Just for fun...

Hi!

I am 36 years old and I live in Baltimore. I am a stay at home mom working harder than I ever did at work with my 5 year old son. Am active in the Moms Club, MOPS and the YSC support group "Breast Friends".

I was dx in Dec. 2004 and currently on Herceptin. Am enjoying having my hair and energy finally back!!!

Olivia

[Sue2001]

Hi all,

I was diagnosed in January 2001 at age 40 with Her2+++, ER-, PR-, stage 3 BC. I had 3 tumors in the breast with 4/13 nodes positive. I had a mastectomy, 3 months dose dense AC, 3 months of weekly Taxol and then a year of Herceptin. I was in a clinical trial for early stage Herceptin treatment and I credit Herceptin with my being NED since.

When I was diagnosed I worked as a store manager for a large retailer. The job required 60+ hours a week and overseeing 200+ employees. I tried to continue to work through the chemo but found it was too difficult and eventually took a leave of absense. When my treatment was over I decided not to go back. It took breast cancer to make me realize that I was a workaholic and missing precious time with my family. I also wasn't taking care of my health; physically, emotionally or spiritually. I was lucky that I could afford to stop working. It was the best decision of my life. I now spend a lot more time with my husband of 25 years, my son Michael, my beautiful grandson Jace, my parents and sisters. Cancer is a horrible disease but it is also the catalyst for some very positive changes in my life.

I love to hike in the White Mountains here in New Hampshire. I also enjoy reading, writing, drawing, playing the piano, camping, yoga and working in my gardens. When I finished my treatment my mother and sisters took me on a celebration-vacation to Cape Cod, MA. We had such a great time together that we have made this an annual event. It's a time when all of us girls can spend quality time together. I also volunteer with the Dartmouth Hitchcock Cancer Center talking with newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. I am continually amazed at how strong women are.

Being new to this HER2 group I enjoyed learning something about each of you. This thread is an excellent idea. The site itself is excellent -- thank you Joe and Christine. I look forward to getting to know you all better.

Hugs to everyone, Sue

[lisahammo]

Hi everyone

Glad I found this thread. I am 41 y.o., married for 6 years and have a 5 y.o. son. He has just started primary school, and I don't work, so I have time to myself, which is wonderful.

Over the years I have worked in accounting practices, for a plastic surgeon, trained as a beauty therapist, waitressed and that's about it.

I love cooking, socialising with friends, genealogy, and just spending time with my family. They are the most precious thing to me. WE have just added to our family with a gorgeous female Spoodle called Coco.

Lisa

[Kimberly Lewis]

I am a potter and pottery teacher. The cancer gave birth to my most recent sculpture on display at our local gallery. It has been well received and I have gotten a lot of comments on it. Most people here in town know what I have been going through. This morning I have to postpone starting classes as I am having a secend mastectomy soon. sigh... No more left to remove now though and that is good news!

[juanita]

I work in our local high school/middle school cafeteria. Mostly I run the cash register, but do whatever is needed. Then I clean the cafeteria. I took two months off when I was first diagnosed in Sept 04, but have been pushing myself to get the job done since then. Teachers have had me talk to a few girls whose moms have been diagnosed in the past year with breast cancer. That's a good feeling being able to help them.
I have been married 24 years to a wonderful man who took off from work and went to all of my first appointments and surgeries(then they got a new manager who didn't like all of his time off). I have a 23 year old daughter who just got married and is about to make me a grandma in April. I also have a 22 year old daughter who works with the handicap and is going to college for that, a 20 year old son who's majoring in college and a 16 year old son who just wants to be a farm boy and has been a tremendous help through all of this.
I want to open my own bakery someday, and was planning on doing that before bc. Maybe when I'm done with herceptin in June I'll start looking into that again.

Hi,

Lets see I have worked in the Business Sales/Marketing field for 20 years, I work for AMD Telemedicine right now and love love love this company. I spent 4 years in the Navy as a corman (nurse).

I have been married for 7.5 years to the love of my life, Kevin, who just happen to come with 3 of the most beautiful daughters now, 20, 18, 16, whom I love to death.

We just today put an offer on a new home, we sold last Feb, then I got dx so we moved to an apartment for a year, and now we are ready to go back to life before bc. I'm her2neu++ so still have herceptin every 3 weeks till august, and 7 weeks of rads, than that is it. I'm done and I will thank Cancer not to come back!!!!!!!

I love to decorate homes and love spending time with the other love of my life. Nootie, the cutest pug in the world.

oh I'm 42!

randi

[anne]

Hello everyone,
It is indeed nice to read about what everyone does. I am a dentist. My mom was dx in 04 with bc and I have found this site to be a God send. I look forward to reading about everyone here in good times and bad. I would love to answer any dental questions if something is bugging you. I am also 9 mths pregnant and hope to email you guys a pic of our latest addition to the family shortly.
XOXO
Anne

[Bev]

hi all,

As I never figured out how to post a profile I'll do a quick one now.

