Seventeen years with stage 4 today

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  • chainsawz
    chainsawz Posts: 3,473
    edited February 2010

    Kathy - I just want to thank you for posting each year and giving us such great inspiration!  It is so important for us to know that people like you do exist and anything is possible.....there is always hope :>  I just know one day I will be reading your 30 year post!!   lisa

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  • Schissel
    Schissel Posts: 20
    edited February 2010

    I'm curious to know what type of breast cancer you have.  Is it lobular?

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  • BUTTERFLYBONNIE
    BUTTERFLYBONNIE Posts: 37
    edited March 2010

    WOW KATHY,  that is just wonderful.....17 years, yea, you shout it out, GOD BLESS YOU. I am new here and was a little down today.  I have stage 4 with bone mets, and was diagonosed in 2009, so I got on here to see how long that I could expect.  When I read your post, I was very encouraged. My radiation and chemo had put me in a remission since Oct.  and I want to stay there for a long time, I am NOT ready for this disease to take my life.  GOOD LUCK TO YOU, AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU WITH 70 MORE YEARS.  THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR GREAT NEWS.Laughing 

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  • tami444
    tami444 Posts: 259
    edited March 2010

    Thanks Kathy!  I read Red Devil a few years ago when my aunt (a publish author of historical fiction) incouraged me to write about my cancer journey. 

    In the past year ...  I just celebrated my father's 70th birthday last week, we took "everyone" (10 including us) back "home" to Montana for a ski trip, got to visit my aunt's ranch this fall and feed the orphan'ed colt, and celebrated the safe return of my brother after a year in Iraq.

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  • Chelee
    Chelee Posts: 513
    edited March 2010

    I was orignally DX stage IIIA, Her2/Neu, 3+++, pos nodes back on 12-05.  Then last Sept. 09 I recurred and now have bone mets to femur, ilium, sacrum, axilla, and they think liver.  So of course I'm back on trt.  Now that I'm stage IV it is "always" encouraging to see such a positive and uplifting post as yours.

    Like "Schissel" asked...I'm also curious about your orignal dx & type of breast cancer you had?   No doubt you were orignally DX stage IV.  That is fantastic that you are 17 yrs out.  I can always use some encouraging and very hopeful news like yours.  Thank you for sharing. Again, what kind of bc did you have?

    Chelee

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 1,376
    edited March 2010

    Kathy this post is an inspiration to us all and thank you for posting this.

    image

    Barb

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  • Kathy36
    Kathy36 Posts: 85
    edited March 2010

    Chelee, Schissel, My original diagnosis wasn't lobular, it was the other kind and it was stage one. The cancer came back four or five years later. I'm not sure they were doing grades back then or if they were, I missed it. ER+, not sure about the HER2

    Chainsawz: from your lips to God's ear! Thank you.

    Tami444: Happy Birthday to your father!!! Those are some great high points. 

     Shanagirl and Butterfly Bonnie--wishing you many more years. 

     Kathy 

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  • Nicole112
    Nicole112 Posts: 327
    edited March 2010

    Kathy, I do not know you but I LOVE YOU for sharing your good news and your zest for life as truly you are an inspiration! Although I am not a Stage IV, I still have the undeniable anxiety over this disease!

    Please keep posting, it is great for all to see! CHEERS!

    Nicole!

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  • Lowrider54
    Lowrider54 Posts: 2,721
    edited April 2010

    Bump for Jenny

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  • Lowrider54
    Lowrider54 Posts: 2,721
    edited April 2010

    Bumping all the way to the top...Chris is new here now too...

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  • Warrior517
    Warrior517 Posts: 355
    edited April 2010

    From one Kathy to another Kathy! CONGRATS! I just marked this thread as a FAVORITE. You are the vision of hope and inspiration! Keep posting items like this!! We all NEED you! xxooxxo

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  • MelissaB
    MelissaB Posts: 1
    edited April 2010

    Hi Kathy,

     I'm not sure if you will still be checking on this thread but I wanted to thank you for your post.  I have been stage 4 for 2 years and I was first diagnosed in Aug. 2006.  After reading the posts on here I got your book and read it all day yesterday while I was doing chemo.  I was fascinated with your book and I had a few questions. 

