Breast Cancer and Dreams

I haven't had any dreams related to this diagnosis, but 10 years ago something interesting happened during a benign scare (I have had many over the years). I had an enlarged axillary lymph node and in the midst of investigating that they found several issues that required extensive stereotactic core biopsy of both breasts. That was the most worried I had ever been about BC up to that point.

I'm not particularly superstitious, but I guess I was looking for signs out of desperation, and I put a thought out there to my grandmother who had passed away, asking her to come to me in a dream if I would be OK. A couple of nights later I dreamed I walked up to the counter at the breast center, the phone rang, and the receptionist said, "It's for you," and handed me the phone. It was my grandmother's voice, "Hi honey," exactly how she would have said it in life. I was so excited I woke myself up so I don't know what else she would have said, but I didn't worry much after that, and everything did indeed turn out OK.

I'm still not superstitious but just for the heck of it I asked for a similar dream while waiting for this DX, and I got nuttin!

Hi BreatheDeep:

You might be interested in this article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dreamscloud/a-dream-...

I read somewhere that the subconscious mind may be aware of something, like a subtle physical symptom.

Alas, I didn't have any prescient dreams. I did have many nightmares during the diagnostic phase. I would wake up from them unable to recall the precise details of the dream, all worried that I was missing something or not taking some critical action. These dreams were similar to those I had about professional matters.

BarredOwl

my sister pediatrician told Her that he had a young patients mother who kept dreaming she had bReast cancer over and over she finally checked it out and she did! Crazy!! I have had dreams for years off all my hair falling out nightmares really I know it sounds vain but it really happened due to chemo

I just discovered this group. I am a 25 year breast cancer survivor. My breast cancer was diagnosed in dreams, and I had to battle my way through doctors and an OK mammogram to convince them I needed help. A generous "believing" surgeon listened to me, and, after a needle biopsy, confirmed that, had it not been for my dreams, I might have been dead within a year with few symptoms to support the diagnosis. My cancer was fast-moving and aggressive; my chemo treatments were aggressive; but my dreams followed me throughout the treatment process, giving me dream imagery I could use for active meditation and for writing. Years after my initial diagnosis I wrote my story: She Who Dreams [New World Library, Novato, CA, 2003]. My story and book and dreams still receive attention; and I lead dreamwork classes in the Adirondack mountains through Creative Healing Connections. The numbers of people who dream both their diagnosis and healing journey is impressive and highly dependent upon keeping a journal and writing all dreams in the journal. I discovered - after my diagnosis - that I had been dreaming about my breast cancer diagnosis for almost two years and maybe longer. I worked with a friend, learning a process for working with my dreams and mining them for guidance and imagery while they were still fresh. The best advice I still give is to keep a journal and look back through it time and again. Dreams often reveal their content days, weeks, months and even years later. Someone mentioned a study by Dr. Burk. I, too, participated in that study; and Dr. Burk continues to collect stories of dreams, diagnosis, and treatment. If you would like to hear more of my story, go to my website (redacted by Mods) or follow the link on VoiceAmerica with Ann Gelsheimer, who just last week asked me for a new interview. (redacted by Mods)

I have had a few nightmares since being diagnosed that have left my heart pounding. I am hoping these will stop after the surgery and treatment. I think our subconscious minds are playing out the worst case scenarios in order to prepare us for what might happen.

I also think that many women are in tune with their bodies. We feel our hormones shifting and in my case I knew something was different even though there was no obvious lump.

MT