Newly Diagnosed - Need Friend!

I’m so sorry you’re here, but I’m glad you found this page. 

I’m new here too…. Was diagnosed 2/9. 

I was staged 2A (honestly don’t know what A vs B means). I’m starting with chemotherapy, Taxol (now Abraxane after an allergic reaction to taxol) with carboplatin, then AC. With Keytruda throughout. Then DMX then reconstruction. 

Like I said, I’m new here, and by no means an expert in anything. My advice- get a second opinion. If you can. 

It helped me hearing 3 doctors tell me what was happening. And they all had different ways of saying things. I now feel more confident to advocate for what’s right for me. It helped me feel stronger - just a suggestion. 

Are you on Facebook or Instagram? 

There’s SO many active supporters/support groups. It honestly changed my entire outlook! I’ve been able to ask questions and I don’t feel as alone anymore. I highly recommend looking for those. 

I hope this helps even a little. 

It’s okay to be angry. Sad. Mad. 

Honestly my shower arguments and melt downs made me feel better LOL 

Wash away the bad. Dry off and attack the day. One day at a time.

Although I am not a Newbie as I was diagnosed in 2018 and had bilateral mastectomy in 2019, I feel I am in the right place. While I am not suggesting that I am an expert, I can and will answer all questions based on my research, perspective, and understanding. I had no one to ask when I was diagnosed. Not many had even heard of Triple Negative Breast Cancer. 

My diagnosis caught me by surprise as I had had an unremarkable mammogram just 6 months prior. I never drank, smoked or lived recklessly and somehow I believed my lifestyle would protect me.

Please understand that when I respond to the chat, my intent is to simply let you know how I experienced my journey.

Please feel free to ask my ANY questions. Nothing is too personal. I've been looking for a forum such as this to share and be supportive. 

I pray that I can stay on schedule and not get the bad health side effects so many write about.  I know losing my hair is going to take a mental effect but I’m taking charge of that by doing a severe short cut this weekend. I think that will be easier than seeing clumps fall out. The steroids after treatment are something else. I’m a hyper person but they make me feel calm but with tons of energy and no sleep!  But on days 4-5 I crash and get shakes and no balance - like I’m detoxing. Keep in mind I don’t do caffeine as I can’t even handle one soda!  But it’s a mild side effect than most.  I worry about neuropathy. Had some hand tingling last night but it didn’t last. I just don’t wish to have lasting effects for years after. But I guess no choice - face each day and see what it brings. 

I’m working hard on eating better and exercising more. But sometimes I feel overwhelmed like I am having to change my whole world at the same time. Makes me sad. 

My name is Adelayda Arellano but most call me Addy. I was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer just a few days after my 37th birthday. I was sad , and angry , and I could think about is how much my kids still need me.  I was so afraid of chemo and the side effects and what it could do to me. Thankfully I am 2 weeks in and I am responding well. I am doing chemo with immunotherapy which is what my doctor recommended as I have stage 3. It was hard to process but I think is getting better. I have days where I think about death alot and I am not sure if this is normal or if anyone has experience thinking about it often. I try to remain 100 positive at all time. I can speak about with out tearing up now and for the most part I want to say that I am pretty okay with my mental but not sure why I have those thoughts.  I don't know anyone else that has TNBC. My aunt had cancer when she was 40 which was few years back , however things were different back then for her. I hope that I can find friends here and people that can relate to what I am going through. I hear so many things of what to do and what not to do. I am early in this Journey , so I don't know what exactly will happen but I do know that I believe in a God that will heal me and I am going to fight this fight.  Thank you for taking the time to read :) 

Kind Regards, 

Addy 

My prayers for you as you continue on with your treatment. It's good that you are turning to God for strength. Faith helped me through my treatment, and now that I'm done and back to good health I can say that treatment helped me in my faith and I'm able to put a lot of energy into helping others.

TNBC is a tough road but it sounds like you are a strong woman. If you have time to join in on any of the zoom talks here, I can say I find them really uplifting and encouraging and think you might, too.

Yours,

Karen

Sending positive thoughts your way as you continue your treatment. I wanted to tell you about a young woman who has two young children I found on utube who had TNBC and posts short videos on her journey giving tips and advice. I was very afraid of what I would be going thru and had no idea what to expect. I found her videos incredibly helpful and they actually removed a lot of fear of the unknown. I found her tips very useful especially the one to wear ice packs on hands and feet during the infusion  to stop the neuropathy. I did that for my 12 weekly abraxane/ taxol and it worked, When i went to my AC round i did not wear them on first round as what iI read on AC did not say neuropathy was a side effect. Howver, i did get some in my toes on both feet, so i went back to wearing them for the last 3 rounds and it has not gotten worse. Everyones journey is different and not everything she talks about may apply but it did make a difference to my journey both mentally (I try to be positive all the time but i do have days when i think about will i be around this time next year fir my daughter) and physically. Her name is Marina Blackford, she is a two time TNBC survivor and has a utube channel.

I also have a recent event that happened last month. I was at the checkout at the grocery store and this man came up to me and said he wanted to pay for my groceries and we started to talk about the breast cancer. He told me his daughter had TNBC when she was 32 and she had two very young children and that its been 6 years and she is cancer free. He wanted to pay it forward and give me hope for my journey. It was so lovely it brought tears to my eyes. 

Stay strong, we will get thru this! Please feel free to reach out anytime to me.

Sue