Is there someone in your life who has been affected by breast cancer?

Sadly Yes. Many someones actually. My maternal grandmother died in 93 of breast cancer. I've been getting Mammograms since I was 29 or 30 becuz of the increased risk of it being in my family and smoking as well!! (WOW never thought of that..my risk goes down now that I'm not smoking) I have a friend from high school who does the three-day walk every year down in florida He wears a big pink bra (yes I said HE) on the OUTSIDE of his clothes. (I guess it's pretty popular too he's been on a couple different shows too tho I can't remember now which ones.) Hysterical picture BUT wow how supportive for this cause too!

 

So great to hear a survivor story.
When tomoxofin was still being tested my mother applied to be in the test group (she was denied because she'd had a hysterectomy and was therefore not eligible) But in the little education seminar they gave for her they said that EVERYONE including men are at risk for breast cancer and that EVERYONE could get it provided they live long enough etc.... So while some are more at risk than others EVERYONE should at least periodically get checked.
Self exams!! Mammos all that...early detection is the best defense and even if a lump you find happens to be benign...at least you got checked!! Ok now I jump off my soap box LOL

 

I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 35. I actually saw the lump on the surface of my breast. I didn't think anything of it. There isn't any family history of breast cancer, except for one of my paternal aunts. My sister convinced me to have a mammogram, and that's when the cancer was discovered. It was Stage 2, and I'm glad it was caught early. I had a complete mastectomy, and reconstructive surgery.

If that lump had not been visible, I would never have known it was there. I didn't feel it was necessary to do breast self-exams due to my age (35) and the family history. I thank God it was caught early! I now do the self exams, and have yearly mammograms. I stress to my female family members to go have mammograms. My oncologist told me that they should start being screened early due to my own cancer history (3 time survivor-that's for another thread). He recommended them to figure when to start doing mammograms was to subtract 10 years off the age I was at diagnosis. So when my neices reached 25 years old, I started badgering them to get mammograms!!

I thank God I've been in remission and cancer free for 11 years now from the breast cancer!

I'm starting another thread to talk about my diagnosis of ovarian cancer 20 months after I had breast cancer. It has been an interesting journey to say the least!

 

I was wondering if anyone was prescribed Tamoxifen had problems using it? Or knows someone who did? I had many problems adjusting to it. A full dose made me incredibly hostile to everybody around me! One time I was ready to break another driver's window just because he had blocked our truck into the fuel pump island! My hubby calmed me down before I could act on that crazy impulse, thank God! Soon after that incident, I told my Dr. about it, and he cut my dose in half. That made a tremendous difference! I wasn't hostile any more.
I was started on Femara after the 5 years of Tamoxifen, and I took that for 2 years before my insurance company decided they didn't want to pay for the name brand anymore. At that time, a generic wasn't available.

Also, is anyone familiar with the chemo treatment drug Taxol? It was used twice in my case. For the breast cancer and the ovarian. I'm wondering if anyone else had problems with it as well.

 

Yes, friends and family both. Some made it, some didn't. I had a scare once, but it turned out to be a really horrible sinus infection that had traveled down into the lymph node. With my family history, I thought I my number was up.

 

I'm glad it wasn't any worse! I can imagine your relief!
Even though you have a family history of cancer, it doesn't necessarily mean you will develop cancer yourself. I have no family history of breast cancer itself.

I had genetic testing done to determine if I carried the genetic mutation that causes breast cancer. Thankfully, I don't. It was a surprise when I got the results. My genetics caseworker told me that only 10-15% of breast cancer patients actually test positive for the gene. And even then it is not an automatic given that a woman will actually have breast cancer in her lifetime. The gene just increases the risk somewhat. She also told me that some women who have the gene don't get breast cancer at all.

That's good news. Every individual is different, but IMH layman's opinion, I believe there are a number of factors that come together to cause cancer. Obviously, I'm not a doctor. But I have done many hours of research. There is a great deal of information out there!

I have to sign off for now, but I'll post the links I have for cancer information tomorrow.

Take care, and God Bless

 

Cancer has killed almost my entire family on one side. All different kinds. Skin, bone, breast, ovarian, colon, you name it. Just wherever it can get a toehold, then it spreads all over like gasoline on a fire. I think there is a genetic predisposition to it and then an environmental trigger. I thought I'd be ok, until my cousins started getting it too. It's a beast that haunts my family.

 

I'm so sorry to hear that! But don't give up hope. The beast will be defeated! Amen!

 

Me since February,Double masectomy,chemo and now radiation.

 

My mother, ductal carinoma at the age of 42.

 

Tuck,
I'll keep you in my prayers! I didn't have radiation treatments, just chemo. I can only imagine what it must be like. Chemo is bad enough, but to have radiation on top of that is just....I'm at a loss for words.

We're here for you, anytime!

 

ShannonS;
I'm very sorry to hear that. I'll keep you and yours in my prayers as well!

 

Yes...one of our very dear friends is a breast cancer survivor...

 

Another victory! Amen!

 

Yes...Amen... .... Praying for all who are suffering...

 

There is a lot of attention being paid to breast cancer. I think that's why there have been great strides made in treatment options, and survival rates overall. I participated in a Clinical trial after my diagnosis, and I'm glad I did. I only wish ovarian cancer would be publicized more. It is more difficult to detect early, and that's just one of the reasons the survival rate is lower than breast cancer. Mistakenly, many women believe that having regular Pap smears is prevention enough. But what they don't realize is a Pap smear is designed to detect cervical cancer, or uterine cancer. There is no screening test for ovarian cancer that I know of. I discovered this when I went through ovarian cancer myself. The only "test" I know of is a blood test that will detect ovarian cancer antibodies in the body, and that is after the cancer is already there. It's called CA125. While it is very effective as a "monitor", it is not usually performed unless the doctor has a suspicion of cancer already present. I can only hope that cancer research is making strides to change this!

 

OMG!! Totally agree! I had no idea that a Pap didn't detect ovarian cancer.....and I consider myself at least somewhat aware of medical information (I'm studying to be a transcriptionist) Gotta ask my Doc about this. Ovarian cancer is not in my family but I have ovaries so I think I need to ask LOL at any rate Thanks for the education!!!!

 

HeatherC;
I thought I'd start a new thread about ovarian cancer with these posts since it's a different subject. I can keep track a bit easier this way if my ADD starts to kick in!