Stressful event(s) --contributing factor?

[Val Pfeiffer]

I was just re-reading the post regarding our careers (thanks for bumping that up again--I love reading it), and I noticed in a couple of the posts that some of us mentioned stressful situations in our lives before our diagnosis. I'm curious... how many of you experienced a major stressful event in the months prior to your diagnosis?

Val

[janet11]

No stress, but just wanted to say "GREAT Picture!!!" (*grin*)

[MJo]

I have had major stressful events throughout my life, but the three years before my diagnosis were very stressful -- death of my father from bladder cancer, end of love affair, demanding bosses. Personally I think stress is a minor contributor. As my onc said, If stress caused cancer, most of the world would have tumors. I think it's genetic. Possibly stress lowers resistance and helps the cancer develop if you have a genetic predisposition. But how do we avoid stress, i.e., how do we avoid life?? The other Mary Jo

[Becky]

I was under mega stress the Spring/Summer before diagnosis (at the end of August). I think it was one of my straws (as in straw that breaks the camel's back). I was eating bad, not exercising and have a genetic predisposition. Who knows - but stress does pump out hormones (corticosteroids - adrenalin) so it can contribute. My mom had bc (diagnosed in her 70's) and has an adrenal tumor (2 of them) and her nephrologist (for these 2 noncancerous tumors) said that these can and do produce more estrogens too (and the adrenals are 100% involved in stress reactions and the chemicals produced during stress) so....


I think it can be involved as a component.

I hope you are doing well Val. It was nice to see you in Atlanta.

Kind regards

Becky

[bobbiw]

Interesting isnt it the whole stress factor? My mom passed in June of 2005 from lung cancer, the year prior to that I spent doctoring with her etc. I am an only child and was incredibly close to my mom. My cancer was diagnosed in October of 2005.

Bobbi

[RhondaH]

My dad (who lived 100 miles awat from me) was dx w/ a terminal heart condition (calcified arteries...the doc said he would continue to have strokes and heart attacks until...). My father lived alone and I was his only child (his lady friend and his sister helped when they could, but his lady friends dad was 103 and she was caring for him as well as she is a 3 time bc survivor and my aunt has her own health problems), so I don't know HOW many times I drove down there for health emergencies, while taking care of my 72 yo mom and 3 yo son up here, working full time etc. I LITERALLY was on my way to see a psychiatrist for panic attacks I was having (my mom felt I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown) the day of his last hospitalization. My feeling is that stress changes our DNA.

Rhonda

[Montana]

My mom passed away from lung cancer and mets in February 2004, my younger brother had a sudden heart attack and died instantly in June 2004, and my son was getting married at our place in September and I did all the planning for that AND gave the wedding shower also. (DIL's parents were useless!!) I was diagnosed in October that year.

No stress here..........LOL

[sarah]

yes I believe stress was a factor. My work was always stressful and I was selling my house of 20 years and moving to a foreign country - although I was happy about that. I couldn't have been in better physical shape - I went to the gym a lot, walked a lot, I felt strong and healthy!!hahahha! and when my husband got very ill with Ankylosing Spondelitis, it was brought on by a number of stressful things happening all at once. so yes, I believe stress is a catalyst among other things. we all lead stressful lives anyway but......I think if you have several bad triggers happening at the same time.....bam! it reveals its ugly head.
sarah

[RobinP]

Not stressed at all but did have a pregnancy 2 year prior and a miscarriage 3years prior. The hormones of both could have pushed me over the brink...?

[Sherryg683]

I was constantly stresssed, nothing really to be stressed about but it was just my high strung nature. I'm trying to calm myself down now but who can be calm with cancer..sherryg683

[Julie2]

I believe stress is a contributing factor. I lost my pregnanacy and lost my father to eusophagus cancer just prior to my diagnosis.

Julie

[Carina]

I think that stress was a factor in 'triggering' my cancer. My surgeon said that I likely got cancer approx. 5 years ago. My marriage was crisis, my then husband was dealing with disabiling depression and we had re-located for one year for me to manage a very high profile project that required travel all over the world. There were times when I felt all I could do was keep breathing.

Survived that, still laughing and working on loving more and connecting with others every day. Cancer brings it's gifts as well as its sorrows.

