[Lien]

Dear Dianne,

Oh, don't we all know how you feel! Been there, done that. A friend (who was just 10 years out from diagnosis then) told me: just keep breathing in and out. This is normal. This is what we all feel. But it will fade. You will feel better and better about it every day.

And she was right. I was diagnosed in Jan 2004 and didn't do chemo or herceptin. Just lumpectomy, rads and zoladex/arimidex. I am fine.

You should be fine too. Those stats don't mean very much, really. They are based on outcomes from the past, when there was no herceptin. Your odds should be better now. Also, you haven't recurred during the first year. That's a good sign, so your odds are a bit better than they were at diagnosis. Every month that passes without a recurrence, means your prognosis has become slightly better.

I know it's hard, but with no vascular or lymph node involvement, I think you have a very good chance of never having to deal with breast cancer again.

I no longer worry about dying from cancer. If it happens, it happens. I know I've done everything I can to avoid it, so I'd better get on with living.

So after I finished rads, I decided I could worry about having cancer for 15 minutes max each day. I would allocate a time (early in the morning, or after dinner) when I could think about it and then stopped myself. If fears or thoughts popped up at other times, I pushed them away until the allocated time. It helped me. Perhaps it could work for you too? We are all different and we all find a way to deal with this #%%$^%$ disease. One way or another.

And if we don't know how to deal with it, we come here for a virtual hug and some consoling words or prayers. As you did.

Hugs

Jacqueline