Triple Negative Breast Cancer, "I Won't Back Down!": Sharing my Story in the Toledo Community at Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk 2018

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.

Sunday, January 27, 2019

Sharing my Story in the Toledo Community at Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk 2018

May 19, 2018
Thank you American Cancer Society for having me here today as your Honorary Survivor, I'm truly honored to share my story.
...And thank you to our community for coming downtown this morning to support Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, and it's mission to fund breakthrough research for breast cancer.
In August 2009, I found my lump, as I was scratching an itch when I felt an oblong thickening like my rib was a little swollen along my bra band. After further examining myself, I came to the realization, that I indeed had a breast lump.
2 days later, I had a mammogram done followed by an ultrasound. During the ultrasound, I remember seeing a large mass magnified up on the monitor screen. With fear, I asked if the lump was really that big? She said it was a medium size measuring 2cm.

Their doctor came in and told me that the results of my mammogram came back negative. I told him it's there, I can feel a lump. He said it probably didn’t show up on my mammogram because of my breast tissues being too dense. The doctor did confirm that a mass was detected by the ultrasound, but it was probably nothing to worry about, that it was probably just a cyst. I insisted on a biopsy right then and there. During the biopsy, I asked him what he thought of it. He said, "before the biopsy, I was 50/50 on it, now that I did the biopsy, I say there's about 25% chance it could be cancer, but I really think it's just a cyst for as I was doing the biopsy, the lump changed in shape leading me to believe that it's not solid. So I went home feeling relieved, thinking I just have a cyst in my breast.

2 days afterwards, I received the dreadful phone call from my family doctor... I was 41, and I have breast cancer.

When I met with my breast surgeon, she informed me I have a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer, Triple Negative Breast Cancer that doesn't respond to hormone therapy and has a tendency to want to recur, and chemo was my only option.

My treatments consisted of a breast lumpectomy, followed by 8 treatments of chemotherapy every other week for 3½ months, then 33 rounds of radiation and a clinical trial pill every day for 3 years as a preventative for bone cancer.