survivorship (poll)

Pink has ALWAYS been my favorite color.  Wore different shades of it all the time but since the BC diagnosis all my friends and even some of my family assume it's to support cancer research.  Didn't want to quit wearing my fav color but I really disliked the automatic assumption that I'm pushing the research agenda.  People who have seen me wearing pink have given me gifts with BC logos.  Though sometimes it is not a totally bad thing as it has opened up a couple of good dialogues with people who needed to talk.  I finally decided that I am going to continue wearing a color that I enjoy.

Yes, the pink ribbon stuff goes too far but at least it is a constant reminder to the general public that breast cancer does exist.  We BC ladies and men, unlike my grandmother and others of her generation, don't have to hide our battles against this disease and that's why I choose to acknowledge what the "pink ribbon campaign" has done for me.

I am scared of the word "survivor" - it seems presumptuous and somehow tempting fate.

I don't want this disease to impact on me any more than it already has. If I call myself a "breast cancer survivor" then I am allowing it to define me.  My 43 years on this planet have seen me do much more than deal with this disease.

I never want to hear the words "breast cancer" again. And I have always hated pink.

I was dx in January 07; surgery February 07; 8  dose dense AC/T; 31 rads.  Finished up tx at end of August 07.  I count Labor Day  (07) as the first day of being a survivor.

I feel more like a survivor every day.  

Blessings sisters....

I consider myself a survivor as of the day of my surgery...Feb., 2nd, 2007........Hugs and love to all my beautiful sisters!....Lucy

I was diagnosed June 14th 2007, had 18 weeks of chemo surgery January 9th 2008 and rads after that for 6 weeks.

I count my survivorship as of June 14th as everyday i wake up after the cancer call is winning.

I am s/p bilateral mastectomy in June 2008, finished chemo and am half way through radiation.  I already feel "healed," but I think there are some events that I need to live through to truly feel like a survivor.

1. I want to live to see my first grandchild be born.

2. I want to be healthy enough to have reconstruction surgery.

3. I want to see my youngest child, now 5, graduate from high school.

These are just a few of the events, most of which pertain to seeing my children grow and being a good mother to them. 

I am 42, and I often hear that song playing in my head, "Lord dont let that cold wind blow, till Im too old to die young,,,"  And I consider anything below age 70 young!  Ive got alot of living to do!

4 year survivor Here!  ER+++  PR+++ and Her2Neu+++

Just finished my reconstruction.  I wanted to let my body, mind and soul heal before beginning that process.  Now I have started Grad School for my MBA.  I always wanted to do it, so I figure no sense in waiting now!  I plan on running my first 5K race this year and swim a pier to Pier (1.7 miles!).  Oh, and I work full time.....no moss growing on me...too much to do!  Hang in there everyone....we can do it!

Katie

It is now over a year since my diagnosis, treatment ended in July 2008, but since then there has been a battle of side effects that has drawn me down from my I will survive opinion at times.  I have radiation scarring to the lungs which caused a dreadful cough (now virtually subsided) and limitations to my breathing (improving daily now).  I have developed dreadful eczema, which started on the area of my radiation therapy but has now spread over my body.  Never in my life have I had anything like this.  So when people said to me by this time it would be becoming a distant memory I wonder what they mean.  Every day I seem to have a harsh reminder of what happened.  But I am a survivor for now.  I survived the diagnosis and all the horror that brought, I turned to a fight and I fought hard right through the treatment even though I wanted it all to stop.  However long Iive for, and whatever I die of, I am a survivor.  I think the thing that made me realise that was the belief that dying might not be the worst thing in the world, but that I should value and celebrate the time I have in my life.   A very good friend of mine died within 8 months of diagnosis, but if anyone was a survivor she was.  Throughout all her treatment she still thought of others, and smiled as best she could.  This awful thing may have taken her life, but she didn't let it take her spirit.

Hi Catherine,

I developed Psoriasis after my Chemo 10yrs ago. It is a similar condition to eczema. I think it has something to do with stress and a poor immune system. These days we are all told to stay out of the sun and now there are a whole lot of problems with lack of Vitamin D. I try to get 10mins outside either early morning or late afternoon. It helps me.

Sierra, Thank you for asking about the fire tragedy. Thankfully we don't live in Victoria. I live in Queensland much further north. It is in times like these when you see the good in people. So many people were killed. Over 200. We all cried every time we watched the TV. It is like a war zone down there.

We all have our problems, but know that there are people worse off than us. We have to get on with our lives, you never know whats around the corner. Personally I'm hoping for a Cure For Cancer.

The day I was diagnosed was the day I started surviving. It's like a war, and I fought each day after doctor confirmed that it is bc. I survived the surgeries, chemo, and so far tamox. It will be 2 years in November, and I'm still here...Thank You Lord!

I consider myself a survivor since the date I decided to fight this disease which is the dx date. But I have been NED the surgery date so I count based on that - Halloween Day -  just made 1 year.

December 23 will be my 5 year anniversary from diagnosis.  It is hard to believe.  In some respects it feel like last year.  In other respects it feels like it happened to someone else, and I am on the outside looking in.  I think you are a survivor the day you find out and you decide to fight!

I consider myself a survivor every morning as I open my eyes.  But most of all, I am a fighter.  Not just when it comes to cancer but in every aspect of my life.   For once that "I'll show you attitude." became a very positive tool. 

Happily, January sixteenth iwill be my twenty-first  anniversary of my first cancer surgery.   I was told by several doctors, at that time, not to expect to live more than five years.  It was then the "I'll show you" came into play.  I thank God every day that I am still here.  So emotional tonight.