Stage 2B six years later

Six years ago today my doctor called to tell me the biopsy results. Positive for breast cancer. ER+/PR+ HER2-: "if you have to have breast cancer, you have the good one."

I can tell you where I was in the office when I took the call, who I was meeting with, and the topic of the meeting. I can tell you which conference room I stepped into to have the conversation and that I took notes on the whiteboard in the room. The panic came a little later as this was still less worrisome than the stem cell transplant my husband was scheduled to have two days later. But the panic did come as I went through the summer of tests and consults. By mid-August, I had settled on a surgical plan and had a decent idea of adjuvant treatment. I'd also heard a helpful statement, "breast cancer diagnosis is an emotional crisis but rarely a medical crisis." This did help with the panic and the waiting. By the end of September, following the biopsies from the mastectomy, I received the last of the bad news (chemo in addition to radiation). If someone had told me that I'd forget the details, I would have assumed they were crazy - there was no way I would ever forget each doctor visit, each test, each surgery, each test!

I'm six years out from diagnosis and am posting to offer hope to those newly diagnosed. You will forget the details as you get farther from treatment. To remember details, I have to go back to the blog I was using for health updates. (Remember, my husband underwent a stem cell transplant at the same time so there was a lot to update.) If you were to ask me today, I can no longer tell you the numerical details of my tumors - just the 2B stage and the ER+PR+ part. I can talk all day long about my reconstruction decision because it was unusual (unilateral DIEP) but the details about recovery and final tweaks are fuzzy. I'm off my aromatase inhibitor (the accompanying depression cleared up almost immediately). I feel great.

Since my diagnosis and treatment, a lot has happened. Some bad (the stem cell transplant was unsuccessful and my husband died) and lots of good - both of my children are well and live nearby, I've retired, I lost all the cancer weight and then some, I am fitter than I've been in years, and have recently fallen in love for the second time in my life.

Have faith, Stage2 - you will get through this and it will become a distant memory.