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Topic: "The most ENCOURAGING things said to you during your journey"

Forum: Who or What Inspires You? — Share your personal story, diagnosis, and treatment path, and stories of survival, hope, and success to encourage and inspire others!

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Posted on: Sep 7, 2011 07:04PM - edited Jun 7, 2012 10:29PM by ToriGirl

Posted on: Sep 7, 2011 07:04PM - edited Jun 7, 2012 10:29PM by ToriGirl

ToriGirl wrote:

Sisters,

I think we can always use another "feel good" thread, so I thought this one would be a good one to go with...

I know we already have a thread for the dumbest and worst things people have said to you during our journeys, but how about the most encouraging things said to or done for you?

I've read many posts throughout BC.org where doctors, nurses, techs, therapists, friends, spouses, partners, family members and other survivors have been exactly where we have needed them to be at the right time and said exactly what we needed to hear when we needed it the most.  (Or for that matter, have DONE exactly what what we needed them to do without even asking)

These are the words and acts of kindness that have stuck with us, whether it was from early on when we first got our diagnosis to when we ended active treatment and started to move on with our new "normal". They kept us going and continue to do so, as we move onto better, happier, and healthier days ahead.

Please share these comments, stories, remarks, acts of kindness, quotes, (whatever you'd like), that have most encouraged you and still encourage you today...OR share how you have "paid it forward" to someone else who is going through this journey, when they needed it most.  Whatever your heart has to share, please feel free to do so.

What you share today, may be the one thing that someone on the board needs to hear right now.

Thanks so much! 

Tori 

DE COLORES! 

"Sorrow carves the opening for joy later..." Dx 6/4/2010, IDC, 1cm, Stage IIA, 1/11 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2-
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Sep 8, 2011 03:36PM - edited Sep 8, 2011 03:52PM by proudmom_wife

"Live to Live!" - encourages me to enjoy life.

"Thank you, because of you sharing your journey I had my first mammogram and will do so on a yearly basis along with annual physicals."  - encourages me to not hide or be a victim.

Edited to explain why I found these encouraging to me.

Dx 10/1/2010, IDC, Left, 1cm, Stage IIA, Grade 2, 2/4 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2- Surgery 11/17/2010 Mastectomy; Mastectomy (Left); Prophylactic mastectomy; Prophylactic mastectomy (Right); Reconstruction (Left): Tissue Expander; Reconstruction (Right): Tissue Expander Chemotherapy 1/5/2011 AC + T (Taxol) Surgery 4/25/2011 Reconstruction (Left): Tissue Expander; Reconstruction (Right): Tissue Expander Radiation Therapy 5/16/2011 Hormonal Therapy 7/1/2011 Tamoxifen pills (Nolvadex, Apo-Tamox, Tamofen, Tamone)
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Sep 8, 2011 03:59PM - edited Sep 8, 2011 04:01PM by QueenOfHope

One day, at the end of last summer, my husband and I were browsing in an art/gift shop in this great little town near our favorite beach.  I was about to walk out the door, when I heard my husband say, "Hey, hon? Did you see this?"  I looked over and saw this quote, beautifully framed with a few pressed flowers inside:

 "Perhaps strength doesn't reside in having never been broken -- but in the courage required to grow strong in the broken parts."  (Anonymous)

--Shawn-- Despite the bone & liver mets (to say nothing of the hip replacement!), I'm still living a mostly normal life. Carpe diem! Dx 2/10/2010, Stage IV, mets, ER+/PR+, HER2- Targeted Therapy 3/19/2010 Avastin (bevacizumab) Chemotherapy 3/19/2010 Taxol (paclitaxel) Hormonal Therapy 11/1/2011 Arimidex (anastrozole) Chemotherapy 6/16/2014 Xeloda (capecitabine) Hormonal Therapy 11/21/2014 Faslodex (fulvestrant)
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Sep 8, 2011 06:34PM spendygirl wrote:

Awesome.  I hope it's okay if I borrow some quotes and put them on my FB page.  Ya know, this disease plays with you, at least with me.  Some days I am so strong, other days I am angry, sometimes scared and sad.  It will be so great to follow this thread and find encouraging words.  Thank you so much.

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Sep 8, 2011 07:02PM SusansGarden wrote:

What a nice idea for a thread, ToriGirl.  I'm enjoying reading the posts. I kinda like the quote "When something traumatic happens to us, we must find a way to use it for good, or we will continue to be its victim."  I don't like dwelling on "what ifs", regrets, or "why me" in general.  So with BC it was the same.   

I can't think of anything specific said to me that was encouraging right now.  Though when the PS said I was a candidate for a nipple sparing mastectomy...that was definitely encouraging at the time! 

"If you want to forget all your other troubles, wear too tight shoes." Dx 10/6/2010, IDC, 1cm, Stage IA, Grade 2, 0/3 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2- Surgery 11/30/2010 Mastectomy: Left; Prophylactic mastectomy: Right; Reconstruction (left): Tissue expander placement; Reconstruction (right): Tissue expander placement Hormonal Therapy 2/1/2011 Surgery 7/10/2013 Prophylactic ovary removal
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Sep 8, 2011 07:25PM PinkShirtNow wrote:

I felt so much better when I asked my doctor why she chose to be a breast surgeon.  She told me that the joy in her job is looking at me today and knowing how well I will be doing a year from now.  I cried when she said that because it gave me hope.