I have 3 children. My lovely daughter who is nearly 16 and twin boys who are 11. We call them bad and badder. It has crossed my mind that carrying twins may have caused some hormonal overload to lead to BC, but who knows?

I'm an architect. I used to do commercial work with a firm before kids. Since kids, I work very little. Draw up a garage, kitchen, etc.. but enjoy it.

I have known my husband for 30 years, he gets the gold star sticker for finding this board and going to nearly all of my appointments with me. He's a General Contractor and we hope to collaborate on plenty of projects in the future.

I'm glad I found this site. I had been all over the internet, reading all kinds of studies, but I just couldn't understand them or know if they related to me. Well I still can't understand 1/2 the studies, but I have learned so much through all the individual posts. Thanks to everyone who has had a hand in putting this together.

Best to all. Bev

[Lee]

I'm an attorney/lobbyist for a financial services organization. I really enjoy my job, and miss traveling (often to DC). I was diagnosed in Sept. 05 with Her2 +++ breast cancer, had a lumpectomy, and started a chemo regimen of carbo/taxol/herceptin in late October. It was originally thought I was stage II but my pre-chemo PET and CT scans showed 3 lesions on my liver and 1 on my pelvis. Fortunately, a CT I had in December showed all the spots on my liver were reduced by about 2/3 and the lesion on my pelvis was gone. I had another follow-up CT yesterday and will find out results tomorrow.

I am so grateful this site exists, I have learned a LOT and have had some really good discussions with my oncologist because of this site.

[Diane H]

I am an avid outdoor fan, love my horse, garden, dogs, birdwatching, taking care of my chickens. Also LOVE to go antiquing. As a means to these ends I work as a restaurant manager in a family owned Italian restaurant in Maryland. Iblame the restaurant for 40 lbs of excess weight! LOL> I also love to cook. Am looking for new directions in my life, cancer has been a wake up call for me and I want to give back and grow-- so glad to have found this site and others, Thank you Joe and Christine. Oh and I cannot forget the most wonderful thing in my life, My husband Robert, He is my shining star and support, bless him. He has his own health issues and I hope to be there for him.

[BonnieT]

Hi
Wow it was great reading everyones posts !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am 42 and have been married to the greatest man for almost 17 years , he has always been there for me !!!
I am a "retired" Respiratoy Therapist, I decided to stay home with our 3 children about 8 years ago. My husband calls me a
"Domestic engineer"
We have 2 boys ages 12 and 8 and one girl age 5.
My husband is a Family Nurse Practitioner and works for a great orthopedic clinic they told him whenever he needs time off for me he can have it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks to all of you for sharing, it's great to have a group of people you can always turn to , you guys are the BEST !!
BonnieT

[Marlys]

I so enjoy this thread I am Bringing it up again.
Marlys

[TriciaK]

I hope this thread doesn't get lost! Can it be set apart as a sticky, Joe? I think it has been wonderful to get to know each other a little better, though I would love accompnying photos, too, for everyone. Hugs, Tricia

[Tami]

I am in Corporate Sales for Callaway Golf. When I was diagnosed in 4/04 I had only been with the company 9 months and they were fantastic. The entire sales organization donated months of vacation to me so that I could take the week off after chemo, etc. It was one of the many blessings that came from this horrible diagnosis.

One of my concerns with the lymph node dissection was whether or not it would affect my golf swing. I am happy to report - so far so good!

I have been married for 21 years to my best friend. We met 33 years ago in 7th grade when we were 12. We have 3 boys - 11, 14 and 16 and at times I feel I live in a frat house. When we got a dog I insisted we get a female to help balance out some of the testosterone in the house. Before I went back to work I had the good fortune of staying home with my boys when they were young. I went back to work when my youngest started 1st grade. We are a pretty active family - golfing, skiing, surfing (bogey boarding for me) and basketball.

Inspite of BC, life is very good.

Best
Tami

[Patricia]

I am 38 years old and a Sr. Program Manager in IT in a software company. My husband and I have been together for 12 years and married for 7. We each have 2 kids of our own and together we had a maltese. She is 'our baby'. My mother gave my husband the book "Breast Cancer Husband" when I was diagnosed last summer, but luckily for me he didn't really need it, although we both enjoyed reading it. I was blessed with a wonderful breast cancer husband and there is no way I could have done this with him.

We love flowers, decorating the house, exploring San Francisco (we still explore after 20 years living here)cooking, entertaining and geeky computer stuff.

This post has been wonderful seeing what everyone's non-cancer life entails.
This site has been such a wealth of knowledge for me and I am so grateful for it.

Patricia

[RhondaH]

Hi everyone!

