2013 Survivors!!!

juneaubugg
juneaubugg Member Posts: 517

I was going to create this thread under the "Recovery, Renewal & Hope" thread, but then I decided that the IDC forum is our "home". We started this journey here as the "2012 Sisters" and grew, and grew, and grew. Although truly sad to see how many of us there are, each new member of our little family has been given the gift of a place to "let it all hang out". We shared our hopes, fears, anger, laughter, tears, questions, frustrations and any and all other crazy thoughts that passed through our chemo, rads, medicated brains!

As we start to move out of battle mode and into survivor mode I am hoping to continue our journey here. After all this time I can't imagine my life with out checking in here to "see" you all and hear about your day. Although we might not have as much free time to be on here daily - we can still be here for each other.

So to my 2012 Sisters (and I know for some of us our treatment will trickle in to 2013) but I say Woo Hoo.... We are all SURVIVORS!! We made it through this year! and we met our primary goal; to KCA!!!!

image

image

«134567276

Comments

  • Chrisrenee77
    Chrisrenee77 Member Posts: 693
    edited November 2012

    Thank you Juneau! Here's to our new home for survivors.

  • Tazzy
    Tazzy Member Posts: 1,442
    edited November 2012

    Here's to us - cheers !! 

  • Joanne_53
    Joanne_53 Member Posts: 714
    edited November 2012

    Ditto .. Here's to us !!!



  • Scottiee1
    Scottiee1 Member Posts: 1,790
    edited November 2012

    Ditto from me ....here's to a long and healthy life for all of us.

  • llr010200
    llr010200 Member Posts: 34
    edited November 2012

    Sounds wonderful to call myself a SURVIVOR!!!! Sooooo... Here's to us!

  • luvmygoats
    luvmygoats Member Posts: 2,484
    edited November 2012

    Juneau - Thanks for making this. And - for the record - the change in you over the last few months is nothing short of a miracle! You go girl.

  • 2FriedEggs
    2FriedEggs Member Posts: 324
    edited November 2012

    YeaH! The gangs all here!. Thanks Juneau.

  • juneaubugg
    juneaubugg Member Posts: 517
    edited November 2012

    It's feeling more like home already!!

  • maryah930
    maryah930 Member Posts: 122
    edited November 2012

    it seems like just yesterday I found this website and joing the Just Diagnosed thread.  Each new diagnosis, treatment, etc. had me joining a new thread as I progressed through my journey.  Thank you all for being there and although I have a way to go, it feels great to be part of the class of 2013 survivors!

  • Outdamnedspot
    Outdamnedspot Member Posts: 164
    edited November 2012

    Thanks Juneaubugg for getting this going.

     And Cheers to us...the most remarkable group of women I have yet to meet!

    I am grateful to each and everyone of you for being here.  This has been the only website I have been on...can't imagine being anywhere else.

  • juneaubugg
    juneaubugg Member Posts: 517
    edited November 2012

    Outdamnedspot... Here, here!!! (Yeah: what she said!)

  • Joanne_53
    Joanne_53 Member Posts: 714
    edited November 2012

    I have been here since December 2011 -- thank goodness for this site because it has been one of my best friends.  Everyone here provided me with so much support and love and guidance that my "in person" friends and family could not. 

  • websister
    websister Member Posts: 405
    edited November 2012

    Thanks, Juneaubug - I needed this today, so happy to be able to join the 2013 Survivors!

  • Scottiee1
    Scottiee1 Member Posts: 1,790
    edited November 2012

    I echo Joanne's words.....don't know what I would have done without everyone here to listen to me, give me advice and an ear when I just wanted to rant.

  • Chrisrenee77
    Chrisrenee77 Member Posts: 693
    edited November 2012

    Scottie and Joanna- I agree whole heartedly. Without you all this past couple of months, all the advice and people that understood what I was feeling and what I was going through I would be lost. You all mean the world to me.

  • maryah930
    maryah930 Member Posts: 122
    edited November 2012

    I really wish this site had a LIKE button!

  • Scottiee1
    Scottiee1 Member Posts: 1,790
    edited November 2012

    Chrisrenee.......right back at ya💓

  • marianelizabeth
    marianelizabeth Member Posts: 1,156
    edited November 2012

    juneaubugg, thank you for our new thread. I was just blogging about my thanks for the support I have received since I found my lump exactly 4 months ago. But this place is a different sort of support that only we have together. I have still got a long road ahead but the road has been and will be made easier by all of you.

