Do you know anyone who NEVER had a recurrence?

Yes, my mother, 14 year survivor. She is 86.

My aunt (mom's sister) was dx'd with BC at age 48. It has been 30 years and she is still cancer free! She is healthy and active -- she is basically the nanny to her two granddaughters, about 4 and 8 years old.

She told me I had to survive BC cause she did.

The list is so long that I don't know where to begin. Some famous women who never had a recurrence are Nancy Reagan, Betty Ford, Shirley Temple Black, Sandra Day O'Connor, Cheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Joan London...... A friend of mine who is a 40 plus year survivor (and had 3 children after her treatments), my aunt who had BC in her 50's and died at 88 without a recurrence, my next door neighbor's mom who just turned 90.....most people who are diagnosed with BC (and have the appropriate treatment) do NOT die from BC.

Two aunts. Auntie Gladys was diagnosed with BC when she was 24, in 1912. Truly the Stone Age of cancer treatment. They knew practically nothing back then. Auntie had a mastectomy and was sent on her way. No follow-up of any kind. The family story was that she could never get married, because, you know, she was missing her breast (rolls eyes.)  She never had another bout of cancer.  Auntie Gladys lived well into her 90s and died of dementia. 

Aunt Ann was diagnosed when she was 43, back in the 1970s. Still pretty primitive, but Aunt Ann was included in one of the early trials at Johns Hopkins that used mastectomy, radiation AND chemo to treat. Back then they didn't use anti-hormonals. In fact, they didn't really understand how estrogen and progesterone affected BC, and HER2 hadn't been discovered.  Aunt Ann never had a BC recurrence. She lived to her 80s and died of lung cancer, a victim of second hand smoke.(her lung cancer was not connected with breast cancer.) 

I know several people, not to mention people in my own family. Yes, there are also two members of my family who died young due to mets, but there were many more who died of other causes in their eighties and nineties. I intend to be in the latter group. Don't let fear rob you of living.

my grandmother, braca 1 positive. Had BC age 25, had a mastectomy and sent on her way. Had three children right after, lived to ripe old age 87.

triplepa, I'm guessing you want to hear about TN survivors, not just any bc survivors. Check the signatures of people like wrenn (above) to find out who is in your situation and are doing well many years later. Or perhaps go to the TN forum discussions and ask your question there. To date their is no cure for this disease and we are all subject to differing recurrence odds. Certainly, though, survival is the most common outcome in this era of new drugs and targeted treatments.

My Mom had a mastectomy in 1976, when she was 68 years old. She was one month short of her 99th birthday when she passed away. No chemo or radiation, she lived in her own apartment until the end, and drove her car until she was at least 95!

I have 3 friends - 17 years free, 10 years free and 7 years free. The statistics show that cancer DOESN'T always come back. From the Komen website: "The lifetime risk of a second primary contralateral breast cancer is about 40-65 percent for women with a BRCA1/2 mutation [112].". The risk is lower if you do not have BRCA1/2.

So there you go. Even if you are high risk, it's still not everyone - not by a long way - and think about how medicine advances. In 10 years we should have even more answers. Stay positive, work your lifestyle changes and have hope.

Sending you love,

Holly

Hi everyone. My dear friend was diagnosed with lobular breast cancer 15 years ago. Her tumor was 5 cm and she had 5 positive lymph nodes! She refused chemo but took an aromatase inhibitor for 5 years. She's been NED since her diagnosis. Another happy story

Shellsatthebeach...did your grandmother have any other treatment besides surgery

A sort of step-grandmother in-law who died in her late 90's, at least 30 years after diagnosis. I didn't know her, but the step-in-laws sent me her foobs.

Well I here is how I think of cancer,

I think of it as an opportunist, it waits for an opportunity to strike again. Lies dormant. Some for years. Some for months. Some forever. With the right treatment, health regimens it may never come back. But one thing I do know is we all have a different story. Just like in life. Everyone takes different paths. Some choose college, military, jobs, marriage, kids, rent, purchase etc. So just like life cancer may or may not affect everyone, it may or may not return. I guess what I am trying to say is, we just have to enjoy the second chance we get once we have NED. No evidence of disease and try not to worry about it returning.

That's a good question Steph, I would like to know too.

There are many people on BCO who had positive nodes and are many years out from their diagnosis, and remain NED.

My sister was diagnosed with triple-positive inflammatory breast cancer in 2012. Many nodes involved. Like me, she doesn't have recurrence or mets.