Would love to hear from some long term Stage III survivors...

Thank you ladies for your stories of encouragement.  I come here daily to get my day started or at the closing of the day so that I know to be strong for tomorrow.

You offer HUGE HOPE to my day.

When I grow up, I want to be like you.............A LONG TIME SURVIVOR

WAY TO GO GIRL!!!

Hugs,

Cindy

Alyson, I am hoping to beat the stats too. Thanks for sharing.  I feel ignorant, but am wondering what NED is???I am a 3c not 3a. Did chemo. recovering from mastect.  returning to work.  About to go thru rads.  And am answering so many questions from loved ones/friends re/ my treatment and what will happen,  I don't know!!   Thanks for your post!! 

I suggest that if you are nervous about losing your hair, get it cut short and sassy before you start treatment.  I didnt mind losing mine, but then we are all different.  I saved on shampoo, hair style supplies, never had to worry about bed head or helmet head when out on the motorcycle......I actually enjoyed it.  I had a new bandanna for every outfit, occation and holiday.  My mom is going to take them all and make me a quilt out of them.

I finished chemo in November and radiation in January since that time I have cut my hair four times.  I really got use to the "sassy/kick butt" attitude that I get from my short hair style.  It is about an inch long now and black as black can be.  Each time I cut it there was probably 1/2 an inch cut off.  So yes, it will grow back.  Think of it as only being hair.....life has greater value.  But this is a decision that you can only make.

I say go for it.......................come jump on the sassy bus with me.

Hugs,

Cindy

Hortense,

I am approaching 5 years and my hair is exactly as I remember it. 

 I went from long hair to a complete shave and long hair wig as soon as it started falling out, but  I ALWAYS wore my wig and many did not know I was in treatment. 

 We all handle this differently and I liked feeling as normall as possible since I am not quite the warrior some of these women are. When the worry about my own hair showing outweighed the need for a wig I stopped wearing it.  People would comment about how cute my new cut looked and I told them "it was time to lose the long hair".  It may be vain, but keeping my hair helped me stay positive and to see "me" when I looked in the mirror.

Losing hair was a sad part of this process, but I wanted the whole kitchen sink so I would never look back and wonder what if.  Now without ovaries and taking tamoxifen my hair is below my shoulders and thick as ever.

Hortense my pic is from about a month ago and that is 6 months post chemo. It will grow back, I promise and if you like curls....you will probably have them .

Ladies,

I was wondering if those of you that had positive nodes, larger tumors or a higher stage.....if you had a body scan after treatment?

My onc says that it is "bad medicene" to have them done because of the false positive results and that they are expensive to do.  First of all, Im paying for it. And second of all, I need the peace of mind that treatment is/has done what it should.

How do you get past this point?  I hate thinking that every little ache is the cancer coming back, but tired of dwelling on it.  I just think if there is something there......I want it out NOW.

Cindi

I got a bone scan and a CT after my surgery and the nodes were discovered.  I got my onc to give me another bone scan in February due to ongoing neck pain.  He did not balk about it but did tell me that he would typically not scan someone unless they were symptomatic. Typically a scan will pick up something right before you get symptoms, that is what I have read anyway.  Some doctors believe it does harm, but I have seen a lot of women on this board who get a scan every 6 months. Think it depends on your doc.

Sherri, I am the same way. I hate waiting!! If I got a scan everytime I felt a twinge or had an ache I would never leave the hospital, LOL.  My onc says unless I have very distinct symptoms, I am fine. He is so positive, I just love him!! 

Nearly 9 years for me (in July).   7.5cm tumour and "extensive lymphatic invasion".   I don't bother getting scans - would do if I felt I needed to, but don't see the point in going through all that anxiety!   Don't think about recurrence too much, just occasionally nowadays.   I still lurk on this site a bit but not every day and sometimes I "forget" for a few weeks.

I was terrified for about the first year.   It really does get better!

 Love Mel

I see that it has been almost a month since I last posted here.  That's pretty good, I think.  I think of bc less and less each day and try to pound it out of my head.  However, today was a tuff day.....I think it might be the heat.  It makes me more tired than ever which is upsetting as I am not a sit around kind of person.

My family and friends have all moved on ...... I just wish that I could.  Days like today I get thinking about "why bother"  My mind runs wild and it is so difficult.

Eating well (never ate so many fruits and vegies) Im really enjoying that   Walk daily even if it is a 1/2 mile (which isnt much) but when the farm work is done, sometimes I just don't care.

Cindi

mauralyn:  not sure if anyone answered your question - NED is "no evidence of the disease".  I was dx 4/7/11 and my treatment lasted 9 months.  I had 4 DD A/C, 4 DD T, 35 rads and now on Arimidex.  I had a tiny very aggressive tumor and a lot of nodes positive and I am IIIc. 

Re: hair - I finished chemo in early December 2011 and just last month, (May 2012) I stopped wearing my scarves.  Hair's short but long enough that I feel comfortable w/o a head covering at this point.  The thing I don't like - at 57, I never had a gray hair on my head but it pretty much all came in gray now!

Re: follow up care - I had a bone scan (due to Arimidex), mammo/ultrasound, pap smear, ultrasound of ovaries and colonoscopy. The pap and colonoscopy were overdue procedures that doctors had cancelled when I was in treatment.  Onc does not do scans or blood marker testing due to false results.  He said if I have a particular pain or issue we can do a scan at that point but he also doesn't want me to be exposed to any additional radiation unless it's a real need.  He told me he wants me to separate out my GYN and breast surgeon appts to become 6 months apart.  That way, even if I only see each once a year I will have had two clinical exams by medical personnel each year.

Keep the long time survivors story coming - we can always use more of them!

Hoping that my stage 3 sisters check in regular.  Would love to hear that you are doing well.  Im almost to the point where I dont worry every day, all day.  Im busy on the farm and taking care of my family but Im afraid that when I go back to work this fall I am going to find it difficult being away from home and loved ones.

Please continue to post, your positive attitude and reminders that there IS life after BC is huge in our healing.  Thanks for sharing your wisdom.

I wanted to bump this up or start a new thread but didnt know how.

Cindi

So, I am to be "watched" every 6 months or so for any fibrosis changes in my right lung at the top.  They think it is only radiation scarring but it has gotten bigger from 2010.  In just this past two weeks, two dear friends diagnosed 4 & 5 years ago now have recurrent BC in spine & hip bones.  Their diagnosis's were similar to me and this is freaking me out.  They weren't worried about any recurrences after their treatments that long ago, but now we're all stressed to the max!!  Can I hear from everyone that has a success story PLZZZZZ???

Hey all ....well life does go on after all this...so to give back to the new girls look at my stats and I am healthy living life !

much love C