just for fun
 

Great idea:

When I was diagnosised last Septemeber - I was workig as an attorney specializing in all types of litigation - Now needless to say all of that has chnaged and I am only working part time on a greatly reduced scheduled.

For me, the law was second career, previously I worked as a journalist for 16 years until the kids came and my mother became very ill and subsequestly passed away in 1998. Hence law school.

My husand hasbeen a saint thru all of this and I relalize I have been very fortunate that mt cancer was diagnosied early ( stage 1 no nodes) and that I live near and am being treated at major NY cancer center ( MSK) - my 10-year old daughter's best friend father is a doc there so when I freaked out he stepped in and paved the way.

I have 7 more herceptain treatments left ( it will be atruely happy thanksgiving ) and as the trweatments are progressing it is getting harder to work - I am losing words, my memory is shot and I beleive I am ADD. STill thru it all I realize I am very lucky.

I have two children a son who is 13, and a daughter 10 ( i received my diagnosis on her 10th b'day) . My kids do not know and neither do many fo my friends - I have chosen to kep this very private - hence my sign on. Since then I have been immersing myself in the PTA ( I am VP this year) and sit on the school's foundation board) and renovating a new house - anything to keep my mind busy.

thank you all for all of the information and support you provide.

Susanne

I am a brand new first year (almost second year) attorney! I started out as a corporate transactional attorney, but I switched to become a health care attorney after my mom was diagnosed. I decided that I liked the idea of working with doctors! I still do a lot of transactional work, but now I assist with buying and selling hospitals instead of assisting my clients to set up ventures overseas (I've never been a big fan of outsourcing etc. anyways!). I also take on a lot of pro-bono cases. Right now I am defending a breast cancer survivor from an overreaching large international bank.

My mom is in the title business, and my boyfriend of seven years is an artist/graphic designer (he does animation, toy design and the like).

I have only one child--a small 4 pound chihauha named Tinkerbell. She keeps all of us sane when times get tough.

I loved reading about all of you =)

My entire work career has been working for people who have disabilities; developmental and mental health issues. I was working for a private company who provides residential services. My job was supervising clients and the staff that support them. I am 49 (soon to be 50) and have not worked since I began chemo (12-6-05). I just finished weekly Taxol and an now continuing weekly Herceptin for a year. I am anxiously awaiting to have reconstructive surgery and am pondering if I am 'with it' enough to go back to work between now and then. I have a very supportive husband who I have been married to for the past 14 years. We live in Minnesota. Although I dont post often I do visit the board often.
Bobbi

Looks like this needs to be bumped up
 

Hi everyone!

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!

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

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

I am 55, Italian-American, Single and am a grant proposal writer/fundraiser for a multi-services social service agency that serves immigrants and others. Live in Delaware. I used to be an editor for a small local magazine. I like using my writing skills to solve social problems. MJO

I'm 59 and retired. I retired in July 2005 but not due to breast cancer. I took disability retirement after I had my lumbar spine fused (L3-S1). I had worked for the government and spent 7 1/2 years overseas and after my return to the states decided to pursue a different career. I then worked for the teacher's union until retirement. I have 3 children. My son passed away September 2 ,2002 of leukemia (AML), my youngest daughter is an aspiring actress and lives in Chicago, and my other daughter is the mother of my one and only grandchild - Eli, and lives in Georgia. I relocated to Georgia after I went on disability and currently live with my daughter, son-in-law and grandson. I have no significant other in my life but I do hope to get out on my own again once I complete my treatment. I'm too young to be living with my daughter and her family -- Need to spread my wings while I still can.

what a neat thread!
 

deleted deleted da da dadadadda

Hi Rhonda,

ITs so nice to talk about something besides cancer once in awhile. Im an accounting assistant. I only work during the tax season in the year and take the rest of the year off to be with my kids. It works out great for all of us and now its working out even better.
Dawn

I have no idea how I ever missed this post.


