I posted a couple days ago that I was waiting for pathology results after my lumpectomy, those showed up on MyChart this morning.

No ink on tumor and the lymph node they removed was clear!

I’m so relieved and happy! I have more treatment ahead but this is a nice win.

Hoping for good outcomes for everyone else ❤️

It is supposed to be our identity. But when does it start? After active treatments? Or the official definition at the time of diagnosis?

It is totally beyond my comprehension. As one of the majority that has hormone driven BC, I didn't have any symptoms when detected. It was the treatments that caused short term, long term and even permanent damages. I feel I survived the active treatments while struggling with endocrine therapy. As to surviving cancer, nobody knows if I have survived. There is no certainty after 5, 10, 15 or 30 years whether it will return and kill me. We won't know for sure until I die, either from BC or other causes.

So where is this survivor concept from?

Hi everyone! It seems like there are a lot of you who are newly diagnosed. When I was first diagnosed in November 2025, I was seeking hope and to be fair, even though I am out of active treatment I get by on borrowed hope from doctors and other survivors

It's been awhile since I've seen one of these posts and I know it'd be helpful for all of us just to know that there are people out there who are living and thriving.

So here's a survivor post!

Chime in with...

1) Age at Diagnosis

2) Subtype and Stage

3) Years as a Breast Cancer Survivor (since date of diagnosis)

... and any other information that you think would help someone!

…because I drove by a bank with big mature trees lining the road with big plastic ties around them. I thought to myself, “oh no have they marked those trees to be removed for some reason?”. I then realized the ribbons were (sort of) pink. I said, “oh no” out loud and then burst into tears.

This is my first October since my diagnosis. I’ve had DMX and am in limbo waiting for reconstructive surgery. I’m on tamoxifen so the weepiness tracks (on a short break now and am lowering my dose to 5mg thankfully).

On one hand I guess it’s nice to see “support”. I realize most people know someone who has gone through this and they want to show solidarity I guess? But I am just trying to get through each day and I can never forget about the fucking cancer. Not even for a few moments driving from one place to the next. I was already cynical person and I am trying to not let that get out of control y’all!

Hi there! Even before my diagnosis, I scoured this group for recommended items and advice because I had planned a mastectomy due to a BRCA1 mutation. (Turns out it wasn't prophylactic after all, eek.) I found your posts super helpful for putting together my surgery "wish list."

Now I'm 3 weeks out from my biltateral mastectomy with lymph node biopsy and figured I would share the things that have made recovery easier and the things that were more "meh" for me but are frequently recommended here or by friends.

None of the items below are affiliate links or anything I get paid for; I just wanted to make viewing the products as easy as possible. Also, before surgery I was convinced I wouldn't give Jeff Bezos a cent of my money and source everything from ethical stores, but that didn't last very long, unfortunately.

My details:

• 41 years old at diagnosis
• DCIS, ER+/HER2-
• Normal mammogram and ultrasounds - DCIS only showed up on an MRI in May, which then led to an MRI-guided biopsy and diagnosis in July. Dense breast tissue is no joke!
• BMX with temporary expanders

The best things:

• EXPAREL shot during surgery. I didn't need any opioids after and couldn't really tell when it wore off a few days later, which I had been worried about. It all felt miraculous. Please ask your surgeon(s) about it!
• 3M Medipore tape. My surgeon's PA recommended this to use with gauze. I love it because it's lightly perforated - no awkwardly trying to cut tape with scissors without it sticking to itself.
• This drain belt. Yes, it's overpriced, and anyone who sews could likely make their own - but the peace of mind I had with everything being close to my body, and being able to change clothes without unpinning anything or having to buy drain-specific tops, was priceless. (I had four drains and two of these pouches to alternate.)
• These snap-front bras. I tried multiple bras with zippers from different brands but found these much softer and more comfortable against my drain sites. They wash up well and have never randomly unsnapped.
• Snap shirts. It has still been pretty warm in the southern U.S. and I've had frequent hot flashes, so this type of shirt is a nice alternative to zip-up hoodies or button-front shirts (which I don't personally like).
• Alcohol prep pads for stripping the drain tubes. I liked knowing the outer tubes were cleaned regularly, and the pads are just moist enough to make the sliding motion pretty much effortless, no tugging.
• A luxurious moisturizer for neck and upper chest. I bought a couple of small trial sizes of high-end creams, and it was so nice to feel like I was pampering my skin after its trauma.
• No-rinse bathing wipes. If I was doing it again, I would find plant-based ones that are compostable, but these smelled good, felt good on the skin, and didn't leave me feeling either too dried out or still unclean. (An African net sponge for real showers was better for limited range of motion than my long-handled bath brush.)
• This little rolling cart. It's light enough to roll with just a finger or foot, and it was great to have the essentials nearby. One caveat: I have only used it on hard floors.

