Late posting.......12 years Stage IIIC

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YATCOMW
YATCOMW Member Posts: 664
edited August 2016 in Stage III Breast Cancer

At the end of May right before Memorial Day I hit 12 years with my Stage IIIC---huge 8cm and at least 17 nodes positive. I had all the extra badness....in the skin.....cancer bursting from nodes....vascular invasion..COX 3+++..a bit of a shock considering it wasn't even showing up on a mammogram or sonogram. My children were 7, 9, and 13. Quite frankly...it seemed impossible to get this far.

I took the most aggressive treatment I could find. I would stop at a chapel after work each day and I would pray hard.....just wanted to get my children off to college. Last fall my prayers were answered as my youngest went off to be part of the GatorNation like his parents. I am on "bonus" time.

I try to come back as often as I can because I know how important it is to see others do well. I had two stories of two people on my bathroom mirror in the beginning so I could have hope that if they made it .....why not me.

I am stealing my advice to those just starting out from my six year post.....because six years later....it still rings true:


I learned that you had to take it slowly…..find small victories…

…each month that I was able to put up a new calendar of events for my children on the frig was a huge win……each month I went to refill my Femara was another victory………each month adding to the next ……..such that today …..I mark twelve years with a stage IIIC diagnosis.

In the beginning I sought hope…..I needed hope….because with HOPE all things are possible. "Of all the forces that make for a better world, none is so powerful as hope. With hope, one can think, one can work, one can dream. If you have hope, you have everything."

I aspire to provide it….but be sure that I am thrilled when I receive it ---through those ahead of me.

May we all be successful in our journey through small victories that become big triumphs.

Jacqueline

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