Success Stories!

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  • Nico1012
    Nico1012 Member Posts: 1,152
    edited May 2013

    Bumping because this SO deserves to be read! :)

  • Rosaa
    Rosaa Member Posts: 12
    edited May 2013

    Hey all I have two inspiring stories. To tell . First m'y grandpa was diagnosed With Liver cancer thirty years ago And it was metastatic He was at at The âge of sixty at that Time And The doctors said it was useless to get him Through treatment my family never told him but He sometimes would say that He thinks He had cancer He lived his Life normally enjoyed evry moment He was a passionate cook And loves to eat With olive oil thym And onions a lot ( May be his tendency to eat a lot of veggies helped him survive) Well He died two years ago With a heart disease at The âge of 93 . M'y second story is about one of m'y relative Who had Breast cancer 15 years ago She went Through chemotherapy radiation herceptin And reconstruction ( note that She had reccurence in The same year of her first breast cancer as She did lumpectomy first Time ) Now She is ok And She looks better then before her new breasts looks So beautiful you cannot even recognise They Re reconstructed let me tell u a joke When i asked her what made you survive this trauma She laughed And told me i couldnt let m'y husband Who already cheats on me take advantage of m'y wealth And throw m'y kids away If i die. Another inspiring story that i have Just remembered is The husband of m'y cousin Who suffered from a huge brain cancer 20 years ago

  • justagirl
    justagirl Member Posts: 633
    edited May 2013

    Thanks Rosaa for sharing. It helps me  as I am always looking for inspiration!

  • Nico1012
    Nico1012 Member Posts: 1,152
    edited May 2013

    bump

  • justagirl
    justagirl Member Posts: 633
    edited May 2013

    Can't quite say I am a success story yet, but just got my latest test results in and BC tumour count is 26, down from 56 and under 30 is considered normal. CT lungs showed no increase in number or size of mets. I guess it's the Tamoxifen or my body or whatever, but I am grateful and on cloud 9!

  • Shari0707
    Shari0707 Member Posts: 260
    edited May 2013

    Beautiful news Debbie!

  • fab1
    fab1 Member Posts: 43
    edited May 2013

    Dear all

    It is wonderful to hear of such wonderful news and positive stories. This is absolutely necessary to hear for all those like myself who have recently been diagnosed. Who at the time feel life is over or will never be the same.

    These stories and testimonials give the likes of me hope that there is life after cancer. So deepest thanks for sharing and keeping our hopes high and the will to fight this illness .

    Keep them coming :-D

  • justagirl
    justagirl Member Posts: 633
    edited May 2013

    Thank you Shari and fab: my husband says I should write a book: Me and my shadow (breast cancer). He actually asked me if a day went by that I didn't remember I had lung mets. And the truth was no. The big improvement is when I remember it now it doesn't always crumple me to the floor in a pile of tears. I'm still mad about it, and probably always will be but I've accepted too, and have from when I was first told. That doesn't mean I have to LIKE it! 

    I think each woman who is diagnosed with breast cancer is brave to get up out of bed every day after that, as now their whole world has changed. They have changed. Do we now feel as 'safe' as we did before the diagnosis? I don't. I think I'm a strong person, but have my son sick or my dog with a hurt paw, and I am ready to fall apart. I am quaking at the thought of a loved one hurting, as I have gone through so much pain. And I need my husband, son, dog and cat. They are my family and keep me going........

  • glostagirl
    glostagirl Member Posts: 93
    edited June 2013

    Much earlier in this thread I posted about my best friends mom, who in her 50's was diagnosed with imflammatory breast cancer and told she had only months to live.  She didn't believe it!  After a double mastectomy; and back then (40 +/- years) they took everything, she has no tissue remaining on her chest or under her arms.  No chemo.  No options for reconstruction.  She did her PT exercises everyday and was soon back playing tennis.  

    We recently celebrated her ~ 90th ~ Birthday!!!!  Her name is Jean she lives in Rockport, MA.  She is an inspiration and is one of my hero's!

  • fab1
    fab1 Member Posts: 43
    edited June 2013

    Glostsgirl

    This is truly an inspirational story . I will keep this story and read it during testing time during my journey of conquering this illness.

    please pass on my birthday wishes to her and let her know that her story has lifted my spirits.

    Thank you for sharing x

  • justagirl
    justagirl Member Posts: 633
    edited June 2013

    glostagirl: what an inspiration. Please tell Jean Happy 90th Birthday!

  • Nico1012
    Nico1012 Member Posts: 1,152
    edited June 2013

    Bump !

  • Nico1012
    Nico1012 Member Posts: 1,152
    edited July 2013

    Bumping because it so deserves to bumped !

  • Nel
    Nel Member Posts: 597
    edited July 2013

    A friend whose mother in law had IBC 35 years ago.  Chemo, double MX, no reconstruction.  No well into her 80's.  Doing great, just traveled across country for her granddaughter's high school graduation.

    We need these stories.  Justagirl - -you are right once DX, we are brave to get out of bed every AM.  BC doesn't rule my day or week, but it is always part of it.

