Stage III Cancer Survivors ...Five + Years and Out.
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LW422 - Hi, and thanks so much for the hugs and good wishes.
If I make it 5 years I guess I just don't know now if I'll be a 5 year stage 3 (original) or stage 4 (new) diagnosis. I guess 5 years survival is 5 years survival regardless.
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12 years out and coming back to this website to spread hope. This is where I found comfort and made some amazing friends.
My daughters were young children and most recently turned 18 and 21 years. On Friday my youngest leaves home for College and we will be empty nesters. There will be lots of tears from me but on to the next stage.
I am still under regular 12-month checkups with my oncologist and taking daily Examestane due to my lymph node involvement.
Wishing you all the best x
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I remember five years ago when I first started looking at this thread... hoping more than anything I'd still be here. Well, lo and behold I have made it my first five years out with a Stage lllb/c diagnosis! Not only that, my wife and I are expecting our first child, who will be born using a gestational carrier who is a friend, in October!! Thanks for all the support each of you have provided and please remember to dream. Your dreams may not unfold the way you imagined, but they can definitely still happen. Much love to all of you!!
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Congratulations to you and your wife, Orlando! With all good wishes for the future!
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Like many who posted above/before me, I'm thrilled to have reached the 5 year mark today!
This community, with the threads on chemo, surgery, radiation, cold capping and especially this and the 15 year Stage III threads gave me hope, encouragement and first hand knowledge of what to expect.
5 years ago my daughter had just gotten engaged. Last year my grandson was born which was a blessing I could only hope for 5 years ago and I'm so, so thankful!
Much love to all who are still on the treatment journey and for those on the other side!
Kim
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KDrake1007 - Couldn't be more happy for you - congratulations! This is an inspiration and offer of hope to so many of us. Thanks for letting us all know of your good fortune.
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I'm thrilled to find these threads! Congratulations to you all! Woohoo!
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It's wonderful to see so many people doing so well. Thank you to all who have shared their stories
I was wondering if anybody has reached 5 years despite a poor response to neoadjuvant chemo. I'm looking for some hope any inspiration!
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Following Neoadjuvant chemo, Mx surgery pathology showed I didn't achieve complete pathological response. I'm now going on 9 years since treatment finished. Still NED. You have plenty of reasons to be hopeful. Best wishes.
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Thank you so much for the reply. It's really appreciated. I'm so pleased to hear you are doing well.
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I'm 10 years out now and didn't have complete response to chemo which is often the case with ER+ cancers. It flattened the tumor but I still had a lot left. I had a local reoccurrence when I went off of Femara after 5 years. I'm now on Flaslodex and doing well.
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well done graceb1. Congratulations. I’m coming up for 10 next year. My local spread was treated along with the IBC. Like you, the tumor was still active post chemo. Now nine years on tamox and NED.
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I'm in my 9th year and besides a couple of mammograms scares that turned out to be nothing, I'm doing well. I will finish the Arimidex at the end of 2024 (next year) and I'm not sure how to feel about that!
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I am 5 years out today and almost in shock to be writing this. When I was diagnosed (Stage 3A, low ER+, PR-, HER2+++, 4 positive nodes), I would read this thread and others like it hoping, wishing dreaming, praying that I would still be around to post on it. Five years seemed so far away. Here I am! I am doing well and living large. I don’t hang out on the threads much anymore - even though they were what kept me going in the early days. I DO think about the friends I made here and the ladies that supported me along the way. I honor those we have lost and cherish the memories made. There is life beyond breast cancer and I am blessed to be here living it!
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Congratulations frmthahart! I can relate to those early days and thinking that 5 years was so far away, and hoping against hope that I could be here to post on this thread.
It's been 5 years for me now, and I am posting on this thread, but not as I had hoped, and not sure that this really "counts" as being stage 3 and five years out. Last January I crossed that line to stage 4, but I am still here for now as my 5 year diagnosis anniversary hits. I don't know whether that is stage 3 "five year survivor and out" or not, but here I am. Only wish that I could still say that I am "only" stage 3 and still here. Fingers crossed that I can get at least as much time at stage 4 as I did at stage 3. The odds aren't good of course, but it does happen.
Hope all of you stage 3 people are continuing to do well and keep chugging along, well beyond this 5 years!
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I am one month away from being 5 years out from diagnosis. Stage 3A, ER-, PR-, Her2+ with 6 positive lymph nodes. My life is great, and I rarely think about those dark days of treatment. My mom just hit her 25 year anniversary of Stage 3C, ER and PR+ lobular BC with 13 positive lymph nodes. It is possible to not only survive, but thrive after treatment!
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Today marks 7 years since my diagnosis, and I am doing very well! I'm still on tamoxifen, and managing lymphedema. But there are many days when I really don't even think about cancer at all.
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Today is exactly 20 years NED since my diagnosis, I couldn't even have imagined this would be me at that time, but here I am! There was nothing special about me or my treatment, other than huge grade 3 tumor and I was 35 years old, so yes, it can and does happen.
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Wow @mpetago, congratulations on your 20 years NED! Wishing you and all the others celebrating milestones here the very best of luck and health! 🤗
The Mods
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Thank you mpetago. Your post brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for giving us all hope and I wish you many more years NED.
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That's exactly why I come here every year to update, there were women here then who did the same for me and it meant everything!!
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I am 5 years clear today and feeling pretty good. When I was first diagnosed I never thought I’d see five years but here I am. Just checking in to say hi.
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I’m over 7 years since diagnosis now. Just want to give hope to the newly diagnosed. It is so scary but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Not sure why my diagnosis isn’t showing but I had IDC er/pr positive. Stage 3C, 11 positive nodes, 4cm tumour, grade 3.
Karen x
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Congratulations, and thank you for sharing, @ausykaren!
If you'd like your diagnosis to appear in your signature, here we have instructions on How to create and edit your diagnostic and treatment post signature. If you need any assistance with this, feel free to reach out, and we'll be happy to help!
The Mods
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I just had my 5-year anniversary this week. I met with my oncologist and am transitioning to annual visits without blood work etc. A little nervous regarding this new normal but so grateful to still be enjoying my life. I had a 5 cm tumor that only registered 1 1/2 cm on all imagining so was definitely surprised and extremely scared. I participated in the Pallas Trial due to a low Ki67 of 2 percent and MammaPrint recommending no benefit from chemotherapy. I took Ibrance and Letrozole for 6 months prior to surgery, 95 percent of my tumor was dead at the time of surgery. I hope this offers hope to anyone who is currently undergoing treatment. Take Care.
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7 years ago on March 15 I got the call that my needle biopsy showed IDC. Surgery, chemo & radiation filled 2018. It was so hard at the time to imagine a future beyond being a patient. I followed the 5+, 10+ & 15+ survival threads with such hope. Now trying to offer the same hope to those in treatment now.
We welcomed our second grandchild last week! Beyond grateful and feeling blessed!
Kim
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