[tousled1]

I was in an extremely stressful job but nothing could compare stress-wise to my son passing away in 2002. He was diagnosed April 2002 with Leukemia (AML) at the age of 36 and died September 2002. He gave it a good fight and I was by his side every day.

[MCS]

Val, what a great picture!


Kid you not. I was under extreme levels of stress from work and at home. I definitely think that it may not have caused the cancer but it pre disposed my immune system to break down.

I did read that everyone fight cancer cells in their body every day. Those that cannot be killed by the immune system multiply and cause the illness.

That's why I feel so scared about discontinuing my herceptin because my levels of stress have not chnaged ( i lost my job, i lost my father, my mother is not capable of dealing with my father's passing, marriage difficult etc etc). So I feel, i will be pre disposed to it again for recurrence

XOXO

MCS ( maria)

[karenann]

Lets see...my husband had been out of a job for 3 years, we went through both of our 401K money, all of our savings, my daughter had been ill, I was having health problems (not bc, yet).

Does all of the above qualify as stressful?

Yes, I had experienced a lot of stressful events a few years before my bc diagnosis and I believe the stress did contribute to my bc.

Karen

[vickie h]

I believe that not only stress, but traumas from our childhood, or at any time make a huge difference. There are studies now being done (not sure where) on trauma and cancer. Some of us have had lots of trAGEDY OR TRAUMA, and it can be any time in your life. I believe we internalize alot of that, hold on to those feelings, and slowly it compromizes our immune system. Another factor to look at may be feelings of grief, anger, unforgiveness. I know I had a lot of trauma in my life as well as a stressful job, moving, deaths, etc. If you look at some of the areas in our country where breast cancer is most prevalent, you'll find they are concentrated in areas where there tends to be a high percentage of stress. Thank you for the question, Vickie h

[dawbs]

The jury is out on this one. No evidence one way or another, except in rats. Researchers keep trying to prove or disprove a link, but the reality is that it's virtually impossible to control for, as everyone has stress of some sort in their life.
Vicki

[Joannie]

I DO believe stress can be a component of cancer. I was in the process of building a house, moved into a 800 sq. foot apt. for almost two years during building, with two small children. We were the builder on the house. Moved kids to a new school. Sister went through a difficult divorce, one in which we loved her husband, the grass was greener! She in turn got engaged two months after dating someone and married after 6 months. Brother is in a terrible marriage and since he was my builder, I heard about the crisis in their house on a daily basis. I carried way too much stress, trying to fix everyone's problems. Layed awake at night worrying about everyone but myself. Worrying about things that I had no control over. After my treatment was over, I sought out a counselor to help me deal with the aftermath of BC along with changing my lifestyle habits to better suit myself. He helped me to learn to live with my new life, as well as teach me the life skills of letting people vent about their issues, but to realize that they were their issues, not mine. The 6 months I spent in counseling with him was the best 6 months I ever spent on myself. I'm a different person after BC. I now make choices that suit myself and immediate family. I try very hard not to worry about things I have no control over. I can deal with traumatic situations (almost lost both brothers this summer to accidents, 3 days apart!), way better than I could before BC. I am able to say NO to volunteering my time for everything under the sun. Even though having BC was the most traumatic situation I've ever experienced, many positive life changing things came out of it for me. I will never carry the weight of the world on my shoulders ever again. I do believe stress was a factor for me, with regard to my immune system being compromised.

[StephN]

Some say that most of us have had the cancers we are dealing with for up to 5 years and maybe longer. This is an interesting question, as when does the cell group upgrade itself to "fast dividing - grade 3"?
This is my pathology at the time of the biopsy. If it was fast growing did it only take a year? Was it slow growing for 2 or 3 years and then change to more aggressive?
All I know is that the rate that my cancer was growing and spread right after treatment, it could not have been 5 years like that.

About the stress. For several years before 2000, I had a great deal of stress. Coming from all quarters - family, taking care of the grandma's and great aunts on both sides; hubby's business partner trying to shaft us in a power grab and more. Maybe, as someone mentioned, I internalized this, as we have to find a way to keep up with daily life and move forward.

