When do you all count your survivor years from??

Babyface · August 2007

Well I now have opinions from 2 oncologists and 1 GP and they are all different. This coming Friday will be 3 years from the dreaded day I found "it". Third week of Sept was my surgery in/04( but who's counting This week also happens to be the same week that DH and I got together many moons ago, so we intend to make this weekend a celebratory one as opposed to "omg do you remember where we were 3 years ago". This leads me to the question....one Dr. told me that you count the time from 1st finding the lump, another told me that the time counts from surgery, and another told me from the completion of treatment. Having had triple neg grade 3 and metaplastic to add insult to injury which happens to be very aggressive I want to get to the 3 year mark asap.....lol...and then the 4, and the 5...and so on. Seriously, Im not naive, I know like all of you do that we can have a recurrence at any time but I really do prefer to delude myself with the "I had a very aggressive form of BC, and if it isnt back by 3 years out I may have dodged the bullet " So when do you all count from?

Hoghedge · August 2007

From the last session of last form of tratment seems most logical to me

VickiTN · August 2007

You'll find a lot of differing of opinions on this, but, I count the day I was given my diagnosis as my survivor anniversary date.

Both my doctors, as well as the American Cancer Society, use the date of diagnosis as the "anniversary" date.

My doctor told me that once you take that first breath and put one foot in front of the other after hearing the news, "you've got cancer" - then, you're a survivor. It takes a lot of strength just to survive that news and the following frightening days/weeks until you get your treatment plan in place...So, that's how I count my anniversaries.

I don't want to discount those terrifying early days that I endured after diagnosis - that's why I start from the date of diagnosis.

Plus, there are many women/men whose diagnosis are such that they must continue to be on some form of treatment - so, if you count from when treatment "ends", then, that's saying those women/men are not "survivors"...when, in fact, as long as they're alive and beating the bc beast, then, they are surviving...in my opinion.
hugs,
vicki

NoH8 · August 2007

I don't count how many years I've been a survivor, I count how long it's been since I was diagnosed. I don't do an "anniversary" date or anything like that. They say the average is 7 years between when the cancer starts to grow and when it's found and I figure the exact day is a crap shoot, since I could have done my BSE a few days earlier or later, got a different appointment, had a different surgery or had the biopsy read on a different day.

lvtwoqlt · August 2007

My date would be hard to figure, I have been a pre-vivor for 2 years, 2005 and 2006 2 dx of ADH then this year dx of DCIS. I have attended the support group since the first dx of ADH even though it is not cancer.

Anonymous · August 2007

It seems to me to be an individual choice, since there's no 'rule' about it and it's not a medical term. For myself, it is the day that I became conscious of surviving cancer and that would be my date of diagnosis. If I had found the lump myself, I would probably count that as my first day.

Marin

Valsul · August 2007

Amy, that's frightening to know that I had been incubating this beast for seven years!

Babyface · August 2007

Quote:

Plus, there are many women/men whose diagnosis are such that they must continue to be on some form of treatment - so, if you count from when treatment "ends", then, that's saying those women/men are not "survivors"...when, in fact, as long as they're alive and beating the bc beast, then, they are surviving...in my opinion.
hugs,
vicki

Having heard all the Dr.'s opinions, and varying opinions on the boards this comment makes so much sense to me. I mean even if you take Tamoxifen, then isnt that part of treatment....and I wouldnt think you would start counting after that time

LizM · August 2007

I use the date of my surgery because that is when I was transformed from a breast cancer victim to a survivor. However, most say it is from the date of diagnosis. I like the surgery date because that is when the cancer was gone and everything done after that was for preventive reasons (adjuvant therapy).

rumoret · August 2007

Found lump first week January 2006. Mamogram and Ultrasound April 4th, 2006. Biopsy April 10th, 2006, Cancer dx April 14th, 2006. Lumpectomy on my BIRTHDAY April 20, 2006, Mastectomy May 9, 2006, Chemo began June 15, 2006 and ended August 17th after 4th TAC treatment landed me in the hospital on August 27th - Sept. 14th, 2006.

