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Stage III Cancer Survivors ...Five + Years and Out.

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Comments

  • karen1956
    karen1956 Member Posts: 4,606
    edited March 2015

    Melanie....yahoo on 11 years!!!! You are 2 years ahead of me....looking forward to growing old together....Karen

  • taniae
    taniae Member Posts: 60
    edited March 2015
    Congratulations Melanie and thanks so much for sharing.
  • kmur
    kmur Member Posts: 849
    edited March 2015

    Hi You all. It has been a long time since I have posted in BCO. I see some of my friends here!! In April I will officially see my five years from stage 3a grade 3 node positive breast cancer. I wish I could say I was always sure life would go on after hearing such news and I was strong and positive...but in truth..I thought I was a gonner for sure!! Thought I should return the bathing suits I had just purchased!! I remember sitting and just feeling so overwhelmed when my husband brought my laptop to me and said " I think you should read this".... It was BCO and it was logged on to ( what I now know to be a thread) haha..It was the Stage Three 5 years+ thread....I read every one and read the bottom of each post to see DX details. It was very helpful to see so many doing well with a stage three DX.....SO to any of you reading this today who may have just heard the same news I did 5 years ago.......Please know many of us are here living,laughing and carrying on!! I found a group here on bco called the 40ish survivors and to this day we continue to stay in touch and laugh together...so while if given the choice...I would rather not have breast cancer, but if I had not ....I would not be the same person and I would not have had such wonderful people to join me on the path!!...PS I have those bathing suits and I have enjoyed 5 years in them ( sad to have the same ones for 5 years isn't it!! ) haha!!.....Best wishes to you all! See you on the tenn year board!!

  • kmur
    kmur Member Posts: 849
    edited March 2015

    Ten year board...not tenn year board!!

  • Momine
    Momine Member Posts: 2,845
    edited March 2015

    Melanie, thanks so much for taking the time to come back and say "hi!" May you stay healthy and happy!

  • kiwimum
    kiwimum Member Posts: 485
    edited March 2015

    Yay kmur!! Nice to see you here. Congratulations my friend. I plan to join you on the ten year board.

  • ladyb1234
    ladyb1234 Member Posts: 1,239
    edited March 2015

    Congrats to all the10yr survivors.

    Always, thanks for keeping this thread on track it is much appreciated from a newbie as it offers encouragement reading the success stories. I have visited this. Thread and the 5 yr thread since last June but first time posting.

  • kmur
    kmur Member Posts: 849
    edited March 2015

    Hi there Kiwi!! We have been a long way together!! I would be proud to hang out with you on the ten year board! I have not updated my surgery stats etc as I rarely visit BCO anymore. I had BMX with immediate TE / 6 rounds chemo /28 rads/ switch to silicone implants/fat grafting/5 year Fareston ( like tamoxifen ) . Just recently had a full hysterectomy after having a cyst on ovary also the SOFT study suggests ovary suppression is helpful for ER ++++ now doing the AI BUT.....Almost five years with no further signs of BC! THat seems amazing .... IF you were to read the old stats posted on the web ...you would think ALL of us stage three gals would be gone now. Lady B good to see you I hope you are doing well and know there IS a light at the end of the breast cancer tunnel . We had a group on BCO ( all in our 40's) we continued our group on facebook . I think it is so important to know and see others who have had a stage 3 DX and are thriving. Here we are!! Best wishes to ALL of the Stage three gals .

  • Delvzy
    Delvzy Member Posts: 454
    edited March 2015

    congratulations Melanie and thank you fir posting it means the world to so many of us

  • KittyDog
    KittyDog Member Posts: 656
    edited March 2015

    I had my scans last week and they were good. The only change was in my shoulder and I had to have an x ray yesterday to make sure it was degeneration starting but like they felt. I was DX in November 2009 with Stage 3C IDC. I did 4 rounds of adriamycin and 3 rounds of Taxol before chem was taken away from me. I spent 4 days in the hospital due to my bad reaction to taxol. Because I was so sick, I only had a unilateral mastectomy followed by 35 rounds of radiation. I had a 10 centimeter tumor to start and after chemo it had shrunk to 5cm with scattered cancer cells and one of five nodes were positive.

    I am celebrating early my five years since scans were good. March 29 is the day my oncologist considers my NED status.

  • JFV
    JFV Member Posts: 341
    edited March 2015

    Well, I am a couple of days early but I'll post today. March 28th will be my 5 year anniversary. I remember my body shook in fear for two weeks after my diagnosis. I am not an optimist so I was sure I would never survive this long. Wishing all those newly diagnosed strength and peace !

  • wintersocks
    wintersocks Member Posts: 434
    edited March 2015

    kittydog and JFV,

    This is good to hear! It means a lot when people come back to tell us, how they are. I am not yet 3 years out, and JDV I think I am still shaking!

    Here is looking to your next 5 years.

  • Delvzy
    Delvzy Member Posts: 454
    edited March 2015

    congrats so grateful you posted. Yes u remember that terrible feeling

  • ladyb1234
    ladyb1234 Member Posts: 1,239
    edited March 2015

    Congrats Kittdog and JFV, thank you and so grateful you posted. It means so much to those of us just starting this journey.