I am/was a Licensed Veterinary Technician.
I took a LOA when I was diag, with Cancer last year.
So, far I haven't been able to bring myself to go back to work.
I just hate the idea of having to give shot's, do blood draws or assit in surgery on animals after all I have been thru.

Teach at a university
 

My field is a social science one where running experiments is usually just not practical, but we had to learn all about experiments for controlled trials anyway. Oh well, I guess I've found a use for those skills now.

I have a little three year old, who is a joy, and a husband, who is wonderful. Also, an excellent oncologist.

I read some research once that breast cancer patients who participate in chatrooms are usually people who have a wide circle of friends and everything to live for (I think that the researchers were hoping that it would provide support to people who didn't have other sources of support). I think that this list shows it.

I missed this also!

I work for a wine distributor in the mid Atlantic in brand development and marketing. I was a restaurant GM for several years after college (studied art history). Got sick of the crazy hours.
I live with my boyfriend of 3 years with two cats orange long haired and Siamese!

Found the "lump" myself, (though it was way too large to be a lump!), no family history.

No kids, just my kitties and wonderful boyfriend...he's a keeper!

I am really a new member and happy to be on board.

I have been a teacher for 38 years, second grade through ninth. 22 years in catholic school the rest in inner city public school. The first 32 years were exceptional. The last 20 years of my career I taught computers. Working in an inner city school was good until the last 4 or 5 years. It became difficult to say the least. When my onc called asking me to come in to see him, telling me that I had a hole in my chest, I left that afternoon to see him and never returned to work. (May 5, 2005) With mets to bone, liver and lungs, I took it as a sign that it was time to retire, one of my best decisions. May 5th was 18 months after I finished treatment the first time.


My husband and I just celebrated our 25th anniversary. We have a daughter 23 who is still finding herself. Charles is still teaching in the city of Mount Vernon which is in New York. He's been there for 28 years and still loves it. He also taught 10 years in catholic school. He is an avid tennis player. Plays every day of the week and at this moment is at a tournament in Cape Cod. He is ranked 8th in the men’s 55 USTA mid-Atlantic division.


I kayak, garden, stitch work, build - as to build a side porch, hide a bed, decorative fence. I like building things the best but don’t do that now or kayak either. I’m not strong enough and I’m afraid of cutting myself. I have done that pretty regularly in the past, cut myself that is.


I often have Saturday or/and Sunday breakfast with friends. This is most important to me.


I love the ocean and walking on the beach. We have a newly inherited home there and I have been able to get there twice this summer and hope to make it again soon.


Basically I’ve had chemo every week for the past 14 months.


Thanks everyone for caring and sharing your prayers, best wishes and info.

I just changed jobs. I was inspired after my breast cancer diagnosis to go back to work in the field of health care. At the time of diagnosis I was VP of Marketing and Business Development for a financial institution. Four months ago I took a position with the health plan that is part of the integrated health organization that I worked with eight years ago (although at that time I worked in admin for the clinic part of the business). Fortunately I was able to convince the health plan that I could be Director of Product Development at a health plan without any prior health insurance experience. I am learning a lot and I love it. BTW, this is the same health plan to which I submitted the request to go out of network for radiation treatments...I was a member of theirs through my previous employer...but that is a whole different story.

I have two children, Charlie, age 15 and Jane, age 11. In addition to my "day job," I teach Indoor Group Cycling (also known as "Spin") at my local YMCA at 5:00 a.m. three times a week. I also enjoy road biking (although last summer between finishing chemo and undergoing radiation I didn't get out on my bike at all) and graphic design--in my new job I don't do any design work or marketing anymore, so I like to do voluntary design work for non-profits--so I can keep up my skills.

Just bringing it forward.
 

This is without a doubt my favorite thread so am bringing it forward.
Marlys

All about Me !
 

Great Idea & Amazing Women !

***********************
I was dx at age 37 on August 3, 2006 and celebrated my 11 year wedding anniversary two days later to my soul mate Chris. Ours was a love a first sight story, and the fairy tale continues....... We have two beautiful children ,my son Christopher John (CJ ) age 9 and my daughter Caroline age 6. My son is into his Playstation II and playing flag football, and my daughter is taking her first year of dance classes. I am an avid animal lover, and have a 2 year old golden retriever named Patrick..He is definatley part of the family. My office at work has as many pictures of the dog as the family !