So I use my Mastectomy May 9th, 2006 as the anniversary date. And I also keep my last TAC treatment as another anniversary date August 17, 2006. So I have just celebrated my 1 year anniversary since receiving my last chemo from hell, and already celebrated my May 9th mastectomy anniversary.

Now I can officially get on with SURVIVING!

Love,
Terry

barbara913 · August 2007

i go by the day the dr. called me to tell me it was "invasive"... july 19th 2005... a nite i will never forget... my diagnosis day.
barbara

aarque · August 2007

I count my time from the first day I was dx - Feb 8, 2005 (the first cancer- right side) and Feb 14, 2006 (the second cancer-left side) so.....this year was the second anniversary of the first cancer and the first anniversary of the second cancer!!

Member_of_the_Club · August 2007

Date of diagnosis. That is a date that can apply to all cancers, including those for which treatment extends indefinitely. Generally, this is what most folks use.

juanita63 · August 2007

Wow, Babyface you found yours one day before I found mine. I had my surgery September 7 though, and that's when I count my survivng date from. So I'm almost ay 3 years.

Naniam · August 2007

For me, the day of my surgery/excisional biopsy and told it was IDC. Seeing the faces of my family and the tears in my own eyes is one I will never forget - etched in my brain forever.

Brenda

slanderson · August 2007

I count the day I got the diagnosis from by biopsy.

Shannon

Anonymous · August 2007

I count mine from the date I found my "lump." It was on my granddaughter's second b'day, Dec. 7, '04. However, when I found the lump I really wasn't that concerned. Thought it was a cyst. I decided I should have it checked. Consequently, we all know the rest of the story.

I can't remember all of the other dates. Everything seemed to happen so quickly. BUT, I can remember my granddaughter's b'day.
Shirley

Hoghedge · August 2007

Bonjour, Shirley,
I seem to be collecting Shirley's (Shirlies)from the site yet when I lived in England (for 47 years) I seldom came across one - and here in France they cannot even pronounce it so am often addressed as Charley.
This thread has really got me thinking. It is a bit like the Chinese counting their age from the moment of conception. And then there is the complication of having had b/c twice - do you restart the count?
A bientot
Shirley

SoapMaker · August 2007

I count from the day my tumor was removed, as that was the first day that I was cancer free. Scans showed no mets. Had the tumor not been removed, I would not have had a chance of survival, so the removal of the tumor, to me, was the start of my survival. I felt I had been given a second chance at life.

----------------------------------------------------------
Where is the cure
www.truefacesofbreastcancer.org

DottieW · August 2007

I'm so glad you started this thread... I was diagnosed 7/24/06, had two lumpectomies and finally a mast on 11/7/06, finished chemo 1/18/07 and was in the local Race for the Cure this past June and they divided us into "survivor groups" by years (0-1, 2-5, 6-10, etc.) Natch, I was in the 0-1, but got to thinking later about when I'll be at five years... 7/24/07 was a melancholy day, no doubt, but I wonder if I'll be more upbeat this coming 11/7, one year after "clean margins" ... still pondering.
Thanks for all the insights,
Dottie

Ka-Loni · August 2007

I would say from the day of my diagnosis, which was March 31 2006. I am definetly a survivor. And, I am going to keep surviving.

God Bless,

Kaloni

midoubi · August 2007

I also count it from the day of my diagnosis. The D-Day! 12/1/05. A day I will never forget.

newter · September 2007

I have 2 days that I am tracking.

The first day is December 27, 2005, 2 days after Christmas. I found my lump in the shower that morning while getting ready for work. I still cannot believe that I successfully worked the whole day without falling apart.

The other day is October 20, 2006. That was my last chemo.

So... I guess I am coming up on 2 cancerversaries (not sure I like that term).

Babyface · September 2007

Juanita......that is so bizarre..isnt it wierd that we were so close together...happy 3rd year anniversary

When do you all count your survivor years from??

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