    In the past my oncologist has told me not to take anything extra while doing chemo and I've been going with his advice.  Recently I started checking out alternatives and actually started taking L-theanine but it gave me severe dry mouth so I stopped taking the high dose and am just taking a very low dose.  I also can't tolerate the Melatonine that was recommended at high dose by a naturopath. 

     In your book you mention taking supplements and I'm wondering if you were taking those during chemo and if you feel that they helped you in any way?  Would you mind describing what you are doing at this point?

     Thanks for you help.

    Melissa

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  • vix
    vix Posts: 1
    edited April 2010

    Hi Kathy,  I want to be out there yelling with you too.  Do it now while you have the lungs and energy to do it.  Don't wait, get out there, if you're afraid of going outside, go to a park or the beach and give a big hoot.  Just for the strength that you have shown everyone you have.  I'm not there yet,but you never know.... maybe...thx for the encouragement. vix

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  • Yazmin
    Yazmin Posts: 840
    edited April 2010

    Melissa:

    May I recommend that you check out the "natural girls" thread under "Alternatives and Complementary". There is A HOST of information there (as a matter of fact, it may take you weeks to go through it, if you decided to take a look, and I am pretty sure you would still have scores and scores of questions of your own).

    Good luck, and may you find the right treatment for you.  

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  • Annabanana1217
    Annabanana1217 Posts: 5
    edited April 2010

    Kathy,

     Thank you for our inspirational reminder that regardless of what seems blackest, there is the possibility for a light - if temporary - out there beyond the clouds.  I have been in the recurrence fight for three years (original dx 2002, mastectomy, A/C 4 rounds, no scans, recurred in 2007 and I've been at it nonstop since (triple neg).  Yesterday, the PET showed more progression and my tumor markers are higher than they have ever been.  I'm in the dulldrums of course but determined to fight through toward compassionate use of a PARP in combo with other drugs (too many to list here and too many to qualify for nearly all trials and the one I qualify for is full and no one is leaving because they are doing so well -- naturally I live well with bad luck as my bed partner).  Your words gave me hope when I thought I had none.  I still have fears I will not see another Xmas with my family but knowing that you've been at this for 17 and are still standing certainly helps as I make the effort to turn back to face the beast with yet another weapon.  Maybe with that chemo weapon, I'll take your words with me, and together we'll at least find moments of stability.

     Thanks.

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  • 4kmom
    4kmom Posts: 1
    edited April 2010

    THANK YOU!!!!!!! I was diagnosed with mets last year and told I can have 1 to 5 years! Devastated is all I can say. I am a mom of four kids two older birth and two young adopted, after my second diagnosis I get panicked that I will not be here to raise them but your story gives me hope. LOTS OF HOPE. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YELLING, IT REACHED ALL THE WAY TO CALIFORNIA:) ((((HUGS))))) to all of you WARRIORS out there !!!!

    Monique

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  • Lowrider54
    Lowrider54 Posts: 2,721
    edited April 2010

    Bumping you up to be with the NY Times article...very nice!

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  • clemson93
    clemson93 Posts: 575
    edited April 2010

    Kathy,

    I loved the article!  You represented us so well.

    Susan

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  • bejuce
    bejuce Posts: 97
    edited April 2010

    Kathy,

    I read your article last night in bed on my iPhone.  I glanced at my hubby and our 3 children who had all decided to sleep in our bed, closed my eyes, thought of you, and visualized my daughters' graduations, my son's wedding, my future grandchildren, future vacations to Europe/Asia/Africa/Brazil (where I'm from), and on, and on, and on.  I also thanked God for you, for your gift of hope, your gift of writing, and your gift of showing us that anything is possible.

