Self-discovery through Triple Negative Cancer

  One of the major side effects of Chemotherapy treatment is fatigue. Initially, I thought a bit of fatigue will be ok. A few extra naps on the couch won’t hurt. That won’t be a major side effect for me. Self-discovery through triple negative cancer has shown me otherwise. How do I explain fatigue? Fatigue is not a simple tiredness and with a rest you feel better. It does not resemble a hangover or a night of insomnia. It is not a simple physical reaction to the chemotherapy.  This is my explanation of fatigue… Fatigue is an all encompassing black cloud that engulfs you on Day 6 and 7 of chemotherapy drawing every last molecule of energy out of your body so that you are simply left with a human frame lying horizontally on something soft. You are unable to move from the position of horizontal because there is nothing that is willing to work to hold your body upright. A simple hand under my head allows me to at least hold my head up to take a look around. My brain is working in ...

Today I lost my hair, but gained inner strength knowing that chemo is fighting bloody hard to fight this cancer inside of me. The chemo attacks rapid cell growth which includes hair and skin cells. So knowing that the chemo is making my hair fall out means knowing that it is attacking the triple negative cancer in my breast.  I didn’t know what to expect when they said you will lose your hair. Do I just wake up with no hair, does it come out in clumps?? So I have journaled the process to show you what you can expect if you have chemo and lose your hair.  This was me before chemo, blonde curly hair. I started chemo 19 days ago so I managed to keep my hair for 19 days. It started to fall out slowly at first at around day 6 and then each day it significantly got more and more strands of hair coming out. On day 9 my head felt tender like it was sunburnt and was lacking nutrients, feeling like straw so I decided to give myself a little hair cut to freshen it back up somewhat. ...

  On the 22/02/2022 (lucky date) I had my first round of Chemotherapy. I was feeling nervous about beginning this journey and what would come over the next two weeks. I was prepared to the best of my ability, but feeling anxious about the unknown.  My treatment was placed into my port that I had surgery for five days earlier. They tested the port and it was in good working order and caused me no discomfort so that was a relief.  So what is my treatment for chemo? I am having treatment every two weeks for four cycles and then I will have an ultrasound to hopefully find the cancer has reacted to the drugs and started to shrink and if that is the case, I will then have a different drug weekly for twelve cycles.  The first part of my treatment is called AC dose dense which involves the drugs Doxorubicin Hydrochloride (Adriamycin) and Cyclophosamide. Doxorubicin is known as the red devil as it is red in colour and turns your urine red. It is also the devil that causes sid...

How can I have Triple Negative Breast Cancer when I am a triple positive person? Just the term triple negative sounds depressing.  Shortly after being diagnosed with breast cancer, I had a call from my surgeon to inform me that I have what is called a ‘Triple Negative Breast Cancer,’ which is an aggressive cancer and that I would be needing chemotherapy before surgery.  So what is Triple Negative Breast Cancer?  Triple Negative Breast Cancer is negative to: Oestrogen receptor progesterone receptor Protein HER2 This means that the cancer does not use oestrogen, progesterone or HER2 to grow. Therefore, the drugs used to treat these types of breast cancer are not effective for Triple Negative Breast Cancer. The main treatment for this type of cancer is chemotherapy. I will be having 16 rounds of Chemotherapy starting next Tuesday. Breast Cancer Network Australia state that chemotherapy is the only systemic (treating the whole body) treatment for fighting this cancer. The mai...

This is the first entry of my breast cancer journey, so let’s start right at the beginning with my diagnosis.  In October 2021, I turned the big 40 and celebrated all of the amazing things in my life with my family and friends. Part of turning 40 meant that I needed to be proactive and get my health checked. I went and had a skin check and had a general health check and all was great. My next health check was a mammogram. A close friend of mine had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and it was because of her that I finally booked in to having my first mammogram. On the 12th of January I went and had my first ever mammogram and then continued on with my life without even a second thought. On the 19th of January, I was at work and I received a phone call from Breast Clinic informing me that my mammogram had come back with a cloudy patch on my right breast that looked different to the rest of my mammogram results and as it is my first mammogram and they had nothing to compare ...