"The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of us but those who win battles we know nothing about." Dx 7/25/2011, 3cm, Stage IIIB, Grade 2, 5/9 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2- Chemotherapy 9/1/2011 Abraxane (albumin-bound or nab-paclitaxel), Adriamycin (doxorubicin), Carboplatin (Paraplatin) Surgery 2/29/2012 Lymph node removal: Right, Sentinel; Mastectomy: Right; Prophylactic mastectomy: Left Radiation Therapy 5/1/2012 Breast, Lymph nodes Hormonal Therapy 7/1/2012 Arimidex (anastrozole) Surgery 9/10/2012 Reconstruction (left); Reconstruction (right) Dx 7/2013, ILC, Stage IV, mets Hormonal Therapy 7/20/2013 Femara (letrozole) Targeted Therapy 7/26/2013 Afinitor (everolimus)
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Sep 8, 2011 07:42PM awb wrote:

 a man said to me,  "instead of waiting for the other shoe to drop, why not put on that shoe and dance!"    -(that has always stuck with me)

Anne 

"I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future" Dx 9/5/2003, LCIS, Stage 0, 0/0 nodes Surgery 9/16/2003 Lumpectomy: Right Hormonal Therapy 10/30/2003 Tamoxifen pills (Nolvadex, Apo-Tamox, Tamofen, Tamone) Surgery 4/5/2005 Prophylactic ovary removal Hormonal Therapy 2/28/2009 Evista (raloxifene)
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Sep 9, 2011 12:19AM ToriGirl wrote:

Thanks for sharing more words of wisdom and encouragement...this is great! 

spendygirl-my hope is that this thread does offer encouraging words to those who need it, and that it continues to encourage those of us who are passing along the words we have heard and now share...

I too, look forward to seeing what others bring this way....

Tori

DE COLORES! 

"Sorrow carves the opening for joy later..." Dx 6/4/2010, IDC, 1cm, Stage IIA, 1/11 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2-
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Sep 9, 2011 12:05PM Sherryc wrote:

Tori love this thread.

I had two different people that had had cancer that when they heard stopped by my office just to give me encouragment and a hug.  Also a very good friend of mine was with me when two weeks into rads I was already having a hard time and was miserable and I just sat and cried and she help my hand and told me it would get better.  This meant alot because her husband had died of lung cancer and she was one of my most supportive people yet I know it brought back lots of tough memories for her.

Sherry--lump left breast 9/30/10. No chemo, Zometa-6tx over 3 years.Oncotype score 23 with 14% recurrence rate. 34 rads. No family history, BRCA neg. 48 years old @ diagn. BMX/TE 3/26/2012, Exchange surgery 8/21/12, Revision surgery 11/27/12 Surgery 5/12/1997 Lumpectomy: Left Dx 9/27/2010, IDC, Left, 1cm, Stage IB, Grade 1, 0/3 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2-, Surgery 9/30/2010 Lumpectomy: Left; Lymph node removal: Left, Sentinel Radiation Therapy 12/3/2010 Hormonal Therapy 2/7/2011 Surgery 11/3/2011 Lumpectomy: Right Surgery 3/26/2012 Mastectomy: Left, Right; Reconstruction (left): Tissue expander placement; Reconstruction (right): Tissue expander placement Surgery 8/21/2012 Reconstruction (left); Reconstruction (right) Surgery 11/27/2012 Reconstruction (left); Reconstruction (right)
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Sep 9, 2011 12:38PM ANA_424 wrote:

I love this thread idea and have bookmarked it. Hope to come back and add more things as I think of them. I've been blessed in so many ways and that, in and of itself, is what I try to remember and what keeps me going.

I dug through the cards and notes I've received so that I could post this. Before I had my mastectomy, I wrote a post on my CaringBridge site about how I knew that I was going to be changed after this experience and was afraid that, in some ways, I would not recognize myself. A very dear friend gave me a letter after my surgery. She talked about some of the good changes she had already seen in me - the way I had opened up to people and shared, and been strong in confronting the reality. She acknowledged all of the pain and difficulty, while lifting me up to be able to see good things, too. This is part of what she said at the end:

"Yes - today you are changed. You are not exactly the same. Thank God! You are enriched, deepened, graced, stregthened, emboldened, braver, aware, cherished, supported, valued, and loved."

44 years old when diagnosed. UMX w/TE on 5/26/11.Completed 4 X TC on 9/8!. Exchange 10/28. Whew. Dx 4/28/2011, IDC, 1cm, Stage IB, Grade 2, 1/4 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2-
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Sep 9, 2011 02:09PM sagina wrote:

Hi everyone! I"ve gotten through the almost last year with faith, family, friends, and lots of laughter.

I'll have to go back and look at stuff since chemo brain still prevails - will get back to you soon.

Thanks Tori - this is great.

Gina Dx 10/13/2010, IDC, 4cm, 0/2 nodes, ER-/PR-, HER2- Chemotherapy 11/2/2010 AT Surgery 3/15/2011 Lumpectomy: Right; Lymph node removal: Right, Sentinel Radiation Therapy 4/19/2011

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