I am a survivor! 5 yrs. ago I went to the obygn to have a pap smear. he suggested I have a mamogram early cause my grandmom had just lost her left breast. They found cancer in my left breast. DCIS stage 0 so I was lucky. I did have 3 lumpectomies and radiation so I am left with a smaller left breast. I wondered for the longest time whether to have my breast removed and i chose not to but I am unhappy with the way my breast looks now but I am ok now.
I AM A 42 YEAR OLD SINGLE MOTHER OF 2 AND HAVE RECENTLY BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH DUCTAL CARCINOMA IN-SITU, STAGE O BREAST CANCER, I HAVE OPTED TO HAVE A MASECTOMY OVER A LUMPECTOMY WITH HOPES OF RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY ASAP. I AM A SMOKER SO I HAVE BEEN TOLD I MUST BE OFF CIGARETTES FOR AT LEAST 6 MONTHS IN ORDER TO HAVE RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY. MY SURGERY HAS BEEN SCHEDULED FOR JULY 31RST. I AM DEVASTATED OVER THIS BUT KNOW I MUST DO WHAT IS BEST FOR ME SO I CAN STAY ALIVE AND RAISE MY CHILDREN.
In 1990, I had a mastectomy for breast cancer. In 1997, it returned in my lung, & I had surgery followed by chemo. Yesterday I had an extensive mammogram & ultrasound. Nothing was found, Praise the Lord. You can also be a survivor!
My Mom died of breast cancer in 1985. and for my 28th birthday my husband gave me a gift card for a Mammogram. At first I thought how cheap, But as I look back now that I am 52 and go every other year for my check up that was the best gift he could give me. It has made me go for the breast exam every other year. He told me when he gave it too me he didn't want me to ever get Breast cancer and suffer like my Mom did. So I want to thank my loving husband of the gift that has kept me breast cancer free. Thank you Tom. To all the Men please encourage your Wife, Sister, Mother, Cousin or Friend to have a Breast Check up. Thank you!
hi my name is wendy and i am 39 years old. i had a open biopsy yesterday for further testing and am waiting further test results. i had a st biopsy for microcalsifications and have already been diagnosied with a typical, lobular, and ductal hyperplasia last week. i am waiting for the test results from pathology. my mother died of breast cancer at a early age, im a smoker therefore im very high risk. i am woundering what type of treatment i wil be offered and what i should do? any adivce out there would be appreciated. thanks in advance.
hi my name is wendy. i had an open biopsy yesterday for further testing of some papillomias in my left breast and i have already been diagnosied with a typical hyperplasia and lobular ductal hyperplasia through a st biopsy. i am 39 years old and my mother passed away from breast cancer so i am already high risk. i am very scard and not sure of what treatment they will offer and i am waiting on test results now, any advice? thanks in advance.
In April 2001, I was diagnosed with Stage 3 rectal cancer. I was 48 and recently divorced. For six months surgeries, radiation and chemotherapy followed.
The next few years were stressful every time I had tests and checkups. But, I felt incredibly blessed to have conquered this beast. To celebrate my 5 year mark in 2006, I walked in the 3 Day Breast Cancer Walk in Kansas City and 2007, the Avon 2 Day Walk in San Francisco. When friends asked why -- since my cancer was rectal, my response would be "I can't imagine there ever being a walk for our rectums, so I'll do what I can. When they find a cure for one,the rest will be close behind."
Fast forward to April 2007. I had remarried the prior year. My husband noticed a discharge from his nipple. To our surprise, he was diagnosed with male breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy. Fortunately, the tumor was small with no lymph node involvement. In December, I went in for my routine mammogram. I remember vividly my colorectal doctor saying "Keep up to date on your mammograms." But, I was still shocked when I was diagnosed with breast cancer 9 months after my husband. Same breast, same size tumor, and thankfully, no lymph node involvement.
I am proud to say that my husband walked the Race for the Cure with me this year. He wore his pink survivor shirt and said to me " I need to do this because men need to know that it can happen to them." I'd like to think that he might do the 3 Day or Avon walk with me someday. But, I am satisfied that he can now talk about it without embarrassment and that he wants to educate other men.
My name is Tracy, I am 38 years old. I was laying down one day and had an itch in between my breast, closer to the right side. I felt this little lump and didn't think it was always there. I even called my ex-boyfriend to see if he ever found a lump there, he said no. So went to my doctors, they did all their tests. On Valentines' Day in 2005 I was at work, my doctor called and told me I was positive for breast cancer. I just went to my boss and cried, left work and drove around. I can't even remember who I told first, I have a very bad memory. Well I had surgery to have the lump removed and some lymph nodes removed, luckily it hadn't spread. I had to do all kinds of chemo. Didn't get too sick, but did lose all my hair. I did radiation and have one more year of taking Tamoxifen. I will have been in remission for 4 years come September 6th. I now have this phobia that soon I'll be diagnosed with some other kind of cancer and die within months. Seems to be what happens a lot. I am a single mother, I have a 10 year old daughter whom I raised all by myself. She had a really hard time when I lost my hair, I think it freaked her out. I always had my head covered so she wouldn't see my bald head. But we got through it! I will be having the genetic gene testing come Monday July 20th, 2009. Which is good for the sake of my daughter, but still scary at the same time.
Thanks for letting me share most of my story... And I can't wait to read yours...
My story begins in the summer of 2008 with a routine mammogram. Within 3 days of that appointment, I was called and received a letter in the mail saying that something on the film looked suspisious for a malignancy. I was in complete shock! How could they be so sure?
A core needle biopsy several weeks later showed the mass to be
Invasive Ductal Carcinoma....breast cancer. My doctor was in tears. He never saw it coming. The tumor was found in that "extra" tissue he had removed, but without clean margins. It was October 1st, 2008 - the first day of breast cancer awareness month. My husband and I sat there looking at a wig catalog and looked at each other and said, "I can't believe we are doing this". It was surreal.
An MRI guided biopsy of the right breast showed Infiltrating Lobular Cancer, only it was on the opposite side of where the first cancer was found.
I cried a thousand tears until I could cry no more. I woke up in the darkness of night sobbing at the thought of what I was up against. Chemo therapy, losing my hair....I just wanted to run away to a deserted island and pretend this wasn't happening to me. God knows that only prayers and faith got me through the weeks leading up to my surgery.
I had a right breast mastectomy 2 days after my 45th birthday. 12 months of chemo and a tissue expansion followed by an implant.
Losing my hair has been the hardest thing I have had to go through, and dealing with the loss of my breast and nipple. But, I enjoy working in my jewelry design studio and online boutique, The Taffy Box dot com as a means of coping.
My mother's mother had a radical mastectomy at age 70; then she and her husband went on a lengthy cross-country tour.
My mother had cervical cancer,caught early, at age 50, Her brother had cancer and took his own life at age 33. His younger daughter died of indirect breast cancer complications; she was 43.
I had breast cancer at age 50; I now have metastatic bone lesions. My daughter had skin cancer at age 38, caught early and treated, and I have a teen-aged granddaughter. We hope she's not the next in line.
Even my stepsister's eldest daughter died of breast cancer which had spread.
There is now a vaccine for cervical cancer. If we can prevent one kind, chances are excellent we will soon have vaccines for others, like prostste cancer..and lung cancer...and breast cancer.
