How many of you are from CT?

Emelee26

I just thought I would ask how many of you are from CT? My mom had BC last year and we read that the highest rate in the country for BC is in CT..with Long Island also showing high rates My family is spread out between CT and NY..Anyway,I was just curious
Marisa

BethNY

I'm from LI, and I talked to a woman from the NIH who explained to me how they do studies on geographic locations in relation to BC.
They factor in all of these environmental figures, but there's nothing really concrete to say living here gives you BC....
You can search the NIH's website for more info.

junie

Not a real pertinent post, but I did live on LI--in East Quogue, South Hampton Beach, and Riverhead--1969-1971--first hubby stationed at Air Force Base in Suffolk County.
Think I would have needed a life-long exposure to any environmental toxic hazard that caused my breast cancer. But, my ears do perk up when I read/hear something about the LI statistics!!! hugggggssssssssssss

Emelee26

Yeah..I didn't mean to make it sound like I was saying that these areas caused BC; I was more curious to see if there are other people from this area..it seems like most of the women here are spread out across the country and I was wondering how many are from CT...I doubt these environments caused the cancer...sorry if it sounded like that.
Marisa

kimczepiga

Emelee26,
I am from Connecticut...Berlin to be exact. I was first dx in 2001 with In Situ. After a lumpectomy and radiation, I thought I was honme free; but in April 2004 a mammo showed a reoccurance and a followup CAT scan showed mets to the lungs. So now I am getting weekly herceptin.
I don't know what caused my BC, if I had to guess, I would say the high dose BC pills I took in college 28 years ago...but who knows... Good luck to your mama.
Kim

marytim

I'm from New London, CT. Diagnosed with Stage 1 in July, had lumpectomy and then another suspicious lesion on MRI so had simple mastectomy on ll/23/05. I, too, have heard that the highest percentage of women with breast cancer are in CT also....wonder if it's all the power plants we have???

jazzdust

I was born and raised in CT, Stamford, well Springdale. A speck on the map. I moved to Az for college but my husband and I went back to live there in Glastonbury for 3 years. I worked in a graphics firm with very toxic chemicals. I 've wondered if that played a role, who knows. We left CT when I was 30 and I didn't find out I had breast cancer until I was 46, but the breast surgeon tells me I had it for probably 8-10 years prior to discovering it. I had 13 years of normal mammograms. The breast cancer was actually discovered by my gyno at a visit for what ended up being endometriosis. Lots of my family members on both sides have had cancer not isolated to breast but many kinds. I am BRAC2 positive.

Ahhhhhh...the curveballs of life.

qhlisa

I've been living in CT since I was 12 (I'm 47 now).

Reneepals

New Haven,ct here

Liz08

I'm in central CT, lived here most of my life. I too have heard that BC rates have been the highest in CT.

monee

Originally from Waterbury, I currently live in a bury nearby.

flash

Hi,

northern fairfield county here.  Hey even the governor has had to deal with BC.  It's definitely the state.

Liz08

Flash-

you are so right.  I forgot about our governor having BC.  Lately, it seems like soooo many women have been diagnosed for such a tiny state.  For heavens sake, you can drive from north to south and be out of state in approx an hour.  Fortunately, it's a state that does have alot to offer and it should with what we pay in taxes here right along with Massachusetts.

katie-nc

I grew up in RI, but right on the CT border.  want to hear something really strange?  There were 3 of us that hung out as kids, we sailed together, played together and got into to trouble together.  Well 30 years later....one was diagnosed with Breast Cancer at 38, the other at 40 and me at 42.  Coincidence?  I don't know.....also, the other 2 lived in CT, just would come over to RI for the day...I lived in RI full time, but in the winter, could skate across the river into CT....so yeah, I lived in RI/CT..

Katie

CharlieFoster

My wife and I are from CT, she has been here for over 20 years. Diagnosed with stage III lobular ER+ in 2006. We had heard the same thing and we did a little digging. It seems there are many possible explanations and there are some interesting correlations, however a correlation is not proof of a cause. The most interesting correlations that caught our attention were: higher household income than average, more women on HRT, and more women who waited or did not have children. All three of those fit my wife who is an executive in a high stress job. So while those are not "smoking guns" one would hope that researchers are turning some of their focus to the questions brought up by those correlations.

The other thing I heard is that screening is better here. Which suggests that there are women elsewhere who have BC but won't discover it until it is more advanced and quite noticeable, or older women who die of other causes first.

CT also has a lot of homes with radon gas found inside the home. Has anyone heard of any connection there?

lookingforward4more

I grew up in Long Island and then Orange, CT. I am 47.

Liz08

Bump this up for new members.

Charlie-

you are correct there are many homes in CT with radon gas.  Including the basement of my home that I have been living in for over 7 years which I just found out last year after I tested it.  My previous home did not have radon gas.  I know of many other CT homes that when their basements were tested, they came back positive for radon gas.  I think many homes have not been tested for this either so people may be living with it and not know.  You can buy a kit at Home Depot to test for this.  I don't recall the price but the kit only costs a few dollars and the lab that you send in your sample to costs a couple of dollars too.  In the end we have to remember that our health is priceless.

Wishing everyone the best.

Alwayssearching

I'm from Middletown - grew up there too - but I am BRCA1+ - so genetics are to blame for me.

rreynolds1

I've lived in CT all my life.  First in Winsted, then New Hartford and now I live in Guilford.

Roseann