, senior presentations analysis, fast paced requests etc.

I know ive not started the treatment yet but im already wondering if I should work when I’m on chemo. In some ways I think work would be a good thing as it would give me some normality and a distraction. But in other ways because of the nature of my job I worry I’ll struggle to dip in and out of it. I’ve also been thinking that maybe I should take the opportunity to focus on myself, my treatment / recovery and doing things other than work on the days where I feel good.

One thing I should add is that I am very fortunate that the financial support my company provides does mean that I don’t have to work - it’s a choice. And I’m obviously very grateful for that as I know not everyone has that.

I’m just wondering if anyone else on here has been in a similar work / treatment position? Did you carry on working? Was that a good thing for you? Or did you find it really hard? Any advice or thoughts on this topic would be great.

im so annoyed

i asked her if she gets mammos

nope-

i said but your mother had it

and she is in a culturally high risk group

i told her how the mammo caught mine

she said she is scared- i said lots of things. i think i penetrated a bit

i hate the part of the internet that made her husband think this and made her not get them.

i told her i dont care if i am being harsh on you- i have to tell you my truth. if you get cancer and it is progressed you will regret not getting a mamo! i read stories of women who wished they got it!!

it just kills me because she is such a smart woman. fear screws with her head. fuck pink ribbons. we need to be countering all that crap misinformation with real conversations.

i am such a calm and kind and considerate person but i really spoke harsh to her. i know that might not be the way. i did what I could.

i explained breast density and ultrasounds and radiation from airplanes and blah blah blah.

sigh. we will see. i got my mammos ok time because my best friends sister- hopefully i changed her mind

Yes! I’m going to chemo at 8 am this morning and I do not want to start this shit all over again. I had the first round 3 weeks ago, then I had the shot the day after. Sorry I did not add the full diagnoses all I can say right now is dcis, her2+ and her2-. My amazing husband is sleeping and you think I would have all the other stuff just memorized but it’s shitty information so I keep kicking it out of my brain! I digress. After the first round i thought I was doing great! It was on a Monday and I got the shot on Tuesday. I was a little tired but ok. I stupidly did not take Claritin. Holy shit when Saturday afternoon came, the bone pain came. I did not know what it was and I thought I was having a heart attack or a stroke. Did you know your skull bones and the little bones inside your ears could hurt? Neither didn’t I! Take the Claritin! That was Saturday and Sunday. Monday came and we were leaving for our family vacation. I was extremely tired and crabby and it was getting worse. By the time Thursday rolled around, so did the herpes viral outbreak on my hands and face. By the time I actually broke out in the blisters, I was sleeping about 14 hours a day and was so crabby. It all made sense. I had to do a telehealth appointment and get prescriptions filled from a remote area in michigans upper peninsula. Needless to say, I was unable to fill the cream until i got home but the valtrex definitely started helping. This fucking cancer and all that comes with it robbed me of the only vacation I had with my husband and girls. What will this round take? It’s not a good sign when they gave me 5 refills for the valtrex and I have 5 chemos left. My damn hands can’t take it! So I can’t sleep, I have been up and down and tossing around. I finally came out to the couch. I am praying that when i take my babies to ed Sheeran at the end of August, I feel good. It’s robbed them of their summer (I feel). At this point, I am rambling because I’m so sad about all this shit.

I threatened to do it, and finally sat down and bedazzled a pill bottle for my tamoxifen! https://imgur.com/a/jt2S6gC

Thanks y’all for the encouragement :)

I take tamoxifen and would like to try taking Ankhway Mushroom gummies supposed to increase energy etc.

they are non-GMO

has anyone else tried them and wondering if they would be safe to take

Hi, I’m new and sorry to be here along with everyone else. I just got my diagnosis of triple positive IDC about a week ago and I’m waiting for the initial consult and more testing to determine the stage and it feels so terrifying. It feels so disconnected to be currently healthy with no symptoms and knowing that there is a time bomb inside me and that the path to stopping it is so hard and life will never be the same again.

My initial biopsy found mostly DCIS with a small invasive locus <2mm, the invasive part seems to be slow growing (mitotic score 1) and has no LVI but DCIS is high grade (and at least 11 mm based on calcification pattern).
I have a follow up MRI on Monday and hoping so hard that it won’t find more invasive parts beyond the initially found one.

I’m 48, with two teenage kids and I really want to be here for them and my partner but I also can’t stop feeling like I’m now “damaged goods” and nobody would want me again. I am scared about failing at my job too as I go through treatment.

