Did I Cause Myself To Get Cancer?

PatsyKB · April 2018

Since there’s no answer to the “why/how did I get cancer question” and there’s no one thing to “blame” I embrace the sentiment which I’ve adopted as my sig line: “If unicorns rules the world, this shit wouldn’t happen.” 🦄

Newly diagnosed (5 days ago - yikes) and grateful for this network of women of humor, strength, wisdom and generosity.

Onward

Texasborn · April 2018

I was diagnosed 10 days ago and will have the lump removed in 2 days. I took Premarin for 20 years. I have er+ and pr+. I thought Premarin was safe

Egads007 · April 2018

My MO answered my ‘why?’ with “because you’re a woman, and you have breasts” then went on to emphasize it was nothing I did. I still believe her

Whew! I coulda sworn it was that bottle of hootch in that cheap motel in Mexico!

Fairchild · June 2018

I was diagnosed recently and have felt really bad about being on hormone replacement therapy-- both estrogen and progesterone. But mostly mad at my gyn. I have been on them since an early menopause, and I'm now 61. For several years I've been asking her if there are dangers to taking them, and she's said emphatically no. I hope she considers my situation before she says that to the next woman. Her office also didn't schedule my mammograms for several years....

VASusan · July 2018

It made me sad reading all the posts about different women being put on the estrogen replacement by their trusted doctors. I had fibrocystic breast disease in my 30's and was told by my surgeon never to take estrogen. But what I have done for a living for the last 20+ years is clean houses and I wonder if my cancer was caused from the exposure to the cleaning chemicals. I never thought too much about cleaning chemicals being so harmful until after my diagnosis of DCIS.It's natural for us to wonder if I hadn't done this or that, would I have gotten the cancer? But only God knows the answer to that.

I believe that bad stuff happens to us because we live in a fallen and polluted world. God made everything good but man has spoiled so much of God's good world. Death is part of the world because of man's sin not because God is pleased with suffering and death in his world. Even babies get sick and die. Death and suffering are not part of God's original design for man. Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus and one preacher said the Greek word for when he "groaned in the spirit" and was troubled meant that he not only was sorrowful but was also angry at death even though He was God in the flesh and Lord of this creation. He was angry at death without being angry at Himself. I have faith in God and believe that the Son of God who became flesh in the incarnation and ascended to the right hand of His Father, will come again to judge the world and will make all things new. He came as a Lamb the first time to put away sin for those who trust in Him. He will come again to destroy His enemies and to restore the world to wholeness. He will raise the bodies of His people from the dead and give them new glorious bodies like His own, bodies that will never get sick or die. Death is an enemy and the Son of God came to destroy the Devil's work. That's my only hope in life and in death.

AliceBastable · August 2018

This thread's a bit stale, but I'm still adding my 2¢ to it. I had endometrial/uterine cancer ten years ago, and got a very thorough hysterectomy. Onco gyn said no hormone replacement for me because it was hormone-based. He also said that although my smoking was bad for my overall health, there was no known connection to the cancer I had. So, no hormone replacement, and I was on birth control pills for only a year nearly 50 years ago (yeah, I lied to some guys 😈). My mom had BC, but not until she was 85 - and I have no idea why they gave someone her age a full course of radiation, but she did fine with it and lived to 97, when she died of pneumonia complications. Now I have BC, highly ER+ and PR+, so something in my body is still chugging out estrogen. I'm firmly in the "shit happens" camp. Some of us have more turds, some have larger ones, some have really nasty stinky ones, some have little skid marks, some have none at all. Just random poop distribution. Oh, and cleaning products? I'm a firm believer in "If the stuff on the floor doesn't bite, I'm good" messy camp. Stress? I seldom do that, and only briefly. I prefer to give it to others when possible. 😏

Let's concentrate on doing what we can to get rid of our particular crap, undergoing what we need to to keep it from coming back, and enjoying our lives until whatever bus that has our name on it comes barrelling down the street.

dtad · August 2018

Hi everyone...Just FYI when I asked my BS if HRT caused my breast cancer he told me that most of his patients did NOT take HRT. So it may have caused it but obviously there are many causes. Good luck to all.

Meow13 · August 2018

Every health professional I have seen said I did not do anything to cause my cancer. We just don't know how we get it. I have nothing to blame myself for. I didn't drink, smoke or eat unhealthy. Exercise 1hr everyday and bmi of 21. I get so mad when I hear all the things that increase your risk of BC, well I can't point to any except stress from close relationships.

Oneof7 · September 2018

the best advice I've received since my dx is from my sister -- a survivor for 24 years!!-- and that was "it is not your fault"

PollyOne · October 2018

I started having children at 18, and nursed three of them, used birth control sparingly, and never took any HRT. I am overweight, grew up with a smoker and loved the X-ray shoe sizer as a child. I entered puberty early and it appears my cancer started growing right around the time I finished menopause at age 59. So I have about half the risk factors I found online. It's early in the process for me, and I realized part of the blame thing was based on hoping to beat this thing and be done with it. I read everyone's posts with such admiration for your honesty and courage. Thank you all.

Did I Cause Myself To Get Cancer?

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