Hi all,

My wife was diagnosed from TNBC with met in liver the next day of having our first baby. Now, after 15 months, I still continue looking for new ways of fighting the illness, and wondering about the possible reasons. My wife was then 35, aparently healthy, no alcohol consumer, no tobbaco consumer, she walked evey day, … In oncologists words, everything is because genes and hormones, and also the bad luck, but I´m not so sure.

So, I would like to propose you something similar to a survey. I am going to list some of the factors that are ‘suspicious’ of being the cause (or one of the causes) of the cancer. If  we identify some potential causes, we can avoid them.

·        Having the first son/daughter late: Could be; my wife was 35, almost 36, when she had our baby.

·        Having oral contraceptives form more than 5 years: Yes, she did.

·        Hereditary illness: So far we don´t know any aunt, grandmother, …, that suffered the same illness. Neither does her mother.

·        Lack of Vitamin D: Yes, she has very very low level.

·        Fillings in her teeth: Yes, she had many of them. I don´t know what are made of (mercury?...)

·        Stress: Yes, she had a lot of stress before diagnosis.

·        Weight: Could be; she was not fat, but she liked a lot sweets, sugar, … She still does, but she avoids taking them. We didn´t eat bad; we really tried to eat healthy, but know that we are following macrobiotic diet, we realized that that was not really optimal; it was not bad, but we could have done much better.

·        Tobacco: No.

·        Alcohol: No.

I would really appreciate if you could:

·        Add to the list some other factors that could be one of the causes of your illness, or the cancer in general terms. I doesn´t matter if they are not conventional, or seem to be ‘ridiculous’; nobody knows really which is the origin of the cancer, so…

·        Say how are in your case the factors already mentioned.

This is probably very utopian and simplistic, I know, but oncologists don´t inform us about what to do, or not to do, what to eat, or to stop eating, to fight the cancer: “Don´t stress, do normal life”, they tell us.

More or less, it is like saying: “Pray and wait to your destiny”. And I absolutely don´t agree to it. I want to really fight the cancer, and do whatever is in our hands.

Many thanks in advance, and I hope we get some conclusions.

Best regards,

Mikel

·        Having oral contraceptives form more than 5 years:  No.

·        Hereditary illness: None.

·        Lack of Vitamin D: Yes, very low level at dx, 19.

·        Fillings in her teeth: Yes, many of them.

·        Stress: Yes, lots of stress before diagnosis.

·        Weight:  Gained about 25 pounds in the decade preceding diagnosis, but had lost 12 pounds six months prior to diagnosis. 

·        Tobacco: No.

·        Alcohol:  Occasionally.

· Having oral contraceptives form more than 5 years: No.

· Hereditary illness:yes, my sister dx age 47 est & pro + her2 -, 1st cousin dx 62 3x positive, live 4 months from diag.  me, dx 48 3xnegative     aunt, 83 est & pro + her-, which is ok at that age!!

· Lack of Vitamin D:normal

· Fillings in her teeth: Yes, many of them.

· Stress: Yes, lots of stress before diagnosis. lots both parents in last 3 years!

· Weight:  maintained  weight within 10 the last 20 years

· Tobacco: No.

· Alcohol: Occasionally.

Mikel~

· Having oral contraceptives form more than 5 years: Yes

· Hereditary illness: Grandma has cancer but a different type...I think there are other family members but I am not entirely sure.

· Lack of Vitamin D: yes

· Fillings in her teeth: yes

· Stress: Yes...a ton of it before dx

· Weight:  maintained  weight over a long period of time

· Tobacco: No.

· Alcohol: Occasionally

Thanks...Craig

· Having oral contraceptives form more than 5 years: Yes

· Hereditary illness: No breast cancer in family, a few smokers had cancer

· Fillings in her teeth: yes, and root canals

· Stress: Yes, long work hours

· Alcohol: red wine on weekends in past (no more!)

• Fat in diet >33-40 grams a day prior to dx
• Exercise - marathon runner ~ 10 years,  prior to dx, plenty of exercise
• Love sweets, part of diet prior to dx (no more!)