[Ora]

I am so glad you bumped this thread up. After reading your bios, you all seem so real to me now. I am glad I found this forum. I am a 55 year old Choctaw Indian (1/2), 2 grown sons, 4 grandchildren, and a wonderful husband of 25 years. I am a Radiation Safety Officer for a large energy company. I'd tell you the name but since I'm using their computer, they may be looking for a way to get rid of me. I've been with this company for 30 years. I do lots of radiological decommissioning, environmental work, industrial health and safety and project management. I love my job but it's getting harder to do. My mother is 78, lives next door and takes care of me. I wish I had a tenth of her energy. We have one granddaughter who lives close and like to spend time with her. All my others live in California, but we try to see them as much as possible. I like to go fishing with my husband, and most Saturdays my mom & I go to Wal-Mart, K-Mart, garage sales, out to eat, and then play bingo at the Indian casinos. Sundays, we go to church and ask forgiveness. We do live the Okie dream!

[geraldine]

What a great idea, Well done Rhonda..!!

I run a bar and have done so for many years. I get great enjoyment from this job and have found people to be so caring and considerate ( there have been the exceptions to the rule, but they're in all walks of life).

When i first became ill, these very people were fantastic, raising funds for research and lots of other stuff on my behalf. Every year now we hold a "Stars In Your Eyes" and every one joins in, myself included. It's great fun.

Because of this type of work, it also becomes my social life, but their is Life after Work and this has become more apparent since taking ill.

I have three children..Steven 33 Tracy 31 and Christopher 29. I have 5 beautiful grandchildren, Jamie 12, Kiera 6, Erin 4, Chloe 1 and last but not least Kerry 8 wks.. No. 6 is due in october. If there is a will to live... They Are It for me.!!

At this particular time in life, I am on my own ( No partner ) and yes, I get lonely at times but when I see their little faces.....everything falls into place and nothing else matters.

Life at this moment is sweet, I have my family, Friends, very good workmates but most of all, My Health, cos without that......!!!

Keep these threads going, because they are inspirational.

God Bless to All
Geraldine x

[chrisy]

Thanks for bumping this up. I needed to be reminded I am more than my diagnosis!

I'm the CFO/Controller for a skateboard company, and have been for 10 years. I left a Fortune 100 company after 17 years and vowed I'd never wear panty hose again! I love my work (most of the time), and as long as my coworkers keep laughing when I tell them I'm old enough to be their mother, I figure I'm doin ok! I feel really blessed to have found "true love" in the workplace - my boss and co-workers have been beyond supportive in my journey.

I live with the love of my life, John, to whom I've been married for 16 years. We met in college in Illinois in 1974, went our separate ways, and "found" each other again 2000 miles west and 12 years later. We have no children, so we get to act like children ourselves. When I need to be reminded why I'm here, I look at him or go visit my sister and wonderful 10 year old niece - (in Chicago burbs) who I very much want to see grow up to become a beautiful young lady.

[kat in the delta]

Hey Ya'll !
Guess that shows you where I live--Yeah, in the Mississippi Delta about 90 miles south of Memphis, the home of the king--in Clarksdale,MS which is the" Home of the Blues" !!
It's so flat here that for years I thought the Levee was a Mountain, where I used to get cardboard boxes and slide down that levee 'til the grass was as slick as ice .
Now, I'm 52, have a BA from Ole Miss in French, then English, then Math, then to my calling of Sp. Ed.,taught all,but now at home. I have traveled some in my days, but not far- as of late. My father was Italian. My mother--mixture of German/Dutch/Am.Indian. I married a pharmacist and have 3 sons (no girls yet): oldest is a Finance Director, the knee-baby is in final yr of Law School @Ole Miss, and the babyboy-child is still classified as a sophomore, altho'almost 23yrs old, but has finally discovered his unique gift in life--composing classical music on the piano !!!
This appeared about 2 and a half yrs. ago when he was working in PA and keeping the houses of relatives who had gone to Africa for the winter.--can't even read or write it, ne'er lesson one !! That child didn't want a soul to know and kept it secret for a while until he got home, and we had moved into my inlaws(dec.) home where I had the old baby grand revived after 50 yrs.----- I heard this beautiful sound coming out of the livingroom-----what a change from the stuff he had listened to in the past. It is truly quite a story ........e-mail me if you really want to know.....a month ago, the artist Peter Corbin (www.petercorbin.com) flew him to New York to provide background music for a slideshow of oil paintings and readings from Peter's new book, An Artist's Creel.
With this CHEMO-Brain of mine I cannot get myself Organized or on TIME to do anything-----I am even LATE for my Onc who is 2 miles away.
I have lost a little wt., my wits, and my hair is coming back in all colors of blonde, brown and grey, and in ALL directions, too !!! Me and my surroundings look alike at this point. Somebody please tell me -- --------Willl it get Better ???------ Our Blues Fest. is Aug.11-13 in Clarksdale, Mississippi and I've been making up songs for Super Chikan. Ya'll got some blues songs,too i bet. You can listen to S.Chikan on the links on website of www.daddy rich.net --Chikan and Morgan Freeman are buddies ------ talk to ya'll later--kat in the delta