  • Crazywabbit
    Crazywabbit Member Posts: 54
    edited March 2015

    just curious how many 5+ year stage 3 survivors had lumpectomies rather then mastectomies.

  • Momine
    Momine Member Posts: 2,845
    edited March 2015

    "Amy," Now they have turned quackery clinics into MLM schemes? If that clinic is so great, why doesn't your friend Sherry just post the name and phone number on her blog or, revolutionary thought, give specifics about the treatments?

  • ladyb1234
    ladyb1234 Member Posts: 1,239
    edited March 2015

    Momine, I am questioning the validity of "Amy's" post. I went to the blog as I am researching complementary approaches while on Hormonal Therapy. There is no real information and the blog wants contact info instead of providing details and name of clinic to do allow the reader to gather additional info. In addition, it is interesting that "Amy" just joined and enters this type of post. Saddens me but I don't think this is legit? Or I should say I agree with you just a marketing ploy which really really sad and angers me.

  • kar123
    kar123 Member Posts: 72
    edited March 2015

    Agree Momine! If the story is true, I am very happy for her friend, but as soon as I see "Mexican Clinic" I would run like hell.

  • whollyhealing
    whollyhealing Member Posts: 1
    edited April 2015

    Hi I am new here. I know that there is always hope. If you are breathing and living there is hope. Better to think of the glass half full rather than half empty. There are so many things to do to empower ourselves. The further I move away from the conventional system the better I feel.

  • Skydawngrl
    Skydawngrl Member Posts: 1
    edited April 2015

    For me the journey is just starting. First they thought I had DCIS insitu, because I had 2 sisters who had breast cancer I opted for a double mascectomy which I thought was going above and beyond what was necessary. Maybe it was a gut instinct because when the pathology report came back after a bi-lateral mascectomy, they discovered a 5 cm area of cancer outside the duct, it did not show up on a 3D mammogram, breast calcifications are complicated but being told I was stage 3 cancer was a shock, then finding out I was triple negative was another shock, i had a few positive nodes, which did not show up in original pathology report, once it was sent out the node positive was discovered. These days the do a sentinel node dissection and give 6 months of chemo followed by 3 months of radiation to treat any cancer that might remain! I am on chemo treatment 3, I have a long journey ahead but remain positive! I pray I can beat this! The triple negative diagnosis was troubling but I recently read about a clinical trial for a vaccine for triple negative breast cancer from the Mayo clinic in Florida. This gives me a lot of hope

  • AliceS
    AliceS Member Posts: 74
    edited April 2015

    So happy to see your success story. Keep up the good work!! Am looking for her2 positive, Stage 3a (4/24 nodes), Grade 3 long term survivors. Had a lumpectomy Oct. 2014, had chemo, continuing with Herceptin the rest of the year, finishing radiation now. Trying to be positive, but do see the statistics. My best wishes to you for many more happy years!

  • taniae
    taniae Member Posts: 60
    edited April 2015
    AliceS I have a very good friend who was HER2 +, grade 3 with 23 positive nodes and is now 7 years out and doing really well. She was such a great support to me while I was going through treatment. Just keep the positivity going and don't worry about the statistics.
  • lkc
    lkc Member Posts: 182
    edited April 2015

    Alice. I was dxed with stage IIIC with 12 nodes positive er/pr negative and HER2 pos in 2005!!!+ All's well.

  • Bad_At_Usernames
    Bad_At_Usernames Member Posts: 241
    edited April 2015

    Thanks ladies! I also love hearing Her2+ success stories.

  • Madison4568
    Madison4568 Member Posts: 44
    edited April 2015

    I am 23 (diagnosed at 22 in Oct. 2014) with Inflammatory BC, triple negative, BRCA1. I am just finishing up treatment, I have 8 more radiation treatments to go! Thank you for sharing your success stories they are very inspirational! Hope all of you are having a great day :)

  • sugarplum
    sugarplum Member Posts: 75
    edited May 2015

    Hello everybody - I don't quite qualify for the 10-year thread, so decided I should post here after passing my 9-year cancerversary last week. I know how much it helped me when I was first diagnosed as Stage IIIC to read stories from others with similar stats who were thriving. Even though I've spent the whole time waiting for the other shoe to drop, I've also managed to visit Costa Rica, celebrate my 30-year wedding anniversary, buy a cabin on the Oregon coast & have my hip replaced...among other things!

    If this helps even one scared newbie like I was, then my post will be well worth it :)

    Hope & hugs to all - Julie

  • sherry67
    sherry67 Member Posts: 370
    edited May 2015

    Julie,


    Wonderful to here ..congrats to you😊😊😊😊

  • maggs09
    maggs09 Member Posts: 74
    edited May 2015

    Sugarplum, and all of you ladies posting here- thank you for finding time to tell us about your anniversaries. I'm only 3 years out (since dx) and even though I enjoy every minute of my life... I still live in fear.

    Stories like yours give me hope that cancer doesn't always have to come back😊;


  • taniae
    taniae Member Posts: 60
    edited May 2015
    Thank you for sharing sugarplum it means so much to us. I love this thread.
  • Bec65
    Bec65 Member Posts: 84
    edited May 2015

    Thank you to everyone who comes back to share.....your stories are SO encouraging!

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