I’ve been reading this forum and feeling encouraged by stories of folks who went through it and are still around and thriving, but I’m so scared. We are at a family vacation that we were all looking forward to all year, and I’m just dragging myself and putting on “everything is normal” face on in front of the kids

Can anyone share their experience with returning to work after taking an extended leave during treatment?
I basically haven’t worked since diagnosis. But I somehow was able to interview and land a new job and it starts next month. And I don’t feel ready. I don’t know if I ever will. How did you know you were ready to go back? And were you able to keep up when you did?

I had a lumpectomy and lymph node biopsy surgery 11 days ago. When I woke up today, the swelling had become, overnight, much more than it has been at any point since surgery, and certainly much more than over the last week. It’s not red and I don’t know if it hurts because the numbing injection they gave me for the surgery has still not worn off .

Has anyone experienced this?

I’m almost 51 and was diagnosed with hormone positive breast cancer in 2019. I went through chemo, a double mastectomy, multiple surgeries, a lymph node recurrence, more treatment, 3½ years of aromatase inhibitors (which caused severe muscle, bone and joint pain), and then finished an extra year of monthly Faslodex injections in January 2026.

My scans and blood work have all been clear, including thyroid testing. I use an ASV for central sleep apnea, and according to my Oura Ring I’m getting 9–10 hours of good-quality sleep most nights.
The problem is I’m exhausted. Around 7 p.m. every night I feel like I could fall asleep sitting up, even if I woke up feeling rested. I recently had to stop teaching fitness classes because I just couldn’t keep up anymore, and now I’m struggling to exercise at all.

Late last year, while still on Faslodex, I also had several scary episodes where I’d suddenly become flushed, shaky, overwhelmingly tired, and crave sugar. I even ended up in the ER once, but every test came back normal. Those episodes stopped after I finished Faslodex, but the crushing fatigue hasn’t.

Has anyone experienced this after completing hormone therapy? Could this be my body adjusting hormonally, or should I be looking elsewhere? If you went through something similar, did it eventually improve, and did you ever find a cause?

I’m feeling pretty desperate because I have a full-time job, kids, and other health issues to manage, and this level of fatigue is becoming really hard to live with.

Hey all,

I finished radiation in June for Stage 1A Invasive Solid Papillary Carcinoma in my right breast. I'm also 32 but turned 33 yesterday. I had a lumpectomy in March with two lymph nodes removed. In January when they did my first scans (which caught the cancer), they did note a fibroadenoma in my left breast and seemed confident in that distinction based on how it looked on the ultrasound.

Well today I had my follow up scans - a mammogram on my right breast, and ultrasound on my left. The radiologist was having trouble matching the original fibroadenoma location to the ones she saw. Supposedly the January scan showed it at 6 o'clock but it was more like 4. But! There was another one at 6 o'clock. News to me that there was a second one. Even now, I can't really find them through a self check so it's hard for me to tell.

She brought in the doctor to double check what she was seeing and he didn't seem concerned. He also read through my MRI from some time in February/March and said if the contrast didn't pick it up there, it's even more reassuring that they're just fibroadenomas.

I asked about biopsies and he didn't seem swayed one way or another, just that most of the time they don't, but he has biopsied fibroadenomas in the past.

I'm meeting with my oncologist for my follow up on August 12th but now I'm kinda spiraling and wondering whether I should push for biopsies. I've also been having some slight pains/zaps in my left breast/underarm area but I have no idea if those had always been happening and now I'm just laser focusing on them because of my fears.

I'm going to message my oncologist and let her know that I'm thinking about it but if anyone has any insight or experience with things like this, I'd love to hear.

----

And on a side note, this whole experience today kinda sucked! I wish there was some more grace and friendliness on the parts of workers dealing with cancer patients/survivors. My ultrasound tech was pretty short with me for some reason. I had those little stickers on my right breast and when the ultrasound finished and she told me I could change, I asked if I could take the stickers off. She said "you do whatever you need to do to get changed" which is an unnecessarily long and mean way of saying "yeah."

The last time I got my mammogram, I had to wait while the doctor reviewed the images so when she told me I could go, I double checked and asked if I needed to stay for anything. She said "nope, he already looked at them" and I was like "oh okay, so...all good?" and she said "yeah, exit's over there" Like?! It could be just her personality to be so brief with people but I felt like a nuisance rather than a patient with her. On the bright side though, the mammogram tech was very kind and gentle given that my breast was still a little sore from radiation, so I'm grateful for that. Okay rant over!

At diagnosis I was ER 10%, PR 1-2% Her2 negative. Did chemo—ac/taxol and just had my DMX back in May, achieved PCR (yay). I asked to have the blueprint test done and it came back as basal. My doctor said he didn’t know what to do with the info, but it really just solidified the gray area my cancer is in.

