Ever Wonder what-----

Sure, I wonder, but I wouldn't get into blaming yourself too much.  I mean, taking BC pills for five years 30 years ago is hardly a risk factor.  Me, I haven't had kids yet and I am over 30.  I also took BC pills for a really long time.  Other than that, no risk factors.  And I have to say, I have other friends who haven't had kids yet who have been on the pill longer than me and they don't have cancer.  So it's not as simple as saying, "If only I hadn't been on the pill, then this wouldn't have happened."  Especially since I was otherwise very healthy - ate right, didn't smoke or drink, exercised every day, ate broccoli EVERY day...stuff like that.  

Personally, I think there are a lot of environmental factors in play here, too. 

P.S. another strange thing.... when I was nursing my now 4 year old, I kept having clogged ducts on the side that had BC. My little boy refused to nurse on that side.... maybe it tasted bad? 

My GP said that Birth Control pills are 5 times the strength of HRT. I asked my surgeon which hormone receptor measurement indicated the cancer could have been caused by taking hormones and she said the ER percentage. With 2 bc's way over 90% ER+ve, I think that taking the pill for many many years caused it - added to that 4 years of HRT.

To me it's all about the variables and what will affect each one systemically, what upsets the apple cart.  My cart was tipped by...

---a trauma (fell in barn, hit head then rammed into by the wagon that had wrapped around my leg which I had been hopping across the room to get off - you gotta laugh, it will help). 
---Then there was the exposure to pollution esp. pseudo-estrogen from the neighbor's outside wood boiler which is always in my house. 
---And the anger I always felt when dealing with this issue, not being able to open windows and enjoy spring or summer, the birds, work in my garden, swim in the pool, walk on my own property,  I was so angry.  Still struggle.
---And I was eating a lot of sugar and the wrong type of dairy which I think can be a factor.
---My computer pisses me off and I have to use it all the livelong day.

---Hubby is a stress factor but he has his great qualities so I will keep him.

---And I used a natural soy-free bio-identical progesterone cream for a few years which would have raised my ratio without me realizing it could, naive, gullible, clueless...... whew..... the mass was right where I massaged the cream in maybe half the time, not smart in any case and I didn't think it would be an issue, but now I wonder.  And now the experts are sayingto apply vaginally or rectally instead.
---Stress now.  Foreclosure, bankruptcy so we can flee the outside wood boiler smoke.  Doing this though we had not been late on any payments, but do not have luxury to stay here and fight.  Nor the heart to place a tenant in this situation.
---Birth control pills for a few years here and there
---Menopause, weight, plus cancer happens in our family though not BC

This equation and I have encountered cancer.  Breast and nodes.   These variable for someone else may manifest as lung cancer or other. Or no cancer at all.

I feel like I let my guard down, but somehow I don't blame myself, it is what it is and now to get out of it.  And now, though I am stressed, I feel like we are embarking on an adventure.

Diane

For those who didn't take BC pills, how did you not get pregnant? Sorry for such a personal question, but I only ask because we had an Oooooopz! baby while using condoms..... Just wondering, because several ladies have mentioned that.

Re:birth control pills, Not every one is fertile myrtle. It turned out I had a deformity in my uterus, not discovered until I did pursue infertility treatment. Wasn't fixable.

It's normal to wonder what our role was in getting our cancer. But it's moot because you can't rewind to change it, and it most certainly has to be multi-factoral. I think as humans, we try to validate our experiences with anecdotes, and consider it to be the "truth." We're analytical creatures, looking for cause and effect. But what we lose sight of in this process is that correlation is not causation. And nor is our search for validation true research. It's just a process for us that fits our values system. We look for what WE believe is true, and we tend not to look at other things.

I see way more people trying to figure out how they caused their breast cancer than people trying to figure out how they caused their lymphoma, colon cancer, sarcoma, thyroid cancer, etc. Why is that?

I see way more people trying to figure out how they caused their breast cancer than people trying to figure out how they caused their lymphoma, colon cancer, sarcoma, thyroid cancer, etc. Why is that?

Good question, Anne.  I've wondered that myself!  There are specific things scientists can point to for causation -- asbestos and mesothelioma, pesticide exposure and certain lymphomas, for example.

But I have 2 nephews who are dealing with prostate cancer.  Neither of them has spent any time wondering aloud "What caused it?"  or "What did I do to cause it?"  My BIL recently passed away from lymphoma, after having chronic lymphatic leukemia for the past 20 years.  We had many discussions about cancer, but never once did he question "What caused it?"

Layla, I couldn't agree more!  Cancer researchers all know that cures won't be found until the cause (or causes) is discovered.  Why on earth are we trying to figure it out? 

We try to figure it out because we want some scrap of control in our lives. But I don't think we can ever do any more than guess. I know that doctors and nurses said to me before diagnosis that I was doing everything right and I wouldn't get breast cancer. Boggles the mind doesn't it? We all did what we could to prevent breast cancer, Many if not most of us did everything right but here we are.

I never used Birth Control pills, and have no family history of BC.  I have never been overweight, and had always been active and healthy, but that doesnt mean that I always ate healthy.  Because I never gained weight easily, I always thought I could get away with eating whatever I wanted.  Now I wonder if those early years of eating lots of junk caught up with me and gave me BC.  Also, I used to use plastic water bottles for my workouts (that sometimes sat in a hot car for too long allowing the chemicals in the plastic to de-stabilize.)  Not to mention, plastic containers in the microware.   I really believe that for me it was a combination of unhealthy things that caught up with me.  I feel more empowered thinking I know that factors that contributed to my BC ...i don't beat myself up for it.  Like Rosemary-b said,  "We try to figure it out because we want some scrap of control in our lives"

So, we all accept that no-one really knows the cause of breast cancer.....

and yet, there is article after article, and post after post, and recommendations after recommendations to eat less sugar, less starch, avoid this or that, do this or that, all to prevent a recurrence.

WHY?

Isn't it best to just live health, happy and stress free and take the radiation, chemo or other medical treatments based on the exact nature of our individual cancers?

Oh, and for birth control... I used a diaphragm, then after our 3rd, I got a copper (no hormones) IUD.  I still have that IUD.