I am a firm believer in the power of peer groups and I am sooo happy I found you! I was just diagnosed in late April and had a modified radical mastectomy (aka double mastectomy) May 25th of this year.
With an absolute belief in faith and with the grace God, I think I've sailed through this pretty good. ....I've also leaned heavily on the power of a positive mindset, but I'm human, so it hasn't been all that glorious.
We are far better together, than any one of us is alone -- and on that note, thank you so much for accepting me to your world!
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mmb12497
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Welcome to the club no-one wants to belong to! I was diagnosed many moons ago, in the days when cancer science was in its infancy; developed side effects from drugs, and wrote a blog giving details of clinicall-approved products that helped, medical treatments etc. Hope you don't get side effects, but if you there might be something to ponder on aftercancers.com
Thank you dearly Veriterc, for sending me this link! I just took a peek and I've bookmarked it too. I am looking forward to starting off with the tab titled, Diary of a Survivor
Welcome to this delightful band of warriors ! I have to say that this indeed is the place for support, encouragement, wisdom, sharing experiences, laughter, tears and all the emotions in between. As the saying goes, it takes one to be one and we know all to well about the journey - especially being immersed in it. I have found most non MBC chicks have by nature a hard time relating simply because they aren’t going thru it. Perfectly understandable ! Thus this group in invaluable. Blessed to be a sister in Christ along with you !! Julia Adele
Thank you so very much Julia Adele (what a beautiful name!). Yes, I've discovered that those have a hard time relating... and on that note, I've discovered how many people simply seem to [avoid] me. I would imagine it's because they don't know what to say. Those who do try to comfort or relate, simply do not have a clue.... and why I am beyond grateful to find all of you☺️
Greetings: Sister/warrior, and yesssss over-comer . I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I pray all will be well with you Amen . I believe Jehovah Rapha heals, and restores . I was misdiagnosed a whole year with a visible tumor in 2006. A year later in 2007 I had a second tumor under my arm , where the cancer metastasized into my lymph nodes. 10 of 12 lymph of my nodes were cancerous . Technically , and in the world we live in I should not be here typing this post. The 38 year experienced Oncologist said I would not live to see 2009, even after going through aggressive chemo, and radiation. The Oncologist said he bought me some time . Well our LORD/GOD bought me 13 years with NED . Then I didn't see the possibility of me living this long. If I went home tomorrow I would be sooo grateful for 13 years to celebrate milestones with my loved ones. Keep the faith. I continue to praise, and pray to our CREATOR. 😇
Yes, RLN-overcomer! I am confident your oncologist had something to do with it, but I *guarantee* He is who was looking after you; who was ensuring you were on the path He's paved for you, especially considering how much it had metastasized. I am so very proud of you RLN, for you are a remarkable example of the power of faith🙏🏼.
I really believe I was misdiagnosed years ago too - with the reason being that my breasts were too dense to accurately diagnose.
Somehow, I've fallen into the same mindset as you, it seems. Later tonight, if it became my time to go home, I would be at peace with it (not that I have a choice! HA!). I would miss everyone I'd leave behind, but I don't have any regrets. Albeit struggling over the past 45+ years, I can't say I'd do anything different, as I really did the best I could with the tools I had (at the time).
Thank you so much for such a thoughtful and inspirational message RLN and I am SO happy you are here (it will be such a joy to read your posts!!!!)
So glad to hear you are doing well! I was diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma in November 2020, but it was a very early catch with a 3D mammogram, so I only needed a lumpectomy and 33 radiation treatments. Praying the adjustment to the "new" you will have few bumps in the road!
Thank you so much Lisa-1959! I am so very grateful to hear that you made it though (that seems like a lot of radiation treatments(?) and very happy to hear from you! How are you doing now, 2 years post-cancer?
I am doing well...thanks for asking. I still have some tenderness, but it is minimal. According to the surgeon, my skin looks great...doesn't look any different than the other side! I am told that shrinkage will likely occur since I am large busted, but so far, I have not noticed any change.
Wow! That is such amazing news—that your skin looks great *and* that it doesn't look any different than your other boob!!!
Back in the 'olden days' I had my daughter via C-Section, and it took about 5 years before the numbing completely went away. I thought I'd use that as a gauge for what to expect, too.