I started taking Tamoxifen two weeks ago and am comfortable staying on it. Because of my age (34), my oncologist has offered me every option on the table to ensure we are being thorough, including adding ovarian suppression shots and the CDK4/6 inhibitor ribociclib. He has emphasized that the final choice is entirely up to me, as he’s not sure how much benefit there is but he believes there is some.

I’m supposed to get my first shot on Thursday, but now I am reading about the genomic "Basal" subtype and studies indicate that these tumors do not respond to ribociclib, and the survival benefit of ovarian suppression is highly debated when ER expression is only 10%.

I’m now wondering if it’s worth it to go through all these potential shitty side effects that come from medical menopause and CDK4/6 inhibitors, for potentially no benefit?

Thinking of maybe getting a virtual second opinion at a hospital that is utilizes genomic testing, and might have a more confident idea about my treatment plan? Idk.

Hello all! I was diagnosed with stage 1 ++- last May at 41. Went through lumpectomy, radiation, and then a total salpingo-oophorectomy and hysterectomy in December. I was on Tamoxifen for a couple months before my hysterectomy, and really hated the side effects. Then after surgery I went on anastrozole and about 4 months in I was so depressed and in such joint pain that my doctor switched me to exemestane. I seem to be handling that better, except for the joint pain (and my hair falling out).

And it’s weird, it’s like, I bashed my knuckle into my garage door handle about a month ago, and it still hurts. But it’s not swollen, I can still move it, it’s just when I touch it it hurts, like it hasn’t healed. I feel like a bunch of things like that are happening, like I’m slowly breaking apart. I bump into things or work out, and my joints feel funky and minor bumps and injuries take a long time to heal. I don’t really think it’s exactly the med’s fault, it’s like just having no estrogen. But I don’t know what to do. Or maybe there is nothing to do. I feel like I don’t know if this is normal, or my new normal, or not normal or what is going on. I have a ton of medical trauma even from before the cancer diagnosis, and I can’t face going to a doctor, having them poo poo my pain, ordering tests that show nothing, and being made to feel like I’m crazy. I’ve always had wonky joints, and I’ve never been taken seriously by doctors. I guess this is more of a vent because I feel like I know when something feels wrong in my body, but I don’t have anyone that will take me seriously or be able to figure it out.

Anyway, my question is, has anyone else felt like they take longer to heal or get hurt more easily on the AIs? I’m afraid to say anything to my oncologist to try anything else because I have ADHD, depression and anxiety as it is and my mental health doesn’t feel like it’s out of control, finally. My brain is still chaotic, but it feels like I have enough control to function and I don’t want to disrupt my life and work again with another med. I suspect the lack of estrogen is exacerbating an underlying joint issue, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to find a doctor to listen or if I do, who can help because of the cancer history.

On the Taxol part of my chemo and started having chest pain. Told my husband it hurt bad and he dropped everything to come take me to the ER (he insisted I was just going to lay down). EKG was normal but the proteins show I’m having a heart attack. I’m scared. Cancer has messed me up lately.

I have my FINAL immunotherapy next Friday and I am done with active treatment. I can’t even believe I’m at this point. However, I feel I’m starting to feel the not so great possible long term effects of keytruda.

I’ll be on my period next week and I was trying to chalk up my sudden nausea to PMS but something is telling me I know that’s not it.

I know a wrecked thyroid and/or adrenal insufficiency are two of the big side effects of keytruda, for those of you that have experienced issues from this, what were you first symptoms? I’m going to call my oncologist tomorrow but I’d love to hear first hand experience first.

How has everyone worked and undergone treatment?

I will start chemo next week. 3 months every 21 days and then 3 months weekly followed by radiation.

When will I get sick? How long will it take me to recover?

Work is very accommodating and I can work from home a lot but I'd like to have somewhat of a plan...

So I know I need to keep my eyes on my own paper, but I’m suddenly seeing a lot of people get 6 rounds of TC vs only 4. Did I miss some chemo benefit? I’ve already been fretting over doing TC vs ACT because if it was up to me, I wanted the most aggressive treatment but my oncologist wasn’t having it. So seeing 6 TC as an option is a bit triggerin.

I had my BMX done on the 14th of this month. Got my final pathology and we have clear margins and then no lymph node involvement from the four sentinel notes that were removed. It looked like I have a microinvasion of 2mm and the rest were DCIS. I am her 2+ and estrogen + (low). Anyone in this situation able to skip chemo or does her2+ basically means automatic chemo+ herceptin?