Stage III Cancer Survivors .... 10+ Years and Out

Thanks Weesa! I too love my red wine. I usually only drink it on my weekends, but sometimes with my job, I'm looking for it when I walk in the door regardless of the day! I'm coming up on my one year of finishing chemo. I had double dose as well and they also radiated the middle of my chest even though the cancer was on the side of my boob. The doc said that there is some evidence the nodes in that area of our chests could be affected. I was 98% ER+ and have no issues with the Al's. knock on wood! I'm thinking about a job change to general real estate instead of working for a builder.....less stress is good!

Hello everyone , recently was diadnosed with IDC , limphnodes involved, grade 3. I'm so scared!

Hi Ruska, we're so sorry that you have to be here, but wanted to say welcome to Breastcancer.org, where we know you'll find lots of answers and support. You're right, it's hard to stay positive all the time, sometimes it's just not possible and we need to cry and release all those emotions... so you can always come here to vent, we're all here for you.

If it helps, there is a special section designed for those newly diagnosed that will help you sort through all of the information on our site to find what is more relevant to you right now. It is called Breast Cancer 101 (just click on the link).

We hope this helps, let us know how you're doing.

Best,

The Mods

Hi Lucy,

We have a similar profile as far as diagnosis.... I too like my wine. I try not to drink it in excess and my husbands idea of excess is much different than mine. I also like Bubbly as a drink of choice.

I hope your doing well?? I am still trying to move past the madness of my disease being missed by my doctors. I've always been such a negative person but I am now learning the importance of letting go of the anger and forgiveness. Holding onto only hurts me!

I get so sick of my doctor telling me negative things in regards to this breast cancer. How aggressive it is etc, etc. and how big my tumor ended up being. Yeah, because they missed it for 3 plus years!

I usually don't post too much but sometimes I like reaching out to someone that has a similar diagnosis to mine.

Are you on Arimidex?

Lexie.....

Just hit my 10 year mark couple of weeks ago!! I don't post much but I thought... the fact I'm still alive and well can give some hope to those who are newly diagnosed and worried...I decided to come out and say, I'M STILL HERE!!!

Thanks peacestrength and Jillian.Your posts mean a lot. Thank you for coming back and motivating us. Hugs

Jillian & Miki, Congrats to both of you and thank you so much for coming back and posting. I know it is hard to come visit the further you get out. But it means so much to those of us that are newly on this journey. Yes I still consider 1 year out newly on this journey. A ((((((huge hug))))) and thank you for the motivation!

I agree Weesa. For those 15 and out, please start a new thread. We have a 5 and a 10, let's see the 15 and 20s give us a big winner's wave!

Miki and Jillian - CONGRATS!

And thank you for posting! You give encouragement and hope

I'm personally looking at celebrating 5 years in March 2016 but I had a long conversation a few days ago with a Stage 3 lady who had it 23 years ago!!

Thirteen years tomorrow.

I just read Faithfulheart's comment above about my celebratory cocktails and realized it's time to get out the very large pitcher, (the one that gets pressed into watering the geraniums in the summer),and mix me a big ole batch of margaritas. I make em healthy, with no salt. Plenty of lime juice, beer, 7-up and tequila. Pretty remarkable recipe--covers all the food groups in one healthy libation.

I often get personal messages asking for the skinny on my survivorhood, and I do think that cancer cells can't hardly live in my alcohol stream.

But here is a couple of more sensible, mature thoughts as well: I had a tough time taking aromatase inhibitors. My joints became so inflamed that both shoulders tore, and one knee. All had to be repaired surgically. What I learned to do, along with my onc, was figure out how little of the AI I could take and still keep my estradiol level in a low, safe range. I tried every other day, and or taking half a pill a day. I found a lab willing to do a sensitive assay on the estradiol level. Much to my surprise, I did not have to take a full dose every day to maintain the safe level of estradiol, and taking a smaller dose helped my inflammation in the joints tremendously .It makes sense to me that we all should not be taking the same dosage.

Well... I am sending you all a cyber margarita. Not just for me-- for all of you--we need to congratulate ourselves on how the longevity is piling up here. We Stage 3ers are on the cutting edge of newer, more optimistic statistics. Many women with the scariest statistics are thriving. I myself did not ever expect to be here tonight, despite my cancer-kicking health juices. I had an 8 cm IDC and a layer of lobular underneath it. My sentinel node was 2 cm of tumor and many other nodes were bursting with cancer. Worst of all, my KI-67 was 75%.

So, I have just dropped a pebble in your worry pond, let it start ripping outward and give you hope. Love and admiration, Weesa

Yes, weesa, you're a role model for sure. Those of us just a year or so out from treatment need to relax and get on with life knowing there's plenty of long-term stage III survivors out there. I'm the only guy posting with on BCO with IBC, so I have to rely on all the lovely women here for inspiration and guidance and you are up there with several other great mentors. 

congrats on your 13th, awesome lady. Hope your enjoying with some tasty beverages!

( love the new 15th thread)