The just-okay things (for me):

• Sleep Again pillow system. I don't regret spending the money because knowing I had this reduced my anxiety around how I would be able to sleep after surgery, but I only used it a few nights before moving to a long wedge with one normal pillow for my upper back and a neck-supporting one for my head. A normal body billow will work fine for eventually moving back to my typical side sleeping.
• An electric recliner. I did like knowing I wouldn't accidentally roll to my side while sleeping but found being propped up in bed in soft sheets more comfortable. It made me glad the chair was only rented.
• A post-mastectomy pillow. I liked this for car rides, but a normal pillow would have worked, too. I didn't end up using the pockets for ice packs or anything, but many people do.

What I would do again before surgery:

• Boudoir photos. These seemed, and still do sometimes, like a frivolous expense, but I'm glad I captured my natural breasts in some way before their forever departure. :)
• Build core strength. I don't enjoy working out but had a pretty strong core before surgery, and I've never been so glad I can roll myself out of bed, get up front a low chair/toilet, and generally can power this ragtag body through different motions without using my arms. I will not take abs and back muscles for granted again!
• Store up treats for recovery. I love home design magazines and spent a couple of months buying them off ebay to read when I couldn't do much else. I also made sure I had soft new pajamas, a new tea to try, and a much-wanted book to look forward to. The small things have added up!
• Put medications, underwear/cozy clothes, snacks, and commonly-used items at chest level or below and out of heavy drawers. It's common advice in this group, and for good reason.

Hopefully this helps someone else, and thank you to everyone who shared your own couldn't-do-withouts in the past. :)

My life is nothing but trash and not worth living. I was diagnosed with DCIS five surgeries in two months, four unsuccessful lumpectomies, and one mastectomy pathology found her2 tried to do chemotherapy but I was so allergic they had to stop the chemotherapy massive hives itching so bad. I want rip my skin off Friday night I was taken by ambulance to the ED massive pain in my stomach uncontrollable vomiting hives CT scan shows something in my stomach. They think it’s an ulcer so now I have to go have a camera put in my stomach to identify and chemotherapy appears to be off the table, so I’m sure the Cancer will come back. I’m in pain all the time I’m nauseous all the time i’m so itchy all the time I want rip my skin off I don’t leave the house anymore I don’t get dressed anymore pajamas all day and night. I have no quality of life. It’s nothing but failed treatments pain torment vomiting now I don’t even get to look forward to eating something that taste good because I’m told I have to eat a brat diet only so I don’t even get to look forward to eating something that taste good. I have absolutely no quality of life my body is deformed my life is not worth living

I’m 32 and was diagnosed with breast cancer in July. Before starting treatment I did two rounds of fertility preservation and I’m currently just under a third of the way through chemotherapy.

Honestly at this point it feels like I’ve been living with cancer for a lifetime. It also feels like I’ve been doing chemo for forever even though I’m only 5 weeks in 😢 it’s honestly just relentless.

Im so tired of waking up every day and feeling fucking shit. Sometimes I think to myself “literally why am I doing all this?? what am I fighting for?? Because this existence is shit”

To add to everything, so far I’ve lost about 25% of my hair which honestly terrifies me given im only about a third of the way through. I’ll probably be bald by the end.

I also just miss normal things. I miss being able to wash my hair and shower normally. I miss being able to run my hands through it. I miss being able to tie it up. I miss being able to relax and lie down without worrying about it. I miss being able to work normally. I miss being able to exercise normally. I miss being able to go out and do things when I want.

I know this post is all over the place. I guess I’m just venting to a safe space.

.

All done chemo/surgery. Hoping these can serve a use to another going through treatment. Am in Michigan but happy to ship!

L/XL cold mitts/gloves and this pillow

Does anyone with a high Oncotype score want to share what they were told about prognosis, or have any good studies on outcomes?
It kind of feels like we all get lumped into this giant HR+/HER2- category, when there are obviously meaningful differences between someone with an RS of 12 and someone with an RS of 30, 35, or higher.
I know trials like OPTIMA have shown that some node-positive women who are genomically low risk can have excellent outcomes, which is great. But where does that leave the women who are node positive and genomically high risk?
I keep looking for actual outcome data for high-RS women, especially younger women and/or those with positive nodes, and there really doesn’t seem to be much. I’m often told “Oncotype is just a number” or that I’m not a statistic and should move on, but that’s hard when I didn’t get the pCR or the low Oncotype score with the reassuring prognosis attached to it.
The limited research I can find on high-RS disease doesn’t exactly look reassuring, and we also know these tumors tend to have a relatively low chance of pCR with neoadjuvant chemo. I’m struggling to understand what the realistic modern prognosis actually is once you factor in chemo, ovarian suppression/AI, and now CDK4/6 inhibitors.
Would love to hear what your oncologist told you or see any studies I may have missed.

