Wife just starting chemo, TNBC + Addison's

Welcome!
I have TNeg and my sis had Dbl Neg BC, and undiagnosed Addison's. For my sis, being undiagnosed it meant she was fighting a double battle, one with help one without help. Addison's is nothing to sneeze at and from experience I would, personally, remind the Onc team every step of the way to consider the Addison's symptoms into the mix of treatment.

   My sis was 70 when she was dx'd as well. What we found was that the Addison's promoted the nausea and then vomiting. So extra care, since your wife is dx'd (my sis wasn't until well into treatment) to make sure that she doesn't head towards a path of nausea & vomiting that would be rotten for her and interfere with chemo. It is manageable but I'm thinkin she would want to be taking more frequent testing than normal to verify her Addison's status before and after chemo. I'm not a medical professional but I noticed how hard it was to bring her stats back to normal once she went sideways.

   I did notice some time ago that MD Anderson lists on its site that they do alot of work on Addison's in relation to treatment so I'm thinking that adrenal stress and/or Addison's is something everyone should be on the lookout for.

   The adrenals, as I'm sure you're very aware of, also effect BP and the thyroid. As chemo often impacts the thyroid and depending on her chemo can also effect BP that may be something you'll also need to keep an eye out for. When they do the bloodwork tests before each chemo your onc may want to add in the thyroid test.

   I'm so thankful that you already know about the Addison's going in. I have to think it will make all the difference in the world in the success of her treatment. Do start asking the doctors for copies of her bloodwork and keep them in a 3 ring binder. It will give you your own mechanism of tracking and you'd be surprised how helpful that can be. I also got copies of all my scans & procedures and was able to get copies sent to appropriate 2ndary or primary doctors. Your whole team needs access on a regular basis to the bloodwork results to give you the best input.

Mainy

I had a lydocaine reaction which is what they use as a local to access the port to introduce the chemo. The first time around is always an filled with anxiety BUT once you're over that hump strangely for me I noticed that the people I was sitting with for the treatment were some of the nicest people I've ever met. I don't know how that happens but strangely I made friends easily and we all became a very closeknit team. The oncology nurses are some of the kindest most skilled in the business and it's hard not to want to hug them.

Our clinic gave free lunches to anyone who was there, and a large buffet of treats. The chairs were actually loungers and very comfortable. I mention all this because one can't help but think that you're entering some kind of dark ages torture chamber when in fact the rooms are light, very comfortable and friendly. The atmosphere couldn't be better.

It sounds like you're definitely on top of the Addison's. The chemo changes your chemistry so it's part of the job to keep after the changes. It is definitely frustrating when different members on the team are not in the network and can't access. Time after time it proved helpful to have my own 3 ring binder with my notes on the scans and bloodwork, sometimes the network was down and I was the only one with the record!

Best of luck to you both!
Mainy