my mother had an incredibly stressful year in 1983
her mother died, her daughter died, and then her father died

early in 1984 her left breast was not fitting in her bra like her right one

she had a radiacal mastecomy a few weeks later
and even though there have been some scares since,
she is here and is a survivor




today i had my breasts properly examined for the first time in years

i told my new doctor that i wanted a baseline mamogram
she kind of just dismissed me at first but by the end of the visit
she was saying if i wanted one i could get one

i will make sure she knows i am serious and that i will have one done

i have a card hanging in my shower reminding me to do self exams
they have a diagram that shows the difference between the size of a lump found
by someone who does BSE regularily or occasionally
regular checkers find ones the size of the happy face
occasional checkers find ones about the size of a dime!!

that's a big freakin difference... get familiar with your boobs, girls!

I've mentioned this many times before, but I'm a 34 year old breast cancer survivor. Diagnosed with stage IIB one month before my 31st birthday. I've been on and off treatments for three years now. I've had an accumlative 9 weeks of radiation and so far, 16 months of chemo (currently on again), and have been on Herceptin for two years now. I had a left modified radical mastectomy in Sept. 03 and breast reconstruction in March of this year (I don't recommend it). I lost all of my beautiful long and curly hair two weeks after my very first treatment in Oct. 03. It started growing again in May of 04. It's now just past my shoulders. You will never hear me say again, "God, I hate my hair today!" It can look just as messed up and frizzy as it wants to...at least I have it!!!

The disease is considered "stable" right now. I'm going to get a bone scan today for a re-check and a CT scan next week. I've already had about 10 or 12 of them.

No one in their 20's or 30's ever thinks about breast cancer. Even when I found my "thickness" in my breast, I thought it was nothing and let it sit there for almost a month before I told my mom (she freaked out). You must do your self exams and insist on mammograms, ultrasounds or MRIs if you are under 40 and your mother or sister has had it. The rule is, 10 years before the age of your mom or sister was diagnosed. Since I was 31, that meant that my sisters should start at 21 (they're actually older than that though).

I think that I started getting sick sometime in 2001/2002. It was a very stressful time for me. My husband and I were having some major problems, I was at a job that I absolutely hated. I didn't sleep enough, I certainly didn't eat right (tons of junk food, hardly anything healthy). I was getting a lot of upper respitory infections and had yeast infections nearly every other month. I had lost about 10 pounds, my skin was a broken out mess.

I think that was when my immune system was weakening and my body let the cancer cells grow (we all have them from time to time).

So my advice is...take care of yourselves. Limit your junk food. Try to eat whole foods in their natural state at least 80% of the time. Exercise some. Breathe. Get out of stressful situations, or at least learn how to deal better. Do things for yourself that make your happy. Don't put yourself last. If you're not in a loving relationship, get out. Love, romance and fulfillment can make you feel great. Cry when you need to and laugh a lot. AND FEEL YOUR BREASTS A LOT!!!!

My mom was just diagnosed this week. They are still trying to decide if it is at stage 3 or 4. This is going to be a fight that we're going to do our best to win. I told my mom that we are surviors and not victoms. I am a bit upset with her for not telling me this earlier because I really belive that if I had know we could have done something before now. She can't start any treatments until the doctors know whats really going on. I had my own scare earlier this year when I found a lump the size of a golfball. After all the test I found out that it was just fluid and they were able to drain it. Since this runs in my family (my aunt had a double mastectomy) This is not something to just wait and see if anything changes. Get tested!!!!

I've mentioned this many times before, but I'm a 34 year old breast cancer survivor. Diagnosed with stage IIB one month before my 31st birthday. I've been on and off treatments for three years now. I've had an accumlative 9 weeks of radiation and so far, 16 months of chemo (currently on again), and have been on Herceptin for two years now. I had a left modified radical mastectomy in Sept. 03 and breast reconstruction in March of this year (I don't recommend it). I lost all of my beautiful long and curly hair two weeks after my very first treatment in Oct. 03. It started growing again in May of 04. It's now just past my shoulders. You will never hear me say again, "God, I hate my hair today!" It can look just as messed up and frizzy as it wants to...at least I have it!!!

The disease is considered "stable" right now. I'm going to get a bone scan today for a re-check and a CT scan next week. I've already had about 10 or 12 of them.

No one in their 20's or 30's ever thinks about breast cancer. Even when I found my "thickness" in my breast, I thought it was nothing and let it sit there for almost a month before I told my mom (she freaked out). You must do your self exams and insist on mammograms, ultrasounds or MRIs if you are under 40 and your mother or sister has had it. The rule is, 10 years before the age of your mom or sister was diagnosed. Since I was 31, that meant that my sisters should start at 21 (they're actually older than that though).

I think that I started getting sick sometime in 2001/2002. It was a very stressful time for me. My husband and I were having some major problems, I was at a job that I absolutely hated. I didn't sleep enough, I certainly didn't eat right (tons of junk food, hardly anything healthy). I was getting a lot of upper respitory infections and had yeast infections nearly every other month. I had lost about 10 pounds, my skin was a broken out mess.

I think that was when my immune system was weakening and my body let the cancer cells grow (we all have them from time to time).

So my advice is...take care of yourselves. Limit your junk food. Try to eat whole foods in their natural state at least 80% of the time. Exercise some. Breathe. Get out of stressful situations, or at least learn how to deal better. Do things for yourself that make your happy. Don't put yourself last. If you're not in a loving relationship, get out. Love, romance and fulfillment can make you feel great. Cry when you need to and laugh a lot. AND FEEL YOUR BREASTS A LOT!!!!

You must do your self exams and insist on mammograms, ultrasounds or MRIs if you are under 40 and your mother or sister has had it.

thank you applekisses & muse she'll be starting radiation theropy soon.

Thanks for this thread... my sis-in-law died after a 4-year long battle with breast cancer.

DiminutiveRocker said:

My mom passed away this past weekend.

Please support this cause as it helped my mom everyday from the day she was diagnosed.

I love you mom and I thank god every day for the skills and love you gave me in this life.

RIP