BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS

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Comment by Teresa Kilburn (TK) Loggins on September 29, 2009 at 12:37pm

You are so right Cathy!!!

Comment by Cathy Pate Jones on September 29, 2009 at 12:27pm

May I add my congratulations as well? I just had my 56th birthday in August and was dreading it, but I had a change of heart and mind. Instead of dread over another year gone by and approaching the 60 yr mark all too fast, I now say, "Well, I'm another year older,,,,,,but,,,, I am also a 17 yr survivor! God has been very gracious! I hope we all feel the same way!

Comment by Patricia Black Mears on September 28, 2009 at 6:52pm

Congratulations Diane! Thank the Lord you/we are so blessed!

Comment by Teresa Kilburn (TK) Loggins on September 28, 2009 at 1:59pm

AMEN DIANE!!!!! AND CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Comment by Diane Riley Brasher Harbin on September 28, 2009 at 1:51pm

Just celebrated my two year survivor anniversary! Can I get an amen

Comment by Teresa Kilburn (TK) Loggins on June 1, 2009 at 1:20pm

St Louis is getting ready to do our annual Race for the Cure. It is in 12 days. Last year was the first time I participated in it. I was not mentally ready before then. We have a lot of fun and it is a wonderful blessing. Hoda Kotb from the Today Show is going to be here this year. Looking forward the reunion of all of us "sisters". St Louis' is the biggest in the country. Last year, there were over 60,000 participating and close to 3000 of us survivors. If you can participate in one in your area, it will give you a nice "warm and fuzzy" feeling.. :-). God bless all of my sisters.

Comment by Teresa Kilburn (TK) Loggins on April 20, 2009 at 3:33pm

I just had a cousin fwd an item about IBC. Inflammatory Breast Cancer. We are all told to check for lumps, but this one is not talked about. Being a survivor, I want to pass on anything I learn of to others. This can go to Stage4 before you even know you have it. But, not being very computer smart, I did not know how to put a video from the news station on here. So please, do research on your own or talk to your doctor!

Comment by Cathy Pate Jones on April 15, 2009 at 7:09pm

I am happy to say that I am a 16 year breast cancer survivor! I found a lump in my right breast in December of 1992 and went for a mammogram the next day. What showed up on the mammogram were calcifications which I could not feel and what didn't show up was the 1 centimeter tumor that I COULD feel. To make a long story somewhat short, it was recommended that I have a modified radical mastectomy with reconstruction. I had that on January 11, 1993. After about 3 weeks of healing, I started chemotherapy for 6 months. I had 12 treatments. Way back then they took out a lot of lymph nodes to only test a few. They removed 28 nodes and tested 14, which were all clear, thank the Lord!. The surgery and chemo was really hard. I worked at an elementary school. They can really say cruel things!!! Like, when I quit wearing my wig, one student told me that she liked my hair better the other way. I just told her that I did too!! When I finished my chemo, my husband and two sons headed out for the trip out west that we always wanted to do and had a wonderful time and made some fantastic memories.
Back to the lymph nodes...... I live with the consequences of the disease daily. Just today I was released from the hospital due to an infection in my arm called lymphedema. Please ladies, be careful especially if you had a good many nodes removed. You need to wear gloves when gardening, handling raw meat, washing a car, bathing dogs and any thing else that could allow bacteria to enter your bloodsteam through an opening in the skin or hang nail or even a slit under the finger nail. If you have dental surgery, be sure your dentist prescribes an antibiotic to be taken 1 hour before your appointment. Otherwise the infection could go to your arm. Without the lymph nodes in your arm, the infection cannot get out. This is very dangerous! I don't know what caused this latest flare up, but on Easter Sunday, I ended up in UAB hospital with high fever, chills, spots, redness and swelling of my affected arm. I had to have three days of high-powered antibiotics by IV. Like I said, I was just released today and will be on oral meds for a week to make sure the infection is gone.
I do try to keep this "in the corner of the big picture", but it is a daily concern or mine. I do things around the house that I always did and never know if THIS could cause an infection or not. The doctor said not to beat myself up about what caused it, but to be careful and just deal with it if it happens again. Problem is, they just keep getting worse each time AND closed together. This is the 5th infection in 16 yrs and each one was caused by something different. 5 months ago I had a root canal which developed an infection. The antibiotics didn't completely heal the infection and it went to my weakest place in my body, which was my arm.
For those of you that recently had surgery, you probably had the sentinel node biopsy. Therefore not many, if any nodes were removed and that drastically reduces your chances of getting lymphedema.
My best to each of you my "bosom buddies"!
Let me hear from you sometime!

Comment by Patricia Black Mears on March 26, 2009 at 10:28pm

It has been a while since I last visited this discussion. My heart goes out to each of you who have been touched by cancer. I know that my daughter-in-law, Jamey, started this group in my honor and I am still very touched by her thoughtfullness. There are so many of us out there that have been affected by other types of cancer as well. Reading over Nancy's comments really made me stop and think about it. This is a terrible disease. But the Lord has blessed us in so many ways. He is still directing the doctors and the research goes on. Will there ever be a cure? Only the Lord knows the answer to that. But those of us who have been down that road can be there for others who are going through it. I recently lost a good friend who was diagnosed at the same time I was, within the same week. That has been hard for me. I can't understand why the outcome was like this. I don't understand but the Lord knows. She was a very Godly woman and will always be remembered by her love for God. She was such a testimony for Him. He used her through her battle and I can't say she lost. She won because she is with Him now. I pray that what she and the rest of us have gone through will help in some way towards finding answers and finding a cure. God bless you all!

Comment by Nancy Grissett Graham Argent on March 26, 2009 at 8:44pm

Thanks Jamey for starting this start. I graduated from Hueytown in 66. My daughter graduated in 1989. God has blessed me with two beautiful grandchildren that I cherish with all my heart. God has also granted me 8 years of cancer free life. I had invasive intraductal carcinoma of the right breast, was treated with surgery (lumectomy) and 36 radiation treatments. We caught it early before the tumor grew more than 1CM. I took Tamoxifen for 3 years and Arimidex for 2. I exercise regularly, do yoga (when I get real energetic), take care of my 84 year old mom and do pretty much anything I want. I beleive the secret is keeping a positive attitude. I haven't had a chance to read the other comments on this page but I hope mine will encourage anyone who is going through it that you can beat it and live a normal, full life. God bless you all.

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