Remission or "cured"?

hello my sistas

lately i see soooo much arguments on these different threads.We are all uptight,sensitive,angry etc.PLEASE PLEASE can we just get along.everyone has their own opinion.everyone has their own story.we are all suffering in our own way...it looks like we are getting away from the reason we are all here in the first place and that is for SUPPORT.

right,wrong or indifferent we are all in this together...can we have a group hugggggggggggggg.

God bless my sistas.

K

is this for real?????i FEEL THE GROUP HUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

One oncologist I consulted with told me there is never a cure for invasive cancer (above stage 0).  The only time someone can be called "cured" is if they die at an advanced age, of a skiing accident, while NED

But I agree with PP that say that there is no point in obsessing about recurrence.  It's just one more challenge in life.  If you are eligible, take your tamoxifen or Arimidex or whatever.  Drink green tea and good food and exercise if it makes you feel better.  Other than that, you deal with bad things when they happen. :ohm:

I have been reading this web site for over a year now and never have submitted anything.  I find I have felt greater courage and strength just from reading these valuable postings.

A question was posed about having a pet theory of how each one of us got BC.  My personal one is this.  In April of 2009 I was operated on for a burst appendix.  I entered the hospital on a Friday night with severe stomach pains and they never operated until Monday night, by that time it had burst.  I spent 9 days in the hospital with all kinds of antibiotics, no food except ice chips, and various injections to keep my blood thin.  I left the hospital with a case of the shingles (which made the incision for the exploratory surgery a piece of cake) and finally recovered from the shingles about three weeks later.  Almost two months to the day later I began to lose massive amounts of hair.  It was tellogen effulvium (a result of the severe stress my body had gone through) and of course that added more mental stress to my life.  And almost two months later my hair just stopped falling out, a typical reaction of this condition.  Four days later I found the lump in my right breast and all of you know the road taken from that point on.  So my theory is that my immune system was totally out of whack and had been since the onset of the appendix misdiagnosis at the hospital.  I now fervently hope that my immune system is up and running and will prevent any little floating cancers from growing.  Do others out there feel that the immune system is one key to breast cancer?

Thank all of you for being there for me, for understanding my thoughts, fears, and hopes!  I return to this site often when I need my fix of understanding.

Lost Creek -- LOL on the dog named NED

Hi Silversmith,

I have a pet peeve about newcomers getting their posts lost in the fray.  A warm welcome, and it seems you have been a member for a year now, longer than me.  My cancer membership has been one year however. The immune system theory has a lot of merit.  I too had a bout of shingles after a stressful surgery, and yours sounded pretty bad.  Wish they had been more aggressive, really.  I'm shaking my head. I work in this area (immune system disorders) and there are cancers that pop up when immunity is low, and when there is competition in the lymph nodes amongst viruses.  I'm wondering which threads really go into this?  I bet we can get some help with this

welcome.

Someone said something about me living 40 more years. Yikes I hope not. I can't really afford to live till 89! Granted I do have a grandfather that lived till 87 and the other 95! I used to kid that I don't want to live too long because I can't afford it… granted a breast cancer diagnosis wasn't what I had in mind ;-)

No cure for diabetes either. It can be reversed but those folks still have to test every day and modify their diets. My dad has had a pace maker for his heart condition for 8 years. He's 78 and doing well. Lots of incurable but livable diseases out there.

Hi silversmith...oddly, you have hit on one of my interests...how.  I believe in the 'trigger' theory of what causes the cells to get whacked out.  In my case, I believe it was repeated blunt force trama - in yours, a weakened immune system, in others what could it be? 

When I find the funding group that is behind the 'off-on' gene research, that is where my money is going to go!  What causes a cell to get whacked out and this off and on gene identification is the most promising thing I have seen yet. 

Thanks for sharing!

Hugs...LowRider

You know what, if a recurrence is coming for me, I would rather think I was cured and live for 10 years feeling wonderful and care-free (still getting regular testing and exams).  Right now, I am terrified, I am 2 years out and I am TERRIFIED!!!!!!!!  Does that make it any better???  Is it better to be terrified and always on the look out for a new symptom?  We can't prevent a recurrence, we can do our best with diet and exercise, but if it's coming, it's coming, so what would the harm be in thinking your cured? 

