It's so good to hear from those who have survived cancer for years. My friend was just diagnosed with Stage IV cancer at 32 and is just being bombarded with stats and information and prognoses. I think it's really hard for her to see past everything that's hitting her right now, so survival doesn't even seem like an option since the news is so bad. She knows, though, that she needs to get into that mindset to prepare herself for the fight ahead.
Here's my two-cents worth: I had my it all removed; ovaries, cervix, uterus, It was also a no brainer for me - and i'm only 45. The overriding reason for me was that having er+/pr+ bc made makes me higher risk for ovarian cancer, uterine caner and endometrial cancers. Plus, ovarian is much harder to find early. The gyn who removed it all said that one of my ovaries was starting to wither anyway - meaning I wasn't that far off from natural menopause. I think that I would have a harder time maintaing my figure and muscle mass if the weight gain etc came a little at a time. Since it's here, I'm fighting harder to stay in shape and eat right. All to the delight of my Onc team. Chemo was not a problem for me. And although it's early in the process, radiation is no problem. I've only gone up one dress size and am still firming up. I expect to have breast augmentation next year to balance out my widening hips. Regarding tamoxofen: I have chosen not to take it at all - too many se. Since I have no parts, I am in menopause and [...]
I was diagnosed with TNBC in Dec 08 and also found out that I was BRCA 1. I had a bilateral mastectomy in Jan 09 followed by 6 rounds of Chemo. I also had a hysterectomy in Nov 09 to prevent ovanian cancer. I am currently on a clinical trial taking clodrinate disodium 800 mg 2 times a day to try to prevent it from coming back in the bones.