The tenderness, after two years, I would imagine, is to be expected. What do you mean about shrinkage? The area where the lumpectomy was? How much is it expected to shrink? (because it looks the same as the other side now)
The shrinkage will be due to the 33 radiation treatments. Even now, 16 months since the radiation ended, the affected breast is warmer to the touch than the other side. The radiation changes the tissue...funny thing, I had a mole (sebaceous keratosis) underneath the breast, and the radiation destroyed it...it is gone.
Oh wow! That is so very interesting to hear that radiation destroyed your mole! Nice surprise, if you didn't like that ole' mole because now there's no need to go to the dermatologist! (I have a million of them, though I've removed about of the big ones). I hadn't considered the shrinkage caused from radiation. I got lucky and was able to bypass the need for radiation (please forgive me for not understanding that part).
That is interesting that the affected breast is warmer to the touch - I would imagine that will go away in time, too. How are you feeling otherwise? ...and one more thing -- hat's off to you Lisa, for coming out the other side thriving
It was a larger "rough" mole, and I just this week noticed that it does appear to be coming back...boo! Hopefully it won't be as big as before.
The warmth has been diminishing, so I am sure it will eventually normalize. Glad to hear you didn't need radiation. My oncologist recommended it because I had invasive versus in situ...granted it was tiny, but since it had gotten outside of the original structure, she felt it was best to have the radiation. Overall, I am feeling great. Besides the breast cancer surprise in November 2020, I have been living with chronic lymphocytic leukemia since 1997. I had treatment for it from August 2018 through July 2021 which almost knocked it into complete remission, but there were still detectable cancer cells in my blood and bone marrow. Now I am in a watch and wait period where I am being monitored to see how it progresses. Thankfully I feel well for which I am extremely grateful!
Welcome, and I too am sorry you need to be here! I was diagnosed with denovo (from first bc diagnosis) MBC in March 2004, over 18 years ago, with "extensive" bone mets. It's E+ her2neu - invasive lobular bc. My way of coping was to learn all I could about bc and mbc. I went to the bookstore closest to the cancer center, rright to the health section and looked over all the books on bc! LOL I looked at tables of contents, indexes, and randomly opened each book and read a few paragraphs. I ended up buying the 3 that resonated with me the most. Dr, Susan Love's large paperback was one of them. I also went to some large bc conferences and heard oncs and advocates and other med folk speak about our cancers. Meeting others living with mbc was the the very best! There was a 30 year survivor with MBC at one of those conferences! I no longer have the energy (or the memory) I did when I was diagnosed, at age 57. Now 76 and easily tired. I do still do our laundry, grocery shopping, and bill paying. I still enjoy my family, our pets, walking in the woods, classical music, and my sense of humor. Being able to laugh at some of the dark side to this cancer helps alot! I'm fortunate to have a supportive husband, great medical insurance, and other good family (brother, daughter and two step daughters). I was also fortunate to have done "end of life" planning early in my adult life with regular updates, and may be less intimidated by death and the process of dying than most. I tend not to write short notes here, lol, and hope I've not done that too much here! I hope you will get to look back at this year 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now, even longer, and know that you have done well.............
Ohhh PJBinMI, thank you dearly for a long message this time🥰because it was so touching. On a funnier note - your message reminds me that I have also found a lot of humor in the dark side of this cancer. What used to scare me out of my mind, I can now look at without feeling a cringe coming on.
I too, researched and researched my type of cancer (ductal carcinoma), though I admit that it unnerved me more than it helped. I wasn't familiar with Dr Susan Love's books, but guess what?! I just found one and downloaded it (and it is awaiting me to start reading it!).
Yes! I believe that conferences and groups and meetings and even online support like we've got here is going to be the best medicine for helping to navigate the world of surviving breast cancer. It really *is* comforting to hear from others who are experiencing the same thing I am. (plus, having great medical insurance has also been extremely comforting to me, too!)
I'm so happy to hear from you PJB (that reminds me of peanut butter & jelly!) and I'll be keeping an eye out for your posts on our forum.
PS I just saw an announcement (though it was posted 5 years ago!... I'm still learning about effectively navigating this site) whereas it hosted Dr Susan Love and she was available for Q&A's!!!!!
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, where the cancer metastasized into my lymph nodes. 10 of 12 lymph of my nodes were cancerous 
. Technically , and in the world we live in I should not be here typing this post. The 38 year experienced Oncologist said I would not live to see 2009, even after going through aggressive chemo, and radiation. The Oncologist said he bought me some time 
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