Stage IIb and 5+ years out, anyone?
Comments
-
as I saw here, most of the survivors were diagnosed by grade 2 or less and low ki67. is that mean the grade 3 cancer cells will come back locally or metastasized ?
0 -
hope99 - go back to the beginning of this thread - many grade 3 people without recurrence - including me even though node positive and Her2+, I will be 8 years out in September.
0 -
Hi SpecialK. good to see you. I'm still doing well too. Will be 8 years NED on 8/31. Just not sure if I'm a stage IIB anymore. I think my staging might have improved with new staging. Might be a 1B now (triple positive, no nodes but larger tumor).
0 -
Hey lago! Good to "see" you too! I still consider myself IIB, my understanding is that even with the new staging criteria those of us with a previous diagnosis are not re-staged since all the prognostic data that applied to us was based on that staging at that time. Sort of tomato - tomahto, potato - patahto, I guess. I am also not sure if the new staging is being universally used yet. The good news is that you and I are 8 years out and doing well!
0 -
I Love when you ladies post, give us so much hope. I will be 2 yrs in Dec, in the beginning know if I would make this far.......so Thanks you ladies for posting
0 -
Hey guys! How are you all doing? Haven’t been on her in a while? Specialk good to see you! I will be 4 years since the day I was diagnosed at the end of the month. Stage 2a Er/pr+ Grade 3 1 node positive. I still worry! Can anyone share what this new staging is?
0 -
thinking - here is a link from BCO that explains the new staging guidelines. Basically, more information is now incorporated into the stage - I assume, based on additional data. As a previously diagnosed patient, you won't be re-staged, this is for those newly diagnosed if their pathologist has adopted this updated method.
https://www.breastcancer.org/research-news/new-staging-system-incorporates-her2-status
0 -
Thanks! If I read correctly it seems like this is for those having neo adjuvant treatment. What about those having treatment after
0 -
thinking - here is another link with more detail about the changes, this is not just for neoadjuvent treatment, the BCO article just had that focus:
0 -
My girlfriend ONLY had surgery for her stage 2b breast cancer...she is 12 years out and doing well.
0 -
Hi Ladies
I just reached the 5 year survival mark. I am not sure what date to use so I chose the end of chemo which was August 2013. I had a small tumor in both breasts and lymph node involvement. With my family history, I chose to have BMX with immediate reconstruction two months after chemo. I lost my mom and a sister to BC so I am grateful to be alive.
0 -
Hi Sisters! I am a II b. Had a mastectomy on Oct. 23/14 and started Letrozole Dec/14, so I guess it's been just about four years.My lymph glands were O.K. I was estrogen positive. Tumour was 3.5 cm. The side effects of letrozole were mainly hot sweats, fatigue and insomnia at the start, but I find now after 4 years that my joints, and muscles are much more painful than before. My oncologist recommended a wait and watch procedure rather than radiology and I chose to use this method with chemo as well. This was pretty scary, but my gut told me that was the way to go. The sweats improved after I was prescribed Vanlafaxine (low dose antidepressant), but the fatigue and insomnia continue. I eat mostly veg and fruit, nuts, seeds etc. but still have gained weight. I also do my version of yoga and stretching exercises as well as walking 2 miles a day when weather permits. Definitely you feel better if you can keep the pounds down and exercise. I really grow angry when I see advertisers making money out of cancer patients with their ads on TV and newspapers. Yes, they turn some money over to cancer research, but the majority goes in the pockets of big business and in the process they scare the shit out of vulnerable people who do not constantly need to be reminded that they have cancer. I am 82 years of age and a happy wife, mother, grandmother, and gg grandmother. God bless you all.
0 -
hi palliser! I had Mastectomy oct 232014 as well. I had kne node positive 16 negative. Stage 2a grade 3. IDC. 11mm with dome DCIS as well. Did 4 rounds of TC. No rads. I also am on letrozole. Lots of joint issues and bone pain Which always makes you worry!
0 -
Taylor77 - I know what you mean. Im 41, my daughter is 10 and she just lost her dad to colon cancer. BC does not run in my family nor do I carry the genes. I want to be here for my baby. Her worst fear is being alone. I will fight and endure this poison chemo to be here for myself and expecially her.
