Triple Negative Breast Cancer, "I Won't Back Down!": 1 Year Ago Today, My World Came Crumbling Down...

What is TNBC

WHAT IS TRIPLE NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER?

Just in recent years, Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) has sparked interest in the news where instead of calling the tumor as ER-negative, PR-negative, and HER2-negative; researchers began using the shorthand term, "Triple Negative," dubbed the "new type" of breast cancer. Being Triple Negative, you don't have a targeted therapy and your only treatment option is chemotherapy.

Triple Negative Breast Cancer is seen in about 15% of all breast cancers. TNBC is a very aggressive cancer that tends to strike younger women, pre-menopause, especially among African-American women and women who have BRCA1 mutations. The tumor tends to be fast growing and is less likely to show up on an annual mammogram. TNBC is more likely to metastasis early on; has a high rate of recurrence in the first 2-3 years from diagnosis and has a poorer prognosis than other types of breast cancer due to lack of specific, targeted treatment for TNBC.

Friday, August 6, 2010

1 Year Ago Today, My World Came Crumbling Down...

Reflecting back on August 6, 2009 of what I was feeling for my world was about to crash down when I got that phone call from my doctor saying my lab results came back positive for breast cancer. I couldn't talk, couldn't ask questions, I was stunned with disbelief that my worst fear was now reality. First thing I thought, was my son... the possibility of him being without his mommy and how do I tell him that I'm sick?

I never cried, I wasn't angry but, I was really scared, scared of the unknown.... Suddenly, nothing else mattered, I couldn't see pass "today"... Am I going to die? How much time do I have? How bad was my cancer? Did it spread? Is it in my lymph nodes? Is it treatable? Will I lose my breast? Will I have chemo and radiation? ...and OMG, am I'm going to lose my hair?... Questions that weren't answered for 2 weeks. Can you imagine all the fear racing through my head and trying to keep myself together for we have not yet told our son? I think my husband was more worried than I was, I had to stay focused. I knew I had to be strong, and I knew I was in for a long fight ahead of me.

Today, "Life is Good" is the normal and, I now live for the moment. I am a survivor!