  • ramols
    ramols Member Posts: 310
    edited November 2012

    Juneau - thanks for getting this one going. Still have more treatment to go and won't be done with active treatment until the spring. But like you all - I feel like a survivor. I'm technically cancer-free. Just need to continue this journey to give myself the longest possible life span I can. I too echo all the sentiments above. I think the only days since my diagnosis that I haven't checked in here were when I had no internet/power during Sandy. :)

    HUGS!!!

  • jpmomof3
    jpmomof3 Member Posts: 198
    edited November 2012

    Hey ladies,



    It's been a while since I posted. But Juneau had invited me to this group. I think it's great! It is still a little weird to call myself a survivor but I qualify. 3 weeks from last rads, three months since last surgery, 20 weeks since last chemo. Things are more normal. Not back to the way I was of course. Cancer isn't quite as time consuming for me but it is still on my mind. I measure my arm for signs of lymphedema every day. No sign yet, fingers crossed. I am taxing tamoxifen as of Friday. No side effects yet after three doses. Fingers crossed. Waiting for the hair to thin out on that stuff. Waiting for hot flashes if they are coming. Good bye estrogen my old friend. It was nice knowing you, or not. Maybe estrogen tried to kill me. My skin is all healed from rads. Lets hope this all worked.



    I am running four miles a day. I am chasing after my kids all day. Working. Life. Watching my hair grow in wavy and somewhat grayer than before... This is what I fought nine months for. I am glad to be done with the active stuff. Really glad.



    I have a lot to catch up on the 2012 sisters thread. Love.

  • nkb
    nkb Member Posts: 1,561
    edited November 2012

    Glad to be here also, and hope to be a survivor for quite awhile. But, it has changed me.

    What do I want to do with the rest of my life?

  • teeballmom
    teeballmom Member Posts: 56
    edited November 2012

    Thank you! So glad we're here together!



  • lisa2012
    lisa2012 Member Posts: 288
    edited November 2012

    10 months exactly since the MRI guided biopsy showed cancer...what a long strange trip it's been, and while not as funky, still IS. Happy to be through it- KCA- but still processing. Fingernails, hair, all that still not regular. reconstructed breasts still slowly seeming like part of my body.

    Great to see you all!

  • liefie
    liefie Member Posts: 761
    edited November 2012

    Juneau, a toast to you - thanks for starting this! On Dec. 19, 2011, I had to hear the terrible news, 'You have breast cancer as well as endometrial cancer.' When I look back on it, it feels surreal, almost as if it happened to someone else, but I have the scars to prove that I had fought this battle, and that I am now a survivor. You people on here feel like friends, and Websister whom I met here and then in person, has become a dear friend. Can you imagine a group of men talking and venting like we do here? I can't, and it's a pity. It is so good to be able to let our feelings out, let off steam, and let the pressure come down in this non-judgmental, sympathetic environment. I am so grateful to you all. You enrich my life. Gesundheit! (German toast for 'here's to good health')

  • Tazzy
    Tazzy Member Posts: 1,442
    edited November 2012

    Wanted to share this quote with you.  A very close friend sent me a card with these words.   I think we can all relate:

    A SCAR DOES NOT FORM ON THE DYING.

    A SCAR MEANS 'I SURVIVED'.

    (((hugs)))

  • iatigger
    iatigger Member Posts: 269
    edited November 2012

    Tazzy, I love that Quote! How true it is!

  • rn4babies
    rn4babies Member Posts: 72
    edited November 2012

    I was diagnosed on 7/11/11 and again on 3/6/12. After 2 lumpectomies, 4 rounds of chemo, and 58 radiation treatments within a year, I can now join the survivor group.  This site has been the most valuable source of support and information. I have recommended it to some of my newly diagnosed friends.  No matter what the stage or type of breast cancer you have, we are all in this together!

  • KarenZ0305
    KarenZ0305 Member Posts: 345
    edited November 2012

    Juneau thank you for this thread! I agree with the sister who said it earlier you've come a long way baby!



    Tazzy - that quote is wonderful and something I really needed to read today. I will keep it forever!

  • juneaubugg
    juneaubugg Member Posts: 517
    edited November 2012

    Tazzy: you also manage to come up with the best quotes/graphics.



    Can we get a group hug?!

  • stride
    stride Member Posts: 151
    edited November 2012

    Merriam-Webster defines "survive" as:

    1. to remain alive or in existence. (Living is a prerequisite for typing, so I guess we all fit that.)

    2. to continue to function or prosper.

    Well hey, if they're giving us a choice, let's all prosper! Thanks juneaubugg for setting up the thread.