My life is much calmer now that all those people and problems are gone. And believe me we do not go looking for trouble. Maybe this is why I am able to keep the cancer beat back and stay NED. I turn more of my energy inward for my own healing and peace of mind.

[MJo]

As I said in my other post, I had plenty of stress in the three years before diagnosis. But I was also feeding my prog/estr+ tumor daily with hormone replacement therapy. I shudder when I think about taking that pill every day for seven years until the day my mammo came back suspicious. Then I quit HRT cold. As for stress, I have lived with mild anxiety and depression since age 15. I have tried meditation, special diets, talk therapy, accupuncture, vitamins and supplements -- you name it. I now take Lexapro every day and occasional .25 dose of Xanax. Before BC I hated to take aspirin. Now I take the anti-anxiety meds. Maybe that will help me stay cancer free, if stress IS one of the causes.

[suzan w]

9 months before diagnosis lost house in Florida to Hurricane Charley...forced a move to WA (was looking to move anyway...just not so soon!) In retrospect, glad I had treatment in Seattle...not Florida...near family here!

[suzan w]

ps. also took HRT for 10 years prior to my diagnosis...also shudder to think of the damage done while trying to "do the right thing" according to my dr.

[lu ann]

Every day our lives are filled with stress. It is how we manage the stress that is of importance.

My mother was stressed out her entire life and was always on the edge of a nervous breakdown. She was dx. with BC about a year after her mother suffered a stroke.

The same year I was dx. I had a baby and my father died.

I heard that it takes about 9 years for a breast cancer cell to grow large enough for the patient to feel it upon examination.

Blessings from Lu Ann

[alicecallahan]

I was dealing with a divorce from an alcoholic husband,( my high school sweetheart and love of my life for 25 years, )my only daughter going away to college, 3 hurricanes that hit my region of Florida within a 2 month span, and my own mom getting a BC diagnosis...also changing careers from a sub. teacher part time to a fulltime realtor in a very competitive market....All of these events took place within a 6-8 month period leading up to my diagnosis...I thought I was being so brave and dealing with these issues...not really the type to cave into anti anxiety medicines, so I dealt with it alone....but then the job got busy and I stopped exercising, eating fast foods, etc....I firmly believe stress contributes to all major illnesses, cancer included, but that you have the predisposition already ..... who knows? I guess if we could prove these things we'd be famous !!!!

[madubois63]

This question was asked awhile back on the AOL boards. I don't have the numbers, but many answered to having extreme stress. Also, many have stated that they had an injury to the region the BC was later discovered in and many have had pneumonia.

I have had pneumonia prior to being diagnosed. I had no injury but had had breast reduction at the age of 23. Stress dominated my life for many years. My ex husband is an alcoholic, and the marriage was extremely stressful and exhausting (his first ex wife moved across the street from us - argh!!!). One month after FINALLY leaving him...BC. I met a great man (or so I thought), beat the BC and started a great life...things turned sour and we had a nasty break up. Two months later...relapse. I personally blame my BC on my ex husband, his first ex, my stepson from hell (stole a bus and tried to run people over - no lie) and my ex-mother-in-law. I absolutely know that I would not be alive today if I had stayed in that marriage - I would have killed myself by now (LOL).

[SandyBB]

Incredible stress with mother dying of cancer, being out of work, father seriously ill, etc. Horrible time for me, worse than the cancer treatment!!!!

[lu ann]

Looking back on some of the previous posts, I can see that the time prior to my origional dx. 09/26/1991, I was under a great deal of stress that I internalized.

My mom died, My dad remarried his brothers widow 6 weeks later, and I walked on eggshells not being able to express my grief, as to not make my new step mother and dad upset. This went on for exactly 9 years. The year of my dx. I gave birth to my youngest daughter(02/03/91), my dad was dx. with cancer, he and I had a heated discussion on the phone(Fathers Day) and he left town without resolution, before he died(08/03/91), and I was dx. with breast cancer(09/26/91).

I have been through alot of stress in my life, but I honestly believe it was the stress that I did not work out that did me in. Lets face it, if we live long enough we are going to endure both good and bad stress-births, sibling rivalry, school, dating, weddings, divorces, death, etc. etc.