I am very close to my parents and my only brother who is also the best friend a sister could have. He has been an enoromous support to me, went with me to my appointments, researched on the web and continues to call me everyday to check in. My mother is not handling my dx all too well, but I think in time she will do better. My family is known for our sense of humor which I think will pull us all through ! My husband works for the State of PA and has exceptional health care benefits (Thank goodness), he has also taken time off to help me, and is now trading places with me at home to take care of all the laundry, house work, running the kids everywhere etc....

I have a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a minor in Marketing. I have been with the same company for the past 14 Wonderful years...Two years ago I received an amazing promotion and broke into the good old "boys" network. I am a regional manager responsible for 8 of our accounts. I am the only woman regional manager in my office, and take great pride in always being able to run with the big dogs. I LOVE my career, and I pray that I never have to give it up. I am one of those people who perfers managing the demands of both work & home together. I was off work for the first month of my DX and work was both supportive & understanding. I was very lucky that way.

I love reading in my spare time, drink way too much coffee (until the dx) and am your typical Type A over achiever....
I love this site and many thanks to Joe & Christine...

I have a Master's Degree in Social Work and am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I am currently working part-time as an adjunct faculty teaching sociology and social work. Previously, I have worked in foster care and as a therapist at a psychiatric hospital. I also worked as an on-call screener for a crisis center, but had to stop, because my sleep cycle got off track due to being called out in the middle of the night a lot.

I got the opportunity to teach Death and Dying this summer, (initially thought I wasn't going to be able to do it, because of my bc and my dad's end-stage Alzheimers), but it turned out to be a good experience and helped me deal with my dad's passing, incidentally the day before I gave the final exam in the class. My sister and I were fortunate enough to be with him when he died. He experienced a peaceful death. He simply stopped breathing. It was bittersweet as he had no quality of life.

I have 2 grown daughters. The oldest is 25 and has a degree in Corporate Communications. Her and her husband recently celebrated her 1st wedding anniversary and are thinking of starting a family. My youngest daughter is taking her nursing prerequisites at a local community college. They have always been an inspiration to me, especially now. I also have some furry family members, 3 dogs and 2 cats. I am an animal lover.

My husband and I were divorcing when I found out that I have Stage IV bc, so we have tabled the divorce for now. He is working in another city, but comes home a couple of times of month on the weekend. He doesn't seem to really know how to deal with this illness.

I am trying to stay positive and be proactive by making some healthy choices, but there are times when I feel really afraid and don't know that to expect. This board is helping me to feel more hopeful. I am having my follow-up catscan and petscan this week after my first round of treatment, so I am particularly nervous.

kat in the delta(the home of the blues)
 

Hi Kat,

I am so sorry to hear about your cousin's situation. I will gather up some information for you and forward it to you. One of the best sources for dealing with grief is Kubler-Ross. I have a full day of catscan and work tomorrow, so it might be the next day before I can get to it. I will not forget. In the meantime, best wishes.

What a great idea. I feel like I know you all a little bit better and a bit more personally AND now know you all have a life outside of cancer. Thank God. I do too!!! :-)

I am a wife, mother and grandma. I am 46 years old and have been married to my highschool sweetheart (since right out of highschool) for 28 years. He has totally been my angel from Heaven all 28 years.

We have 2 grown sons and 1 brand new grandson Isaiah Christopher. Also a 6 year old granddaughter that came to be our granddaughter when our son married her mom. Her name is Jennah Elaine. Isaiah was born Feb. 5, 2006 - 2 days before my radiation was over and treatment was complete (except the herceptin) - What an awesome blessing during the treatment phase of this disease.

