Stressful event(s) --contributing factor?

[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.