are you addicted to bco?

Hi ladies,  

Finishing Herceptin in 2010 I intended to throw away all materials about BC: reports, guidelines, articles, medical books, and forget the story,  but now - nearly three years after, I'm pending on BCO every day and I‘m getting information about BC aper e-mail from different medical sites. Information about BC collected from everywhere! YES, I'm addicted!

Best

Usha

Rozem - you only joined 7 months ago! sheesh - I was dx in 2008, joined BCO in Jan 2009, and am STILL here! I find it relaxing - like a cigarette break (except i don't smoke) - and have a certain thread tht is my fave. when there's nothing happening on it I cruise around, just looking for something interesting, or a place I can post. I might actually be addicted to writing! there are certain people I've grown fond of, too, and I like to read their posts, see how they're doing, and like to see how treatments ahve changed over past 4 years - and they have.

BCO has saved my sanity. Where else could I find a place to talk about my changed sexuality; support for life changes; reminders to stay well; peeps who TOTALLY understand.... I feel so lucky to have BCO. New posts and new threads come up everyday and I can't believe how much I learn.

HOPELESSLY (hopefully?) addicted. : )

Yes, I guess I am addicted, too, but coming here helps me so much. Like it or not, I inhabit a different world now than I did before I was diagnosed with BC. It is good to read about how others are navigating this strange, new world and to help others along the way.

Hey....I am over 10 years out from dx and still come here everyday!

I do not think about bc all the time, but like to keep connected to the club nobody wanted to join.Only here does everyone 'get it'.

Unless you have been through it, you really don't understand.Plus it is good to be able to give some help and advice to newbies occasionally.I didn't find this place until 2 years after dx (wasn't computer literate in those days).....my journey would have been so much easier if I had had that support from day one.

Good topic!! I did wonder the same about myself. I really wanted to stop thinking about cancer and wondererd if posting and reading on this site  was keeping it top of mind.  I found I wittled away my evening  to much and so my answer to my addiction was simply to cut back on my time . I didnt' want to give it up as I found such support from this site and y-me cancer site when I was first diagnosed, that I wanted to continue to give back in some small way to those who are newly diagnosed.

Oh let's face it--if we are posting on this thread we're addicted. LOL I've been in the hospital and I am now and I'm posting. I got my computer here today so what if we are---Like Athena said we are entitled

I find the return here grounding.  I am not emotionally done with DCIS.  I could easily pretend I am.  But my return to bco focuses the things I am processing right now, keeps them here, allows my time away to be bc-free.

Also, I was so grateful to the many women who reassured me about so many different things as I went through dx and mx.  I don't just feel like I owe something back.  I feel like I must share what I know to give it all meaning.

And, too, there are still things I get reassurance about.

I think the question for me is not whether it is an addiction, but rather whether it adds to my quality and meaning of life.  I am glad to say that I think it still does, and probably will for a very long time...

I'm almost 4 years post treatment and I still check in every day, I don't think I'm addicted though. I sometimes think that if I hadn't had a mastectomy I would have moved on but I see my body every day so I can't forget... and this site has helped me so much. It's like every time I  log in, I open a door and enter a world where people understand that it's never over, and don't get tired of listening, and have answers to questions that would have to wait until my next appointment otherwise... so I'm really grateful for this site and for all of you.

I like the expression, "playing it forward" - I'm a master of few things in life, but I've earned a PHD in improving my QOL while taking Arimidex  Very happy to share what I've learned with others on the same journey. 

count me in.  I'm addicted too.  I think I should be moving on, but I just can't stay away, so I don't fight it.  I think it's all very therapeutic to be in touch with people who have gone through the same thing and it just gives me the energy and desire to keep trudging forward.

In one word, yes. But have tapered off Facebook and as well as the trashy TV (housewives) that I got hooked on during chemo. I have gotten so much valuable information ( including choosing my surgery) and support here. I've also learned things that have scared me, that I wish I didn't know. But ultimately, I'm grateful that BCO is here and for now I'm hooked and look at certain threads on a daily basis.

You are not alone. I finished treatment in late August 2008, but I still return to see how others are doing and to read reasearch updates. Since then, we've taken two ocean cruises, the first around Italy,plus Monaco and a few other great stops. This past February, we took a three-week cruise around South America. The beauty and variety of the wildlife and places we saw were overwhelming. I know that BC has changed me. I know I will be a better friend to others in my life with BC and other cancers. I now know how scared one is with the initial diagnosis and also the importance of keeping one's life as normal as possible. I also know how infuriating it is to be told to think positive by people who barely know me. I am a cheerful person, but that comment really made me angry as, like any cancer patient, my feelings ere all over the place. And I am so glad to be alive and reasonably healthy for being my mid-60s. God bless all of you on this board, plus extra thanks to the creators of this wonderful Website!