Stage III Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Kelly's Survivor Story

What happened, in summary

Kelly Thomas was 33 when she felt a lump in her left breast. She had no breast cancer history in her family and had checked her breasts regularly, so the finding was frightening. Imaging and biopsy confirmed breast cancer, and her breast surgeon told her there was no time to waste because it was at least Stage III. Kelly learned she had triple-negative breast cancer and would need chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation. After changing oncologists before her first infusion, her treatment plan became more aggressive: 4 AC cycles, 8 Taxol cycles, and 4 carboplatin cycles. She completed 16 neoadjuvant chemotherapy treatments over about 6 months. After chemotherapy, MRI showed a strong response. Kelly chose a nipple-sparing, skin-sparing double mastectomy with expanders. Surgery found no tumor left in the breast, but 2 of 8 lymph nodes still contained cancer, described as low-grade estrogen-positive disease rather than triple-negative. Because of that small component, she briefly tried tamoxifen but stopped after 3 days, then started oral chemotherapy described as Xylota/Xeloda. She also completed 28 rounds of radiation over about 1.5 months. As of August 2023, Kelly was 5 years from diagnosis with no recurrence and had built TNBC Thrivers to support others facing triple-negative breast cancer.