7 YEARS CANCER FREE TODAY! WOO-HOO!

leeroxboro · April 2013

Happy Anniversary and Thank You for sharing!!

beebee0925 · April 2013

Congrats on being cancer free.

lhalket · April 2013

This March I am 9 years breast cancer free!! I had a lumpectomy and 6 weeks radiation. A 1 in 2 million cancer when I was 18. LIVE LOVE LAUGH!!!!!! Celebrate every day and know that you were given only one body....we need to take care of it!!!!! Congratulations on your years of being cancer free. Even being free of it, is a hard road. But it makes you that much better and that much stronger!!!!!

Congrats to you! 18 is way too young and yes, it is a hard road but you appreciate things and people all the much more after coming through it!

lhalket · April 2013

Congratulations on your 7 year mark...... And I had my mammogram TODAY!!!!!!! First thing this morning!!!!

That's good to hear, and spread the word - I hope it turns out well! :happy:

lhalket · April 2013

I had mine on Friday! Waiting on results. It's about the 10th or so that I've had. I've only had one come back with a shadow that was ruled out as being nothing.

I'm so happy for you and totally agree with your decision to take both. I would do the same thing!

Hope your results come out ok - keep me posted. Best decision EVER having the double - no more mammograms! :laugh:

earvizu92 · April 2013

Yay!!!!!!! Congrats to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:flowerforyou:

lhalket · April 2013

Awesome!! Congrats on your 7 year anniversary!
Breast cancer runs in my mother's family. She was a 35+ year survivor.
Thanks for the reminder about the importance of taking care of our bodies. It's the only one we have.
So, every year for the last 40+ years I've gotten a mammogram because I now it's so important.
Again, I'm happy for you & love your positive attitude.

WAY TO GO and KEEP IT UP! :happy:

VitaBailey · April 2013

Thanks for sharing your story. Congrats on your 7 year anniversary.

lhalket · April 2013

CONGRATS..........and continue on your healthy life journey. when i was 28 (26 yrs ago) i was diagnosed w melanoma....before it was popular. Dr said it would kill me......"not yet you wont evil cells"........I told the cancer. So here I am continuing to battle weight but conquered cancer.

I remember when I was first diagnosed all I could think was - GET THIS STUFF OUT OF ME! I felt like my body had been invaded by aliens or something. :laugh:

silvergurl518 · April 2013

what a beautiful story! so happy you are cancer-free and did what you needed to do to get well! i am an avid supporter of the avon walk for breast cancer--i've walked it twice and this year i'm a crew member. we are so proud of you!

girlfromOklahoma · April 2013

Congrats to you!

Kisha352 · April 2013

Wonderful!!!! Smiles Kisha

Ivian_ · April 2013

I love these stories ♥ From one survivor to another, happy anniversary! :flowerforyou:

spicypepper · April 2013

Amazing!!!!!!

katrwal · April 2013

Good Day to all you wonderful people just starting, struggling, maintaining and achieving on this site. Today is a beautiful day and I wanted to take a moment of your time if you don't mind to make a Public Service Announcement. If you take a moment to read my story you'll find out why.

In January 2006 I went in for my annual mammogram - not a pleasant topic I know, but a necessary evil for us women. I wasn't worried, I mean after all, I was only 44 and there was no family history of breast cancer, no big deal. Even when the technician kept coming in to take additional pictures I didn't worry as they always did that due to the "fatty tissue deposits" I had (some of you women out there will know what I mean).

About a week later I received a phone call saying they found something "suspicious", and they wanted me to have a needle biopsy (worst procedures ever...almost). So I went...alone (no family in the area), still thinking, they probably made a mistake and were just being careful. After the procedure I asked the technician if I could see the images they took and had her explain to me what they saw.

What they saw were tiny, tiny specks of cancer (the size of a straight pin head)! They looked like black dots on the screen to me.

After another week or so of waiting the final results came in that it was cancer (DCIS) and they recommended I find a surgeon.

I found a wonderful surgeon who then performed a lumpectomy, and sent me to meet with a radiologist and oncologist. When the results came back from the Mayo Clinic he called me back in and said they got what they could, but were not 100% sure as that the cancer was very close (1/10 mm) to spreading to the lymph nodes and outer breast tissue. He recommended a single mastectomy and without missing a beat, I told him no - if you take one, you take both - I'm never going through this again (cancer can move from one breast to the other).

On April 16, 2006 I had my double mastectomy and thankfully did not have to have chemo or radiation.

So today I CELEBRATE LIFE and this incredible journey on MFP that I started in January. :happy:

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Ladies (and gents) pay attention! PLEASE, PLEASE do not neglect your bodies. HAVE YOUR ANNUAL MAMMOGRAMS! And if you find yourself in this unfortunate position, and have the capability, try to interview all your doctors before making any decisions. It is overwhelming I know, but I interviewed 4 plastic surgeons for my reconstruction before I found one I was comfortable with.

Life is a gift...embrace it, enjoy it and love those around you. :flowerforyou:

congratulations OP - happy anniversary! You're so right... just because Dr. Squishy is uncomfortable is not a good reason to skip it... and i continue to pray that someday, someone will invent a machine to scan for testicular cancer in the same manner... :devil:

BeachIron · April 2013

Woo-Hoo is right! Congratulations on your success!

My wife made the same decision not too long ago, and has never looked back. Life is too important.