I know many people find therapy helpful and have been able to work through feelings and issues with educated guidance. I’m finding it a waste of time, with no progress and a bunch of exercises that ultimately did nothing for me other than identify what hasn’t helped. To be fair to my Therapist, she’s tried a number of approaches and we’ve been working on me for months.

Anyone else give up on Therapy? Did you find something else that helped instead?

I'm 42, but I feel like I'm 82. I'm exhausted, bitter, jealous, and grieving so many things.

I need to vent somewhere I might be understood.

I feel bitter. I feel exhausted. And surprisingly, I feel jealous. I feel jealous of people who get to live normal lives. People who can be physically active, enjoy themselves, build families, have relationships, and simply live without constantly worrying about their bodies.

I feel jealous of women who still have their own breasts, their own bodies, and the freedom to live without thinking about cancer and its consequences every day.

I've been through chemotherapy, multiple surgeries, radiation, and medications like Lupron and Tamoxifen that affected me terribly. Every time I started to recover physically and emotionally, something else happened. I had to pick myself up and rebuild my strength over and over again.

Then my cancer recurred.

After the recurrence and additional treatment, I lost so much of my physical ability. My shoulders are painful and limited in movement. My back hurts. My energy is incredibly low. I wake up exhausted, even after sleeping.

I had a DIEP flap reconstruction, and even that comes with constant reminders that my body isn't the same. Sometimes I feel itching deep in my reconstructed breast or abdominal area, but because of the altered sensation, I can't even properly scratch or relieve it. It's such a strange and upsetting feeling.

I miss my natural breasts. I miss my body. I miss feeling comfortable in my own skin.

I miss being me.

And I don't even know what to grieve first.

I'm also not as mentally sharp as I used to be. Everyone tells me I'm sharp, but I know the difference. I notice my forgetfulness, my difficulty concentrating, and how much more effort things require. Between chemotherapy, radiation, endocrine treatments, and everything else, I don't feel like the person I used to be.

At the same time, I've worked incredibly hard to move forward with my life. I defended my doctoral dissertation, it's been published, and I finally started my doctoral internship after spending nearly two years unable to move forward with my career the way I wanted.

I recently moved to a new city for my internship. I genuinely love where I work, and I appreciate that this city is quieter and less overwhelming. But I'm also much lonelier here. I left behind the healthcare team that helped me function physically, including physical therapy twice a week and chiropractic care once a week and massage therapy. They enormeously helped me before the last surgery and radiation. Now I have to rebuild that support system while learning so much at my internship and managing my health.

And then there's Kisqali.

I'm supposed to start Kisqali, potentially for three years. I keep reading that it's generally well tolerated, but also I read many terribly struggle eith it. but I'm scared. I'm already so tired from radiation and everything my body has endured. I feel like I haven't even recovered from the previous treatments, and now I'm facing another long period of medication and uncertainty.

I know it may help protect me from another recurrence, and I understand why it's being recommended. But I'm afraid of losing even more of my energy, physical ability, and quality of life.

I try hard to make myself feel better. I go to coffee shops, take walks in parks, and look for opportunities to meet new people. I want to have a social life, find a partner, and enjoy being in my 40s.

But people my age are often doing activities that are physically difficult for me. When I look for gentler, less physically demanding activities, I often find myself surrounded by people much older than I am. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it reminds me of how old I feel in my own body.

I'm only 42. I don't want to feel this old.

I see people building families, enjoying their relationships, being spontaneous, having energy, and living without constant physical limitations. I want those things, too.

And I feel jealous. I don't like feeling jealous, but it's there.

I know I've accomplished a lot. I know I've survived a lot. But sometimes I don't want to be told how strong I am.

I just want to feel healthy. I want my energy back. I want my shoulders to stop hurting. I want to feel mentally sharp again. I want to feel comfortable in my body. I want to have the freedom to enjoy my life.

I want to be me again.

Today, I feel deeply sad and alone. I wish I could cry, but I can't seem to.

I don't know what I'm grieving anymore because there are so many losses, and they keep accumulating.

I'm sharing this because I needed somewhere to let these feelings out, hopefully among people who understand.