    Here's hoping for many, many more years of continued success and an ordinary life lived in extraordinary ways!

    Thank you for inspiring us all!

    Much love to you,

    Marcia

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  • Cookieh
    Cookieh Posts: 1
    edited April 2010

    Thank you for your wonderful article in today's NYTimes.  My friend had a liver biopsy this morning, we are awaiting the results...She has already been through chemo and radiation.  Your words are so inspiring and could not have been more timely than today.  Wishing you many, many more years of love, health, peace and happiness.

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  • jnshure22
    jnshure22 Posts: 1
    edited April 2010

    Thank you so much for your article in today's NYTimes.

    I am inspired with hope. After four years of treatment, I just heard that my cancer is also in retreat. It is the love of my family and deep knowledge that I have so much more life to share with my three daughters that has the cancer measurably shrinking. It is a miracle of faith and love. And I hope to be celebrating with you seventeen years from now.

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  • sweetlife
    sweetlife Posts: 3
    edited April 2010

    Congratulations!!!

    I have found joy in friends and in my daughters...and in my own personal growth. 

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 1,376
    edited April 2010

    Thank you for the words of encouragement. It has been a scary year for me battling breast cancer and thyroid cancer.

    I have found joy in my two teenage sons, skipping out to enjoy breakfast with them and helping them with their homeschooling. I have found joy in my friends who showered me with meals, cleaning my house,  rides to my many appointments, and who offered their shoulder to cry on. I have also found strength in myself that I could not imagine was in me.

    Congratulations for your 17 years and many, many more!

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  • Lowrider54
    Lowrider54 Posts: 2,721
    edited July 2010

    Bump along with the article

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  • Suebus
    Suebus Posts: 69
    edited July 2010

    This is the best news, I hope to see 17 years. Congrats!

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  • kristinpianista
    kristinpianista Posts: 30
    edited July 2010

    i Kathy, how great to be able to write to you in person! Your articles in the Times and O magazine really woke me up... I can honestly say they changed the way I view my life and my future. Since my diagnosis at stage iv in january this year, my cancer has become inactive and my energy level and blood counts have improved dramatically. Most importantly, I am moving through my days with hope, living my life, staying present most of the time.



    Thank you for helping me see that this diagnosis does not have to feel like a death sentence.



    -Kristin

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  • justjudie
    justjudie Posts: 3,397
    edited July 2010

    I can see I am a bit late (about 7 months) coming into Kathy's post...but it still has blown me away!!  THANK YOU Kathy for sharing the joy with all of us.  You are an inspiration alright! I wish you all the very best. 

     I am going to go back thru all these months of posts to find the name of your book.  If someone knows, please tell me, as I'd love to read it. 

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  • Lowrider54
    Lowrider54 Posts: 2,721
    edited July 2010

    Hi justjudie...I bump up Kathy's post now and then when I see a bunch of newbies to Club Mets as I know how scared and terrified I was and seeing this post gave me such hope.  I have asked her if it was ok that I do it and she gave the a-ok.

    Katherine Russell Rich is the author of "Dreaming in Hindi: Coming Awake in Another Language" and "The Red Devil: To Hell With Cancer - and Back."

    These are the two books she has written that were mentioned in the article written on her earlier this year.

    Hope this helps!

    Hugs

    Sharon

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  • imbell
    imbell Posts: 659
    edited July 2010

    You are my idol. I would be greedy if I had 17 but I just would like a normal life expectancy for a woman. Besides congratulations, I think of everything you must have been through and I think you are remarkable person.

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  • pee
    pee Posts: 456
    edited July 2010

    You are also my idol.  17 is more than I expect (only because of my current age) but 10 would be great!  Okay, I will go to 12...LOL!!  Glad I got to read this as it really gives me hope and without hope where would any of us be?

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