Would it be worse to get mets after thinking you are cured for 10 years, or would it worse to get mets after being terrified of it for 10 years.  Either way, it's devastating.  I'd rather have the 10 years of not being afraid.  I have 2 kids under 7 and I can't even type this without crying.  I NEED TO BELIEVE I AM CURED, WHAT IS THE HARM IN THAT?  The stats are with me, most people survive breast cancer.  Some people are cured, and when I look into my kids eyes, I have to believe I am one of them.  We all want to live long enough for a cure, for EVERYONE.  One person dying of this is too many. 

I think everyone has a right to their opinion. Both Lowrider and MarieKelly.  Neither viewpoint is less valuable than the other. Hey, we're all adults here. Take what you like and leave the rest.

Everyone is different. I understand that there is no cure. I also know I refuse to live my life in fear. If anything, BC has made me appreciate life so much MORE! I have LESS stress. And I wonder now why I wasted so much time stressing about things... that really didn't matter.  It is what it is folks. You have to take life on life's terms. I am more educated now. I am getting treatment. (had the BMX, currently on Chemo TCx4, to be followed with Tamoxafin for 5 years). I am eating right, exercising, and enjoying the hell out of my life.

 I don't know if my cancer is cured, or if it will come back. I have no control over that. But I do know that I am going to enjoy every second of life God grants me, and be able to look back with no regrets.  I'm not saving anything for a "special day" anymore. Every day is special. And I am extremely grateful to be here to enjoy this time with my children. I refuse to think of "what if'. If it happens, I'll deal with it. But it hasn't yet, and I'm not gonna sweat it.

I will follow the regiman, get my checkups, and live my life.

 Peace to everyone! ((Big Hugs))

Jilly...don't be terrified - live.  If you have a low risk of recurrence and the docs believe they got it - believe it and don't stress over it anymore.  The mind is very powerful - the glass is always 1/2 full - hope springs eternal (corny, I know) but never dwell on the beastly thing that invaded your life - it has stolen enough of your time - other than these past few days in my ranting mode, I really try to give it as little attention as possible - it gets quite enough once a month and oh boy, every 6 months at scan time - the rest, I spend marveling in how well my garden did this year and all the wonderful friends and family I treasure. 

Hugs to you...LowRider

silversmith...I have found that eliminating gluten as much as possible from one's diet can relieve some of that joint pain...there is much info about it on the Arimidex - Coping with SE's thread.  It works the same for any of the hormonal drugs of which Tamoxifin is one.  And I just tried the gluten free Bisquick - not bad!

Silversmith- Thats the sad part of it, we never know if it will return or not, for myself, i just try not to think about it and try to eat healthier now, excercise and hope and pray for the best, i will always be looking over my shoulder but im trying to stay positive for now, my advice to you would be to try to do other things to keep your mind busy and focus on the good and not the bad or what ifs, ( i know its easier said than done) Just keep thiniking and believing you are cancer free!!!

Gentle hugs

Debbie

In my opinion, the more OUTRAGE about this disease the better.  I think we should all write letters to the editors of major newspapers during "breast cancer month" and try to get more of the truth out there about detection and also finding a CURE.  I'm just got home from hospital from mastectomy yesterday and flipped on news last night.  The first thing I saw was an ABC news segment on a Swedish (I think) study saying that if mammograms began at age 40 many more lives would be saved (or at least extended).  That's one small step in the right direction - but not nearly enough.   What mainstream press never reports is that mammograms miss cancer and that the standard of care ought to be detection through routine ultrasounds & MRIs - starting with women as early as 20 years old!  I had a clear mammogram in March.  Had I known that you can't rely on a mammogram alone, I would have happily paid for routine ultrasound or MRI myself all these years even if insurance didn't.  Then on top of everything else,  they add that 'tests are expensive,' cost/benefit, blah blah blah.  WHAT???   How expensive is lifelong cancer treatment for 200,000 women newly diagnosed EVERY year compared to the cost of an ultrasound or MRI?   Pink ribbons and running races are fine to raise money but I think they also lure the public into believing those women are 'cured'  and 'have a mammogram and everything will be fine.'   It's outrageous and inexcusable in my opinion.  And where is the in-depth reporting on research for the off switch or connecting the dots for a breakthrough cure?