I go to all the treatments and follow the doctor’s orders. But the truth is I feel like I’m dying. I can’t talk to anyone. I can’t even walk through the grocery store. I’ll never go out to dinner again. It’s almost midnight and I’m staring at the ceiling in the dark. My husband and dog are sleeping. I’m wondering how they will cope when I’m gone. I’m writing down user names and passwords and making lists of accounts my husband will need to close. I’m wondering what life was for.

Did anyone lose their appetite while on radiation?
I want to say I started to lose my appetite around the end of week one and wondered if anyone else here had experienced this. Also throat issues and a lingering cough has been bothering me.

I finished my last round yesterday and I do hope it comes back. I saw my oncologist today and she said to keep an eye on the cough and if it gets worse she will have a lung xray done.

I was newly diagnosed last week. And all the testing has been getting started. I’m in the screening process for a clinical trial at UCSF and wondering if everyone regardless of clinical trial gets a bone scan before starting chemo?
I still don’t have my pathology back. They had to redo my biopsy since the sample was damaged. I’m just freaking out and fearing the worst.

My mass is 2cm and I’m scared the bone scan is going to tell me something bad? That it’s spread. When my biopsy was redone they did an ultrasound of my lymph nodes and they looked normal to the breast surgeon.
My anxiety has been out of control through all of this.

I have been a professional dancer for many years and jave wear and tear on my hips. I feel like so many areas will come back looking wrong on the scan. I also have scoliosis.

Anyone have experiences to share?

I’m 32 with stage 2a, triple-positive breast cancer and no lymph node involvement. I’m currently going through chemo and HER2-targeted treatment, with surgery still ahead.

Under the current treatment plan I know that hormone therapy will be recommended as part of my long-term treatment / risk reduction.

As it stands I feel very strongly against this. Having read all of the side effects and having read the experience of other women the benefits of it do not outweigh the costs in my mind. Having taken a look at the PREDICT tool it estimates that the added benefit for me will be 4% which in my mind is minimal.

I should also add that I already have some understanding of what it will do to my body as I’m currently on Zoladex while I’m having chemo and it’s shit. My sleep is terrible, I have 0 libido, my mood is awful and sex is really painful. I’m tolerating it all for now as I know there is an end in sight. The thought of signing up to another 5-10 years of it feels out of the question. 

When I’m done with all this shit I want to enjoy life again. I don’t just want to exist in some shitty muted version of life. I want to be done with the pills and I want to move on.

Also given my age I want to hopefully return to enjoying some semblance of my youth again. I should also add that I’m currently single and after all this I’d eventually love to meet someone and possibly have kids which obviously is not an option under hormone treatment. 

Posting this to see if anyone feels the same / has some thoughts to share on the topic. 

Is it worth it to cold cap when i already have super thin and fine hair? I wear extensions as it is right now. Is there a point? I see people posting that cold capping helped with faster regrowth.

Advice? Experience?

40f, premenopausal. Grade 1 ER+PR+HER2-, multicentric IDC w/ DCIS. SMX in September.

I had two tumors removed, one with an oncotype of 20 and the other an oncotype of 24. Standard of care for a 24 in premenopausal women is chemo (TCx4). My RSClin is 6%, and drops to 4% with chemo.

Then, the academic hospital I go to is conducting a clinical trial to test one group on ovarian suppression + AI and one group on standard chemo. The group assignment is random.

The day I was diagnosed, I was told (and shouldn’t have been) I would be looking at a lumpectomy and radiation. So to have ended up with an SMX and staring down chemo is not what I expected four months ago. Part of me is wanting to do anything I can to avoid it. The other part of me is wanting to claw back every percentage point I can get.

So I’m wondering of the three options, which feels best to the group?

1. Randomized clinical trial, possibly getting suppression and AI only

or possibly getting chemo
2.

1. Chemo
2. Go against doctor’s advice and do suppression and AI only independent from the study

I have a way I am leaning but am curious for the very wise perspectives in this sub.

EDIT: omg why is the formatting so broken???? 1 is clinical trial, 2 is chemo, 3 is suppression.

Hi all! I’m 33 and was diagnosed stage 2b er/pr+ her2- fall of last year. Finished act chemo, radiation and lumpectomy. Am on ai, lupron, and kisquali. Just had my baseline Dexa scan and I have osteoporosis. So my treatment has just destroyed my bones already. I’m to start zometa, and my oncologist has me taking vitamin d and encouraging a strict weightlifting regimen. But am I screwed? I still have 5 years of endocrine therapy. Any postitive stories of zometa or bone regrowth is welcome! I just feel I’m only going to lose more, and I’m already at a fracture risk. (I also am fed up because I tried my best and worked out during chemo and active treatment but it feels like it was for nothing!)

