This week marks 3 years since my official diagnosis! We are picking up friends at the airport this weekend and then heading to the Oregon Coast to have some fun.

Congrats Visla, may u have a great vacation.

I am also 'celebrating'. It is two years since my diagnosis. Yesterday I had an mammogram and breast MRI and I am so happy that they found absolutely no sign of cancer. Today I am so grateful that I am here.

Cheers to those of you with good news!!

so I finished treatment about a month ago. I guess I thought I would feel happier or more relieved than I do. Not sure what’s going on.... is this nirmal

cccmc2 - I felt worse mentally after treatment ended than I did during treatment. Well, technically I am still in treatment because I'm doing Xeloda, but post active treatment.... I think it takes time to get back to feeling normal. I have a lot to face because I am losing my job in a couple months. Luckily, I'm just now starting to feel like I may be able to face interviewing, even though I finished IV chemo last December. Anyway, my point is that I would expect that it will take 6 months before you have normal moments and then maybe a year before you aren't thinking about cancer all the time. That's my guess anyway, but I know everyone is different.

R

LoveMyVizsla....CONGRATULATIONS‼️ I’m right behind you. 3 years October 14th.

Have fun and stay healthy. ❤️❤️

cccmc2 - I too think it's normal. I'm not there yet, just finished my last dose of chemo last week. So I'm not at the "now what" stage. But I'm already wondering how I will move forward when all is done. How will I have a normal life with recurrence fears always there? Its difficult not having other therapies available to potentially keep this cancer at bay. We just have to hope that out treatments did their job and the cancer doesn't come back. This is what I struggle with.

Santabarbarian - I like what you said, "Worry will not protect you." I need to post this on my fridge and every mirror in my house.

Hello. I am 9 years out from first diagnosis and 5 years from a recurrence. Doing very well and just posting to give you encouragement. Many boards don’t have long term survivors posting and I’m sure they are out there. I come back to the boards once a year to update but otherwise don’t spend much time thinking of breast cancer. I do yearly MRIs-mostly for my psychological health. If something hurts more than 2 weeks, I get it checked. Every day is a blessing. I’m grateful to God, my doctors, friends and family. Being a survivor is tough. Anxiety always lurks and sometimes I fall in to not remembering how blessed I am. Prayers for all going through the fire.

Cccmc2,

Glad you scheduled to talk to someone, and hoping you're feeling better soon.

Hugs, Vickki

A good piece of advice a LT survivor gave me is to make plans, things you are excited to do and enjoy-- visiting a friend, taking a small trip and also consciously thinking about my purpose for being here. Having a reason to live and things you want to do!

cccmc2 I think any reaction after diagnosis, during treatment and after treatment is normal. Which isn't to say that various therapeutic treatments aren't a good idea. I think they are. My feelings bounce all over the place. I've felt fleeting relief each time news has been good but I haven't achieved an over-all sense of relief. I never know how to answer the question I get from friends, "How are you?" I don't really know. I'm here. I'm NED. They want me to say, "I'm good. I'm fine. I'm great" Usually I say, "Good enough."

Meanwhile, I see that many people on the boards have achieved milestones and I'm truly happy for each of you. Meadow I just saw your beautiful 5-year post. Congratulations to everyone.

aterry: I absolutely understand the "good enough" answer. My answer to friends/family usually comes out "not stellar, but ok". It's really difficult to navigate this diagnosis/treatment coupled with navigating everyone else's feelings as well.

Flynn - I'm also doing Xeloda after 4 chemos, surgery, radiation. For me, its side effects keep me (and those who love me) feeling like I'm very much in active treatment. No time for processing - just going day to day.

To be honest, I have other challenges that keep me focused on day to day: only sibling, my 61-year-old brother died while I was doing IV chemo in Feb and could not go to him; 30-year-old son is now jail for drugs - which is a blessing as we know where he is, and he's alive; 36-year-old daughter's marriage has ended (she lives in Ireland so long talks have to be scheduled around the 6-hour time difference).

I have the most wonderful husband in the world, though, and dear friends. How would we get through this without them.

I hope to enter the Keytruda trial in December, but if I don't get into the medical arm, my onc will let me finish Xeloda. So depending on which arm of the trial I get into, I'm done in March or Dec, 2019. A long, long, road.

Thanks to long-term survivors for checking in. It does uplift us.

Ksh0227 / Sukhan, I'm very sorry that your wife's cancer has progressed and hope that the current treatment proves more successful. You might want to copy and paste the information shared on your other thread. Some of us have certain topics flagged so we see them every time we visit the forum. It's easy to miss information posted under a new title. A reader here may have experience with your wife's current medication plan that could prove helpful.

Lyn