***Attention ALL NEW Members/Lurkers***

[RhondaH]

I'm not one to "toot my own horn", but TODAY I am...it is my 3 year Cancerversary.When I was dx 2/1/05, I thought the END was near and ALL the information on "my type of cancer" was not hopeful in the least ( I was just WAITING for a recurrence). While I was "originally" not to get Herceptin, the day of my LAST chemo, the news came out about Herceptin and early stage so on my 1st follow up on 8/10/05, my onc told me he wanted me to get an echo and to plan to start Herceptin the next Thursday. I TOO don't post as much as I used to as 1. treatments are ALWAYS changing, 2. there is a lot of duplicate information, 3. there are "new" voices to be heard, but for ALL of you out there who don't comment much, PLEASE take this opportunity to update and post your signature so that the new people have 1 central link for "hope". Take care and God bless to you all.

Rhonda

[Marlys]

Dear RHonda,
Hooray!! Hooray!! Hooray!! My three years will be in March. I am so happy for you and all the rest of us who are surviving this disease. I am exactly like you in getting diagnosed at the time of the release of the great news about Herceptin. I was diagnosed 3/9/05, had a lumpectomy 4/13/05, and reoperated on 4/25/05, the date that the news was released. My onc did not think I would be getting Herceptin but by the time I had finished A/C he started me on it.
I also find it harder to post on the course of this disease since I seem to be doing so well. I remember we did a lot of talking about fingernails and the "crusties" in the early days. Oh, and the things we could do to improve our chances of being able to stay on the drug through the course of treatment... diet, COEnzyme Q10.
Anyway congratulations.
Love & hugs,
Marlys

[Susan]

Hi Rhonda: Congratulations! My 3 year will be this May, in some ways it seems like an eternity ago, and in other ways it's flown by, with all the doctor's appts. Everything is going great for me too!

Your fellow Michigander,
Sue

[Mary Jo]

Oh Rhonda, I'm so happy for you. What a glorious day for you AND that beautiful son of yours. http://www.her2support.org/vbulletin/images/icons/icon7.gif

I, too, am approaching my 3 year..................July for me. Ok, maybe I'm pushing it a bit BUT it will be here before I know it. Like the rest of you, I too felt death was imminent and never thought I'd be here NED for the past 2 1/2 years. Yes, there is hope and we her2neuer's have SO much to be thankful for as far as research for our disease goes.

So, yes, please update ............ it gives HOPE to us all.

Congrats again Rhonda AND the rest of you.

Mary Jo

[caya]

Congrats Rhonda H!! Love to hear this good news.

all the best
caya

P.S. It sure brings alot of hope to us all - I'm just over 1 year out.

[lilyecuadorian]

felicidades Rhonda ...I'm happy for you too !!! is a good thing to have nice news in this site !!

[Yorkiegirl]

YEAH Rhonda CONGRATS, great news.

I am coming up on my 3 years as well in March.

Looks there are alot of us that are celebrating NED.

[BethC]

Congratulations to you!!! It is so good to hear of so many people doing well!

Beth

[Sherryg683]

WAY TO GO!! Those years fly by don't they. It is 2 years for me now and I was already looking for burial plots. I'm beginning to think I can put that on hold for awhile now...lol. Go celebrate...sherryg

[tricia keegan]

Hi Rhonda and many congratulations on your anniversery, like marejo, mine falls in July and I can't wait to celebrate three whole year's!
My best wishes to you for a happy day and be sure to celebrate:)

[Hazel Joyce]

Happy cancerversary, Rhonda! Wishing you many years of NED and horn tooting!

[Mary Anne in TX]

I think that I will apply for a grant to fly the monthly celebrators to some festive location for dinner and celebration at some place that will pamper the cootie out of them! What great news we are hearing! Thanks for tuning in and letting us know! Love to all, ma

[Lolly]

Rhonda, we salute you and celebrate with you! You are such a caring person, and it really shows in your posts. Thanks for sharing the good news.

<3 Lolly

[goops]

Congratulations on your 3rd Cancerversary! It does help us new people see that there is a light at the end of this tunnel.

[Karen W]

Rhonda,

Congratulations! Wishing you many years of health and happiness.

Karen

[Vanessa]

CONGRATULATIONS on your 3 year cancerversary. May you stay NED forever.

[sassy]

Rhonda,

Congrats! I know the feeling--my three years will be on the 15th. I had not even been tested for HER2, until I saw the release on TV and asked if I was HER2 positive. I had just finished A/C, was tested and stepped right into Taxol/Herceptin.

We ARE the lucky ones!

[Joanne S]

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_23_12.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZNxmk788MNUS) Congratulations Rhonda! http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/12/12_1_21v.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb001_ZNxmk788MNUS) And many, many more! Jo

[Bill]

Congratulations, Rhonda!!!!!!! It's great to hear news such as yours. Keep on rollin'! Love, Bill

[MPB]

Rhonda---
Funny I am going on 13 years of being a BC Warrior and I still yell it from the roof top's! You go girl! Celbrate an d know we are all making this cancer a "liveable diease" not a death sentence. May all of my sister's stay strong!

[Catherine]

Rhonda and all,

I think it is a great idea to let the new people know, that we have made it. I too, had worried and sometimes still do about a recurrence. I had not started checking on burial plots yet, but I could get bummed out from time to time. I was happy to see all of the 3-year anniversary posters. Congratulations to all of us. And good wishes to our friends who are in heavy treatment right now. I will soon be on my 2year cancerversary. I will celebrate at my nieces 40th birthday party. My relatives are all relieved that I have recovered so well. I think they were all afraid that they might be the next in line.

Thank goodness for this site.
Love to all, Catherine

[Hopeful]

Rhonda,

Congratulations! It is great to get positive reinforcement from you and others like you. FWIW, I caught the last 15 minutes of the Barbara Walters special on ABC last night about living to 150. She was talking with a number of people who were 100+ and still going strong. She mentioned that each of them had survived serious illness on the way. One woman of 102 had survived cancer three times (they didn't get any more specific than that). She said each time it was treated sucessfully, and she kept moving ahead. There is no reason you or any of us cannot be that woman.

Celebrate!

Hopeful

[Jean]

Saw the show also and I was so moved by that lady.
102 and going strong after survivoring cancer x 3 Whew, was I feeling
good. Did you notice they all had a strong drive and were very happy
people.

Jean

[mimiflower07]

thankyou for thinking about all of us...we sure need that reinforcement.
This is an answer to my often asked question"does herceptin work" You have all answered it...now i can shout from the roof top...then fall off of it. As that would be my style.lol...
suzanne

[SoCalGal]

Hard to believe that a year has passed since my Stage 4 diagnosis. It has taken me the whole year to stop feeling panic-stricken most of the time.

It's been a year of weekly acupuncture/no gluten/no dairy and buckets of vitamins and supplements. (And of course - no comma key:)).

I've changed chemos several times/had my brain gamma'd/sent one kid to college/moved another home/and maintained a home and a life for myself and my kids. I am working on an online site. It will be a place to hold the art/poetry/performance and/or musical self-expression of our journey. An online museum of hope and inspiration for those who walk behind us.
I've made many new friends both on this board and through my local support group. And again my friends and family have stood strong by my side.

Just wanted to reiterate that largely due to this online community I continue to hold hope and feel educated and empowered for continued survival.

My mother always said "Flori - don't write the ending". I now know exactly what she meant by that.

Wishing you all an easy and peaceful day.
Hugs and blessings...
Flori