I am a food server at a 4 year old kindergarten. I feed approximately 250 little 4 year olds breakfast/lunch 4 days a week. I work 20 hours a week and have every Wed. off. I love my job and was fortunate and was able to work throughout treatment. I usually took off the Thurs. and Fri. following Wed. (bi-weekly) chemo but that was about it.

My hobbies are walking, listening to Christian music, reading (favorite author Karen Kingsbury) spending time with grandchildren, going antiquing, cleaning and decorating our house and basically just enjoying this life God gave me. I try to do all to His glory and live in His love everyday.

As we all are learning - ONE DAY AT A TIME - is the best motto to live by.

Thanks for being here guys - I feel like I truly love each of you.

Mary Jo

I HOPE I AM NOT THE LAST ONE!! JUST FINISHED "OPEN hOUSE" TONIGHT AS I AM A MIDDLE SCHOOL FRENCH AND LANGUAGE ARTS TEACHER IN MICHIGAN. I teach a 6th grade language sampler, 7th grade French and 2 8th grade Language Arts aka English. I have taught for 26 years. I was diagnosed stage 2 in June of 2003 so I took the next school year off. This is my 3rd year back since the diagnosis. This past summer I found out that I had a lung nodule so I began treatment with Xeloda and Navelbine along with Herceptin which I had been on for about 9 months. My heart was not in returning to school even though my onc and nurses said this treatment is well-tolerated.........but I did and so far, so good. I am having a great time although it is very early in the school year!! I have a husband of 31 years Michael and 2 daughters Juliette and Faith. Juliette is having a baby due in about six weeks so I have to be healthy for my first grandson. I pray. Thanks to all of you for the wonderful website. I go by Ceesun because my first name is Cathy and love Florida and lots of warm weather places. Michigan winters are long, dark and gray. Good Night for now...

kat in the delta
 

Vanessa,
Hope your catscans are clear !!! Please remember to send me info. on end of life & possibly griefing soon to follow. Where do I find that info of ?-Ross you mentioned??kat in the delta

What a great idea! I am 58 years old, married for 30 years to a wonderful carpenter/comic. I have 2 daughters, Samantha and Ashley 38 and 36, 4 beautiful granchildren, Travis 11, Lauren 6 1/2, Dylan 6, and Billy 4. I was dx 2/04 IBC stage 3b her2+++ pr- er-. I used to work in dental office as a front office manager, but have stopped working since my diagnosis as I am still on Navelbine/Herceptin. My life has been blessed with all that I have learned on my journeys, no matter how difficult the climb has been.

Today the skies are releasing a light mist on our pumpkins, the doves are feasting on worms and seeds from the garden, and the scent of the damp earth brings joy and hope. The feel of winter plays outside my window as leaves dance quietly to the soil beneath the swaying trees. We are all blessed to have one another everyday. Thank you for being here, for your support and love. You are all in my prayers, Vickie H

Hi Kat,
The information about the signs of dying are at dying.about.com/cs/caregivers/a/DyingSigns.htm

I tried to copy it, but was unable to. The guru of grieving is Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. I find find her information also. Best wishes.

Just for fun
 

I am new to the group. I am also a RN---- seems to be a few of us.
I am many things and I often remind myself that I am more than a cancer patient.
I am a wife to a wonderful man named Vern, we have been married for 23 years.
I am a mother to two great kids, who thankfully haven't caused us much grief ( touch wood). Kyle is 18 and in his second year of university, he is in education and wants to teach high school phys ed. Trevor is 17 ( yah 16 months apart---crazy) he is a great kid, he has the gift of gab.
I am a dog lover and have a baby girl, her name is Casey and boy is she going to miss me when I go back to work.
I am a daughter to a fiesty 77 yr old mother and I am also a sister and an aunt.
I am a nurse with 25 years behind me.For the last two years I have worked as a vascular access nurse. I put in PICC lines (peripheral inserted central line) and help manage all central and peripheral lines in my hospital.
Oh yes I am a Canuck, I live in Winnipeg Manitoba.
I am crazy about genealogy and could search my family tree forever.
The cancer stuff: Dx Feb 2006, stage one, 1 cm, grade two, er/pr+ and her2+. Have completed chemo , rads and I am settled in for my year of herceptin, 3 down 15 to go!!!!!
Take Care
Nancy F

To Bring It Forward
 

Love this thread.
Marlys

After reading Micheles post...
 

thought it was time to bump this up. Take care and God bless.