HER2+ HR-

My pre-surgery scans showed no evidence of disease and l went into surgery cautiously optimistic. My surgeon is still really happy with the results. I got a complete response in my breast and only tiny deposits in 3 lymph nodes, the biggest being 0.5mm. My original diagnosis showed 136mm of disease and positive nodes, so this is a great result. But so much emphasis is placed on getting PCR, that I feel like I have failed. I thought I was coming to the end of active treatment with just radiation left to do and the thought of having Kadcyla is hard. Phesgo injections have been ok for me, no side effects, so doing a further year of that really didn't feel bad. Hearing the word chemo for 14 cycles is just hard. Can I cope?! I want to start rebuilding my life and putting cancer behind me and it just seems harder now chemo is a part of my next steps.

I just needed to let this out to people who understand. This really is a great community and so grateful to have you all to lean on. ❤️

I recently had my lumpectomy for DCIS that revealed two small invasive tumors (1.1mm and 1.4mm) upstaging me to IDC. we just got pathology back the tumors HR+ HER2-. I’m 43 and my surgeon is suggesting sentinel lymph node biopsy as the next step. Is there a reason to move forward with the SLNB? My Ki-67 score is only 2% so it seems like the odds of finding anything in the SLNB would be minimal but would involve another surgery and any potential complications from that. I’m struggling to figure out if I should do it or not.

Background: IDC ++- in late 2024, no lymph, bilateral lumpectomy + reduction, TC chemo x4, a month of radiation, Tam, hysterectomy, now on AI since almost a year ago.

MRI in Feb had abnormality. Mammo and ultrasound said they were confident it was surgical artifacts and fat necrosis.

I had a routine 6m MRI yesterday that came back BIRADS 3 (probably benign). Radiologist recommended 6m follow up MRI. Surgeon has offered MRI guided biopsy if I wish.

A friend who went through something similar and said she agreed to follow up in 6m and it did come back fine, but wished she'd just had the biopsy instead of being low key worried for 6m.

Despite being 2y out from diagnosis, I still have a lot of anxiety around all of this. Would you take the biopsy?

Hellllllo my breasties!

I've been lurking in here since my dx in July, finally wanted to make a post. I was told during my biopsy on 7/24 that the lump in my breast was likely breast cancer. Two days later, I got a positive pregnancy test (my husband and I were TTC baby #2 so while not a surprise, the timing couldn't have been worse!). I just want to say - so thankful for modern medicine. I was thinking that we would have to terminate this pregnancy, but both my surgeon and oncologist said we'll get through it together.

I'm one of the "lucky" ones that has a rare type of breast cancer. I have ILC (~5% of BC cases according to my oncologist) that behaves basally (TNBC). Cancers that behave basally apparently fall under ~10% of that 5%. My oncologist was super glad my mammaprint came back high risk 2 because it means my type should respond well to chemo.

I started AC chemo at 12 weeks on 9/23. I just had round #2 last week on 10/14. I'll be 16 weeks tomorrow with our little miracle baby girl! I shaved my head on Friday since it was coming out in clumps. Overall, I'm feeling pretty okay. Had a really good appointment with my oncologist on Wednesday and she noted my tumor had already started to soften after just my first round of AC chemo which was so good to hear.

I hate that any of us are here, but I'm so grateful for the love and support I've witnessed in this sub over the last 3 months. Keep kicking cancer's ass, friends 💖

First and foremost, thank you so much for the support throughout this incredibly difficult journey.

I wanted to share some encouraging news: I’ve received my post-mastectomy pathology results and achieved pCR for my primary breast tumour, which was nearly 5cm before neoadjuvant TCHP chemo!

On top of celebrating, I especially wanted to share it with those going through a similar journey that there is hope even with larger tumours.

Prior to today I have been preparing for the worst since my post chemo imaging still showed a 2.1cm mass and the pessimistic radiologist who made me cry. Thankfully, pathology confirmed the mass was the tumours death bed (which cancer fucking deserves!).

What caught me off guard was there were isolated tumour cells (“ITC” - between node negative and micromets) found in the two lymph nodes removed. I was expecting pCR in my lymph nodes rather than my breast as the positive lymph node resolved halfway through chemo. I’m still trying to understand what ITC means in terms of recurrence risk as this is completely new to me. Under some definitions ITC could fall under pCR. From the studies I’ve read so far this afternoon it seems to have similar prognosis as node negative. I’d be grateful if anyone who has a similar experience can shed some light 💡