AFTER 5 YEARS...WHAT?

Awwwhhh Hugs Gogot1.........I am 2 1/2 years out and I still worry but not quite as much as a year ago......I believe as time goes by and no recurrence has happened I will worry a whole lot less......It is so hard to not worry sometimes especially when your appointment comes up for your check up or a blood test looks wonky or as in my case you find another lump and think "Oh God, not again!"....(Thank God it turned out to be b9!).........I myself plan to take it one day at a time, one week, one month, one year at a time.......I will try NOT to worry but we all know how sometimes that is not possible, but then again that is why we are all here on this site....To support each other when we need it.......

My sister was dx 5 months before me with stage 3 bc...She had 2 nodes positive...It has been almost 3 years for her and she is going strong...... She is my inspiration and my "canary", cause if something goes wrong for her I know it will for me, too as we are that connected.....We aren't twins, she is 5 yrs older than me, ut we are closerthanthis.......

I hope you find peace with all this, as hard as that sounds it is possible.......I take a lot of inspiration from my Stage 4 sisters here too...They seldom let anything get them down and even when they are not feeling well they always respond to a sister in need.....

Gogot1, just remember to take care of YOU and you will be fine.......

This article has some information related to your question.

Abenaa M Brewster, Gabriel N Hortobagyi, Kristine R Broglio, Shu-Wan Kau, Cesar A Santa-Maria, Banu Arun, Aman U Buzdar, Daniel J Booser, Vincente Valero, Melissa Bondy, Francisco J Esteva. Residual risk of breast cancer recurrence 5 years after adjuvant therapy. Journal of the National Cancer Institute.2008 Aug 20;100(16): 1179-83 

GOGOT1, You are talking about the really difficult part of having had cancer.   I have lost any illusions about safety or control.  The fear and sadness, or terror and grief if I am feeling really down, are so hard.  Like you, I've also learned some important life lessons.  I'm not the same person I used to be.  As far as finding peace, it's something I have to work at every day.  Hugs, G.

dear GOGOT1

i wanted to put my 2 cents in on this thread.  so, i am 7 years out and finally at some peace about relapse .  the first couple of years i was a wreck....seeing the oncologist every three months i felt i was living in 3 month increments.  when i hit 5 years...i remember thinking that i had PRAYED for 5 years...when i hit the 5 year mark..i was like...OK, NOW WHAT?  well, i started to feel a LITTLE more secure....and started to feel less afraid.  as a little more time passed....i went off arimidex at the 5 and half year mark..and said to my self....yikes...safetly net gone**  as i thought a little more about it..and my doc appts moved to 6 months...i realized that IF my cancer came back....i would DEAL with it then.  for some reason, that really helped me....understanding that i had already walked the walk...that relapse didn't mean death...although it may mean more treatment...but....that I COULD do it again if i had to.  i think time away from dx helps..although it still lurks on some level....for me finding a little peace in knowing that i will deal with it THEN and WHEN...seems to have helped me.  and the farther away i get...the more sophisicated the treatments are going to be..  i also realized that i could get hit while cycling, california could have a big earthquake....North Korea may send a nuke at us....i found myself really realizing..until something actually happens....i can't deal with it...but only worry about it.  when and if it happens....THAT is when it is time to deal with it.  i spent way too much time worrying the first few years after dx...and here i am now....moving towards 8 years NED>  (had 10+ or more positive nodes) 

hang in there.  all of this is scarey.....BUT....trust that your treatment worked for you.

diana50

I totally understand the worry and frustration - I was diagnosed w/ stage II b 6 years ago while I was 7months pregnant - I too had always been in control of everything - so I had to let go of that control and relied on God for strength and peace and joy and healing, and I learned that it was ok to allow others to help you - still have a hard time with that one, but I'm better then I was before.  I went through chemo, lumpectomy and 8 lymph nodes removed, and then 7 weeks of radiation.  I am now 5-1/2 years out from finished treatments - still worry everytime things don't feel right.  I now have 4 young kids ages 10, almost 6, 3, and 15months - so I have everything to worry about when it comes to staying healthy and fighting to not have a reacurrance.  I have had pain in the last year in the once affected breast and underarm and down my arm too, but all tests have come back negative.  Going in for a couple more mri's in a couple weeks to double check it all again, but docs think that I am experiencing pain from nerve damage and scar tissue from surgery and radiation - and pain in my arm from slight lymphadema and over use due to lifting my little kids all the time -  they don't seem to tell you about long term side affects at the time you are going through treatment.  I am truly blessed to be here, despite the pain I have, I try to have faith that I will be a 60-70year survivor (as I was diagnosed at age 30), not just a 5 or 6 year survivor - it would be nice and comforting to have statistics that went out passed that 5 year marker - I think that usually after 5 years the oncologist have you follow-up with your regular doc. unless you are having problems, so they no longer follow you - that's why there's a lack of reports after that 5 year.  Hope that helps  - bless you :-)

Some good advise form dreaming. I had 12 very happy and healthy years between primary and recurrence (to my liver, pleura and bones)-at the time of the mets diagnosis, I felt healthy, and had no pain/symptoms, and the mets were found purely by chance. Having said that you have to live life, and not assume that every ache may be a recurrence. Statistics are just that-no more, no less, and none of us,irregardless of our initial primary prognosis (which in my case was "excellent"), can assume that we will have no further problems.Good luck.

That freaks me out. .9cm and you get mets- witrh nodes clean.  I do not get it. You are telling me some slipped away before her chemo and mast?  Makes me real confused and nervous.

Good luck to all.

Giulia