Rhonda

Sue and Kevin
 

"Eve-
Wheresoever she was, there was Eden" -mark twain

Sue and I met on March 25, 2005. A little less than 2 years ago, in better words, our whole lives.

At the non-stop pestering of a friend, I went with a group of people to a small cafe. I sat across the table from this beautiful woman who was talking about her (one of many simultaneous) jobs as a fitness instructor. I couldn't make the connection between the obviously intense fitness regime she practiced and the fact that she had her face practically submerged in a huge bowl of ice-cream.
I asked her (sarcastically I admit) if eating a gallon of ice-cream was part of some new work-out plan, and she said that there is absolutely no point in staying fit if you aren't going to enjoy yourself and eat whatever you want, and how she couldn't understand people who become obsessed with an idea of health to the point of making their lives one long penance of health food and weights.
As she came up from the bowl, with ice cream on her face, and I could see she was suddenly aware (embarassed?)that she was attacking this huge bowl in front of her. When she sheepishly caught my eye, I asked her if she was enjoying her ice-cream. She laughed and told me to perform something anatomically impossible.
The friend that had pestered me to go out with this group had been telling me for a year about this great woman she knew, and how her and I would be such a great match. I wasn't interested, having been through a terrible separation, and other relationships that seemed great for a moment, and then faded away. I was gladly destined to be a monk in a cave, without further insult from love or hope of love. This same friend had been telling this great woman about me as well, and she too, was not interested.
Neither Sue nor I knew that we were now sitting across from the wonderful person we had heard about for over a year. Strangely, even our friend hadn't planned this particular meeting.
We have been together every day since. We've both been married, have children, been through enough relationships to know what is good and what is not, and we have never once looked back from the moment we met, we never once considered "going slow." There really is a thing as a soul mate, a person who is more a part of you than you are a part of you ( make sense?) there really is very old, very sacred, Love...all we have to do is find it. I believe that Sue and I found this, I believe there is nothing more important, or better. Our screen name here is the title of a book (by Thich Nhat Hahn), an ancient idea, a practice, a way of life... It is what we are I think.

What do we do for a living? Stuff. When you have this...it makes no difference. Like many, what we do is not who we are. Together is who we are.

ask a simple question... http://www.her2support.org/vbulletin...ilies/wink.gif

---Kevin and Sue---

Great Idea ..... I was 49 when diagnosised .... Have been married to my high school boyfriend since 1971 ..... ( had a 2 1/2 yr divorce and remarried ) ..Life had been going much better these last several years then I was told I had incurable BC ... a month later my husband became legally blind ( had been treating glaucoma for years ) .. So not only did I have to re-adjust my life, my entire way of living changed ... I have always worked full time and continue to do so ... I work for an ASI distributor in Alexandria, VA .. I currently do graphics for special orders as well as purchasing, billing, etc.... have been with this company for 15 years ....I have one son who is 34, married and trying now to start a family .. this would be great since he lives fairly close to me ....My husband is on disability and trys to make my life as easy as possible at home ...Also, have a 15 month old puppy shepherd, Jackson and two Russian turtles Mendel and Sampson....
Although our plans for the future did change once we had these health issues I am trying to stay positive and put it in God's Hand..I did just get back from a weekend to at NYC to see the Christmas Spectacular-Rockettes with my sister ... had a great time, weather great, was able to walk much further than I expected ... Will continue to plan short get-aways when feeling good ... I have always lived in Alexandria but have visited a lot of areas in the USA... Am grateful I have acomplished what I have because my life could have turned out very different ...
Thank you all for sharing, it is very interesting to know more about all of you..

God Bless,

Debbie

Bringing it forward!