    Be well

    Nel

  • justagirl
    justagirl Member Posts: 633
    edited July 2013

    Thank you Nel. I do believe once BC has entered our life, it just never quite goes away. My husband says I should write a book about how psychologically BC affects us, our life, our families, and even friends. The wanting to have life back like it was before BC, and at least for me, that will never be.

    I now try to live each day to the fullest - and do what I want to do when and how I want to do it. Hubby says I have always been that way but not really. 

    If I wrote a book I think I would call it 'Me and My Shadow (Breast Cancer).

    I have a hunger for stories like you just told of the woman who has enjoyed 35 more years of her life after BC.  They inspire me to get up in the morning and not let BC stop me from enjoying my life.

    You take care too - Nel.

  • marlenet
    marlenet Member Posts: 114
    edited July 2013

    What wonderful stories!  Thank you all Smile

  • sallyw
    sallyw Member Posts: 4
    edited August 2018

    Just had to report that I've just been discharged by my oncologist. It's been 10 years since I was diagnosed. 3.7 cm, IDC, Stage 2b, 1/15 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2neu 3+. I was on the herceptin clinical trial to see if it would help people with early bc and her2neu+. My oncologist said she's never had a person with my type of bc recur after 10 years so she's discharged me. I felt both insecure (seeing her once a year was sort of a security blanket) and giddy at the same time. She did say that while it's possible for me to get bc again, if it happened, it would be a new primary rather than a recurrence.

    WooHoo!


    Update 8/10/18:

    Still cancer free, 15 years later. Tomorrow is the anniversary of when I got my stitches out after my lumpectomy/axillary node dissection.

    Stay strong ladies and gentlemen!

  • netty46
    netty46 Member Posts: 68
    edited July 2013

    Very inspiring stories here. Very positive:)

  • fab1
    fab1 Member Posts: 43
    edited July 2013

    Congratulations sallyw.

    Its wonderful to hear stories like yours. Please di check in now and again to share your good news. As its so uplifting. X

  • rachel22
    rachel22 Member Posts: 28
    edited July 2013

    Congrats and thanks for sharing sallyw!!! Love reading these wonderful and inspiring stories!

  • LeslieVilla
    LeslieVilla Member Posts: 57
    edited July 2013

    Hi SallyW

    I'm her2nue+ with IDC 5 cm.... Did you have masectomy/lumpectomy or radiation? 

  • LeslieVilla
    LeslieVilla Member Posts: 57
    edited July 2013

    justagirl   oh my heart is breaking for you!  i'm praying you get healed some how some way  GOD SEND US A CURE NOW ALREADY!! 

  • justagirl
    justagirl Member Posts: 633
    edited July 2013

    LeslieVilla - I don't know if God would even listen to someone like me who gave up on the church when my Mom died when I was 10.

    I do feel the power of self and the love of my husband, son, close friends and people I come across, like you today.

    In the most important way I feel healed now as I can live my life without any restrictions due to the lung mets. If you read an earlier post of mine you would see my breast tumour count is down from 80 in Jan to 26 in April (end) and the lungs mets (100'2 of the little pinpoint suckers)) have not grown in number or size since we found out about them in January.

    It's so much a mind game. Don't feel sorry for me. Take your energy, make a plan for your surgery and treatment, and go for it!

  • Jeannie57
    Jeannie57 Member Posts: 1,314
    edited July 2013

    I volunteer at our local food bank. After I was diagnosed, THREE of the volunteers came up to me and said they had bc many years ago. You would never know. What an encouragement and sisterhood! Also, my mom had bc at age 72. She is 86 years old now and doing fine.

  • colt45
    colt45 Member Posts: 383
    edited July 2013

    My dad's 1st cousin was diagnosed at age 32 with breast cancer back in 1986.

    I do not know the pathology, but she was treated with mastectomy and chemo. I am not sure about other treatments.

    She was always athletic and active and she had her 1st child before the age of 30 and she breastfed. She was not a drinker and never smoked. She supposedly did everything 'right'. Still, she got BC. So nobody should blame themselves.



    Today, 27 years later, she is a married mom of 2 grown children, age 59 with her doctorate that she got along the way.

  • colt45
    colt45 Member Posts: 383
    edited July 2013

    My sister's high school BFF's mom was in her early-mid 40s when she was diagnosed.



    She had a mastectomy. Not sure of the adjuvant treatment. I believe chemo. This was back on the early 1980s. Before 1983.



    Today, she's 76. Still kicking.

  • Shari0707
    Shari0707 Member Posts: 260
    edited July 2013

    Bump

  • Nico1012
    Nico1012 Member Posts: 1,152
    edited July 2013

    bumpig it up !

  • Nico1012
    Nico1012 Member Posts: 1,152
    edited July 2013

    Bump ! !

  • Nico1012
    Nico1012 Member Posts: 1,152
    edited July 2013

    Bumping in honor of Carmelle who founded this wonderful thread !