[chekmark]

What I have learned is that if I meet a person with almost the exact diagnosis as me their doctor told them they have a 10% of recurrence. My doctor told me I have a 25% of recurrence. Who is correct? That person has the same diagnosis as me, did the same treatment as me but was told that she has a 15% lesser chance of having a recurrence than me. That was an eye opener for me. One never knows what our outcome will be so we need to always be prepared. An old classmate of mine was sitting at his desk studying for a test on sunday, had a massive heart attack and is gone. My first thought was OMG that poor family, they had no idea this was going to happen and were not prepared. I live 20 minutes from the school that just had the shooting this week, 3 teens killed, horrible. Those poor families, they sent there children to school that morning and in an instant their lives were changed forever. We could live 30 years or we could live 2, we just dont know. I try to tell myself everyday that right now my cancer is gone and it is never coming back, sure there are days that I feel kinda crappy and my mind wonders to that dark place but in the big picture, I do not have cancer now and I am going to make the best of this day. I am a worry wart and at first I clung on to ever word that everyone said. Some people are stupid and will say something like, my friends sister had that and was gone in 6 months. Stay away from those people. Herceptin has changed our outcome tremendously as my oncologist just told me yesterday. Hope that it worked and like Ann said you will most likely be here 40 years from now. I try to live each day as if I never had cancer but the fact is I did and I cannot change that but I can change the way I think and lavish each moment I have left on this earth. I hope I never hear those words again, (you have cancer) as we all do but there is just no guarantee. You caught it early, be thankful for that and for all the people that put their lives on the line in clinical studies so that we can have the best possible care. It doesn't always work as you can see by others on this site but they are brave, strong individuals and life goes on. Just keep telling yourself how fortunate you are to have caught it early and try not to worry about the later. I did at first but have changed my thinking alot in the past few months and I have found life to be so much more enjoyable. People like being around me more now than when I was in treatment. No more doom and gloom. You will be fine. Take care of yourself and listen to your body, if something doesn't seem right then tell someone, dont ignore it. I am a bad one about that. Before I found out I had my cancer I kept saying to my family doctor and OB doctor that I just did not feel right and they said I was getting older and my body was changing. For 6 years I kept saying this, turns out it was cancer the whole time. Pay attention to your body. Man I did not mean to say all of this, hope I do not appear harsh. You are young and I am sure you have a whole lot of living to do. Take care. Darlene