What a great thread. This is the first time I've seen it since I was dx. It has been a great afternoon reading about all of you.

I started out as a stage actress and was very blessed to actuall make a living at it for close to 15 years.I got to travel and perform across the country. Most of the time I was in Chicago, Denver and Boston. I met my husband on the job in Boston. He was supplying the animals for the show. We have now been married for 10 yrs and our lives have done a 180. Figured it was hard to stay together when we were both on the road so we bought a large piece of property and opened an exotic animal sanctuary We had over 30 large cats, 15 primates and an assortment of smaller animals. We have scaled down over the past few years and I started working as a Zoo Keeper. Thank God for this job. I have never had health insurance before. I had only been employed at the zoo for a year before I was DX. They have been truely wonderful working with my sporadic schedule and my co workers are a givng and loving group of people. I's hate to see how my life would turn out without my husband, these people and the zoo it's self.

Marlys - thank you for bringing this post forward - it is a great idea!

I am 42. I live in Adelaide, South Australia with my husband Mike (my best friend, a former Kiwi and an environmental scientist who is doing his PHD on environmental asbestos), and our beautiful daughter Lilly, who is 5, and just started her first year of school two week ago. We are a few (too many :) ) years into converting a former (inner suburban) catholic schoolhouse/chapel into a house, which we share with our dog wags and cat pussymellow. Needless to say all renovations are on old right now! Mike makes me feel like 'we' have cancer and I have never had a moment of feeling truly alone in this.

My 3 lifelong best mates - Kaz, Suzi and Helen - are also daily presences in my life, and the best 'Aunties' to Lilly that could possible be conjured!

I have a challenging public service career. I am the Director of a team that provides economic development advice, and establishes policies and programs for SA. My CEO, the Board and Ministers I report to, and my colleagues have been fantastically supportive since my diagnosis. The deputy they have appointed to role share and cover while I am unable to work is a former colleague and cancer survivor, who knows exactly what I'm going through, which is so good. And, having been told her chemo meant she would never have kids, is about 4 months pregnant!

It's funny, but over Christmas I was feeling more content than ever. It was (and is) summer, I had been spending time with great friends, my happy family, feeling like I had the perfect job, great workplace...then on Jan 3, diagnosis hit! Well, I guess if it had to come, then it was better that everything else in my life was going well, and that's all really helping me get through.

And, I just want to mention my Mum, Janine. She is 62 (sorry Mum! - she reads this board and won't be happy about me mentioning her age - she looks 50). She is a computer and software whizz (not many women can say that about their mothers!!!) who does training for a software company. She lives in Perth, Western Australia (about 2400 kms away) but travels Australia doing consulting work. She has been flying in as often as she can, her employer is giving her as much work as they can in Adelaide. And I love her to bits. Even when she is not here, I know she is sending me air to breathe and wisdom to drink, and she makes me feel - as she has done all my life - that I can do anything. And she has set up my computer so I can use my laptop wireless, and so I can join your chatroom when it's going. I love you Mum!!!

And to all of you who post on this board - thank you for what you share, good and bad, celebratory and sad, informative, challenging and seeking - I am learning so much from you.

Belinda

I was a pharmaceutical representive for 10 years. I left my job in September to enjoy myself and my one year old son. I was orginally diagnosed with bc in May of 2000 and have three single lesion brain mets since. I have been NED for two years and just want to enjoy every minute I have left!!

Annemarie

This has been great for me tonight learning a little more about each of you!

I am a mother of two great kids; age 15 (boy) and 11 1/2 (girl). My husband and I have been married for 20 years. I am an instructor in a Radiology program at our community college here in very cold North Dakota! Prior to that I worked as a Radiographer. I have been continuing to work as I am winding down on Herceptin; I had infusion #44 yesterday. Can't say I am excited about being done with Herceptin for it has been my security blanket!
I am very thankful for this site and for all of you out there. Even though I don't know any of you, I really do feel a special bond with you all because "you have been there" and that goes for all you spouses out there in support of your loved ones! I look forward to growing wiser and stronger with you all.