MIkel~  My thoughts on why people get cancer and others don't has to do with stress and immune systems.  I do not think it is as attributed to environment and foods we eat as much as people think because cancer stats would be higher in certain states...but that is my own opinion.  I think stress can up your chances because just about everybody I know that has had cancer also has a ton of stress.  When you are stressed your body does some crazy things....like upping certain levels in your body.  An example of this would be cortisol levels.  I also think there are immune systems built to deal with cancer and there are immune systems that can not deal with cancer as well.  I think that is the case with most any disease...some people get them others don't.  I believe it is not just one factor...but a combination of factors that leads to the development of cancer as a deadly disease.  I know this is not a popular notion but part of me thinks that some of the ingrediants that make up this disease are airborne...almost like a virus in that all it needs is the right environment to thrive. 

Hi all,

My wife was diagnosed from TNBC with met in liver the next day of having our first baby. Now, after 15 months, I still continue looking for new ways of fighting the illness, and wondering about the possible reasons. My wife was then 35, aparently healthy, no alcohol consumer, no tobbaco consumer, she walked evey day, … In oncologists words, everything is because genes and hormones, and also the bad luck, but I´m not so sure.

So, I would like to propose you something similar to a survey. I am going to list some of the factors that are ‘suspicious’ of being the cause (or one of the causes) of the cancer. If  we identify some potential causes, we can avoid them.

·        Having the first son/daughter late: No, I was 27 & 29

·        Having oral contraceptives form more than 5 years: No

·        Hereditary illness: None

·        Lack of Vitamin D: Yes (levels were very low at diagnosis)

·        Fillings in her teeth: Yes, almost all molars but I was born in 1956

·        Stress: Oh yes! 

·        Weight: overweight for quite a few years but lost almost 60 pounds just prior to diagnosis due to nausea.

·        Tobacco: No

·        Alcohol: No

 I would like to add what my husband and i think about possible causes for me - 

1. I was born on an army base in 1956 (suits are currently being filed with some army bases that tested over 577 chemicals in 55,56, and 57).

2. Lived in a town where the water was treated with a defoliant similar to Agent Orange just prior to the birth of our first child.

3. I was on many different antidepressants over the years after each child and during menopause.

We are starting to feel strongly that it may have been environmentally related...but who knows?

· Having oral contraceptives form more than 5 years: Not oral but Depo Shot

· Hereditary illness: Not sure

· Lack of Vitamin D: Yes, she had a very low level when diagnosed.

· Fillings in her teeth: Yes, she had many of them.

· Stress: Not sure.  She is always stressed out

· Weight: Gained about 20 lbs since teenager.  Not fat by any means.

· Tobacco: On and off for about five years.

· Alcohol: No.

I would really appreciate if you could:

· Add to the list some other factors that could be one of the causes of your illness, or the cancer in

 I don't think it is just stress because I know people who are not stressed out and they got cancer and I know people who are totally stressed who don't.

· Say how are in your case the factors already mentioned.

This is probably very utopian and simplistic, I know, but oncologists don´t inform us about what to do, or not to do, what to eat, or to stop eating, to fight the cancer: “Don´t stress, do normal life”,they tell us.

More or less, it is like saying: “Pray and wait to your destiny”. And I absolutely don´t agree to it. I want to really fight the cancer, and do whatever is in our hands.

Many thanks in advance, and I hope we get some conclusions.

Best regards,

Mikel

·        Having kids late: Yes, 31 and 33.

·        Having oral contraceptives form more than 5 years: No.

·        Hereditary illness: Aunt.

·        Lack of Vitamin D: unknown

·      Stress: Yes.

·        Alcohol: No.

· Having the first son/daughter late: Could be ~ 31 & 34

· Having oral contraceptives form more than 5 years: nope

· Hereditary illness: None in immediate family but lots in great aunts and 3rd cousins

· Lack of Vitamin D: don't know

· Fillings in her teeth: None

· Weight: I'm not overweight, but i have a horrible diet of processed foods

· Tobacco: Smoker (trying to quit)

· Alcohol: Social drinker

I took birth control pills 2 years leading up to finding a large lump (which I thought was a cyst) this year in January. I cannot tell you how bad I feel right now. I am 48 years old. I do not know why I thought it was okay to take the pill at this time of my life, it was decision that I will now have to live with for the rest of my life. I will have to learn to forgive myself, I didn't know I was playing with fire. My GP said it was okay to take the pill if I didn't smoke and didn't have any heart problems. I thought I was preventing the possibility of ovarian cancer, I had some ovulation issues and thought the pill was a good idea. Just wondering if anyone out there feels that the pill gave them TNBC? Regards, Renae 

MIKEL