0 -
Bumping, Come on ladies lets here your stories of kicking BC ass
0 -
Greetings!
On Jan. 9, 2019, I will be 10 years out from my diagnosis. ER/PR+, multi-centric, 5 lesions, LMS, 48 years at diagnosis, A/C/T chemo.
I was terrified of recurrence the first couple of years out, didn’t think much about it for the past few year, but think about it rather frequently again due to late recurrence data on ER/PR+ cancer.
0 -
I think that worry never will go away no matter what. My son-in-law's grandma had breast cancer and had refused to go off meds because of worry even when onco said she could and she was already 75 years old because she was so fearful. She died from something else and it never came back, but she took those meds 7 years past the time she was officially "released". They decided it couldn't hurt her so let her do it for her own peace of mind.
0 -
Ladies
Thanks for posting I love these 5-10 yrs stores as I'm Sure others do to
0 -
My friend stage 3, 10+ years.
My other friend stage 2b, 12+ years.
Both doing great. One works fulltime as an RN. The other stay at home mom.
0 -
Jo
Thank you so much for posting these great survivol stories
0 -
honeybeaw- most of the time I don't even think about my cancer. YET when I do think about it I can go to a dark place very quickly. When that happens I like to hear positive stories.
0 -
Jo
I don't think it like I did but as you I do go to a very dark place. I was 2 years out from dx this past Dec and still some days its gets a hard hold on me . It pisses me off that I let it control me like that at time. I try to stay very busy not allowing any down time until about 9pm which has helped .
And Yes I love the positive stories, I also have several friends that have all survived 10+ yrs for a couple and they were both Stage 3 at dx
Thanks for responding
0 -
Honey- mostly I consider myself very fortunate. I've always tried to focus on the positive and push myself through the tough times. I cannot lie. Occasionally the" what ifs hit me". It usually occurs about once a month at 2 or 3 in the morning. Fortunately it never lasts long. I never want to reach the point where the what ifs control a large portion of my life. it still pisses me off when it does happen.
1 -
Trying to be positive and hearing people are ok can definitely help. Easy to go to dark places.
0 -
It always amazes me when people find out I have cancer they start telling me about their friends or family members who have died from breast cancer. I usually respond with" I'm sorry to hear of your loss" and then I walk away.
0 -
Good thinking. I was given a book by a "supportive" co-worker when I was first diagnosed. I think she did not look at it but the person dies in the book from cancer. Had to not read it and throw away. Did not even want to donate somewhere.
0 -
bcincolorado- I don't believe people are deliberately cruel. It would be nice if more people would think before they speak. I would have tossed the book also.
0 -
If someone starts telling me a story of someone that had had Cancer I always tell them unless this has a happy ending just stop now . I have pissed many people off but I don't care I don't want to hear of the stories of horrible cancer deaths.
While I agree most people don't mean to hurt you they simply don't think before they start talking.
The day after I told my boss she brings me one of those Breast Cancer for dummies books, it was 10 + years old, I thanked her for it as she did mean well and threw it in the trash on the way home. .
Of course on the other hand I also hate it when people tell me Oh you will be fine its all going to work out, like they friggen know ( Hubbies way of dealing with it total denial )
I have tests at the end of the month and I tend to get very nervous before test as they always run that CA15-3 which I have a love hate relationship with . Sometimes it comes back normal but most of the time its high so of course you have to wait 6 weeks to retake and its always comes back normal but you are in emotional hell for 6 weeks I do not think its a very reliable test but my clinic keeps telling me its there best line of defense for check to make sure that the cancer has not came back. Im thinking I need to find a new clinic?
Have any of you had experience with this test and what are your thoughts.
0 -
Honeyb-I had a CA 15-3 done prior to chemo. I had a score of 10. This was 3 weeks post BMX. I haven't had a tumor marker test done since then. I've also heard these tests are very unreliable. If they're so unreliable why do doctors continue to use them?
0 -
My MO has me do them each time I go in and has all along. I think it is a standard. Was not high pre-mastectomy either so I have not clue.
0
