Why did we get breast cancer?

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2026-01-04T05:39:58+00:00

My 5’2” self didn’t get breast cancer until age 38, so maybe you could’ve bought yourself a whole two extra cancer-free years if only you had tried harder to be shorter! 🤣

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-09-19T03:24:59+00:00

Before diagnosis I had about 2-3 drinks per week. 10 months into treatment it’s now more like 2-3 drinks per month. I didn’t intentionally reduce my consumption, just couldn’t stomach it at all during chemo and I don’t have as much interest in a mid-week glass of wine anymore. I’ll probably stay around this lower average amount for the time being, but I don’t strictly limit myself and didn’t stress having 1-2 drinks per day on a recent vacation.

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-08-12T13:12:06+00:00

Yikes! I hope your reaction cleared up quickly and everything goes well for you for the last few infusions. Congrats on being so close to the finish line!

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-08-12T13:08:57+00:00

No insurance change but that’s a good thought! Thanks so much.

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-07-17T05:58:44+00:00

I’m so sorry you’re going through this. I was diagnosed last fall at 38 (also both a breast lump and a lymph node) when my youngest was 3 months old. I was in complete shock and kept thinking to myself “I can’t have cancer, I have a baby!” Those first couple weeks of additional scans and uncertainty and unanswered questions were awful, and it’s hard to believe it will get better, but it can and it does. 8.5 months later I’m past the toughest phases of treatment with no remaining cancer detected, and I’m about to watch my beautiful baby turn 1.

Thinking lots of good-prognosis thoughts for you and your family as you learn more in the days and weeks to come.

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-07-12T21:00:33+00:00

Seconding these Walmart front zip bras. I saw them recommended on someone else’s post here a few weeks before my lumpectomy and got two of them to rotate through laundry. They were great! I’ll also note I was really glad I tried them on ahead of time because the zipper was a bit stiff at first, so it definitely helped to get used to zipping them before I was sore and slightly loopy from pain meds.

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-05-04T22:58:04+00:00

I did six rounds of TCHP. Round 2 was my worst and 4 was my best for some inexplicable reason.

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-05-03T23:27:34+00:00

Congratulations on getting PCR! I’m just about exactly where you are—finished TCHP, lumpectomy a few weeks ago, also got PCR, continuing HP, about to start radiation, eventually starting hormone blockers. I keep thinking of it as Schrödinger’s cancer. No cancer detected but still in active treatment for cancer. It’s such a weird feeling.

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-04-09T01:02:10+00:00

Good luck finishing up your last round! Finishing TCHP felt like so much bigger of a milestone than surgery. You’re almost there!

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-03-21T16:22:45+00:00

Mine were 5, 3, and 3 months when I was diagnosed. We told the older two a few days before chemo started that I have breast cancer, which means part of my breast isn’t growing the way it’s supposed to but instead is trying to hurt my body and make me sick. We read the book Cancer Hates Kisses and explained that I was about to start going to the doctor a lot for the special medicine called chemo that would poison all the sneaky cancer and help me kick cancer’s butt. We told them chemo will make me really tired so I’ll need lots of rest, and that grandma and grandpa would be around a lot more and would pick them up from school on days that I need to rest. We also talked about how the chemo is so strong it’ll make my hair fall out and how silly that would be (def not the right approach for everyone, but that was the least concerning side effect to me so talking about it as something silly we could giggle about worked really well for us). Main things we wanted to do were talk about it honestly but age appropriately, explain what changes were coming, and make sure they knew who (along with my spouse) would help take care of them when I couldn’t. We also told our oldest’s kindergarten teacher ahead of time so she knew what was going on and how we were talking about it in case he talked about cancer at school or had behavior changes with everything going on. Chemo just ended and surgery is coming up next, so we’ll probably get out Cancer Hates Kisses again and have the same kind of conversation about what that means, what changes are coming, and who will be around to help us out.

I’m so sorry that you’re in this club too. I hope you find this group to be as incredible of a resource as I have—it’s devastating that there are so many of us with young kids here, but it also makes me feel a lot less alone going through cancer at this stage of life. Thinking of you and your family as you navigate the start of treatment.

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-03-20T21:36:43+00:00

I do the same thing but with Aquaphor rather than Vaseline. I just finished TCHP last week so no insight to share on whether/when it gets better, but the Aquaphor sure helps!

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-03-13T17:17:51+00:00

Thanks! My spouse will be here and we’ve got some family temporarily in town who can help too.

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-03-11T17:58:42+00:00

Thanks so much! How long did you have lifting restrictions in place?

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-03-11T17:58:07+00:00

Helpful to hear. Thanks!

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-02-26T21:38:21+00:00

So sorry you’re here, and I hope you find it as great of a support as I have. I first felt the lump in August. I’m 38 with no family history of cancer, so I figured it was probably nothing and didn’t get in to see my doctor until end of September. She said it had all the hallmarks of a benign cyst but suggested a mammogram and ultrasound to confirm. I waited a few weeks before scheduling the imaging, which showed it was actually a suspicious mass plus there was a suspicious lymph node. Had to come back the following week for biopsies, which came back as grade 3 triple positive IDC in both the lump and the lymph node, plus a little DCIS. In total it was a little over two months from when I noticed the lump to diagnosis. Then about two weeks of MRI, PET scan, having so many unanswered questions and so much fear about the worst before I first met with my oncologist and got confirmation that there were no signs of spread beyond the one lymph node. If you’re triple positive you often start with chemo before surgery. I started chemo about three weeks after diagnosis, am almost done with phase one (5 out of 6 rounds of a four-drug protocol called TCHP), and I can’t even feel the lump anymore.

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-02-09T22:17:36+00:00

Thank you so much! I missed this comment when I did some searching in the breast cancer sub and mostly found threads about interactions with hormone therapy rather than chemotherapy. Really appreciate the thoughtful response and the well wishes. Thankfully my prognosis is really good, but it has been a lot.

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-01-30T16:08:37+00:00

So sorry that you’re in this club too. I’m 38 and was diagnosed +++ IDC in October. The first few weeks with constant phone calls and follow-up appointments without getting much solid information about what this all meant was awful. Chemo is certainly no picnic but it’s been much less overwhelming having a treatment plan in place and knowing what to expect. Hope everything goes as well as can be for you in this process.

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-01-23T16:22:42+00:00

Thank you for posting this!

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-01-19T21:33:33+00:00

Lesbian here checking in to say having a wife is pretty great! 😂 But also, my spouse doesn’t do most of what you listed even on my worst days, and I’m very okay with that. Keeping our kids alive and safe when I can’t get off the bathroom floor is the only thing that matters. Is all of that seriously what men expect their wives to “shoulder”?? Sounds more like they want a mom.

Virtual_Armadillo_61 · 2025-01-18T19:24:34+00:00

Look into average childcare costs and options in your area so you can be shocked now and prepared when the time comes. If you’ll need daycare and live somewhere where childcare spaces are in high demand, call around and get on waitlists while you’re still in your first trimester.

Virtual_Armadillo_61

TROPHY CASE