Any cancer survivors?

I always thought the Lance Armstrong Foundation did a great job of letting survivors speak their piece.

A link to their Survivor Stories section

My grandma survived breast cancer. They didn’t have a lot of options back in the day and she had to make the choice of removing her breast or dying. Obviously, she chose to remove it and she’s still around at 88. Now, she wonders if she’ll ever kick the bucket. ;)

I’m in mourning over my younger brother’s passing this past week. He danced with cancer for two years. I’m sorry for this entry, but I needed to talk. There is a wonderful place in Baltimore called the Hope Lodge. We sent my ‘bro to Maryland since Hopkins and the U of Maryland do some incredible things. Almost saved Tim, but it was stage 4. He was initially given three months upon diagnosis. Tim enjoyed two years of wonderful times until the stunningly quick capitulation. Even that was handled in wondrous fashion. Keep on keeping on.
Cheers,
ortise

@Ortise, I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t want to imagine what it would be like to lose my brother.

And welcome to the Collective.

Thanks “Trustinglife”....Enjoy their every moment with you. It’s too damn short.
ortise

@ortise: I am very sorry for your loss.

As for the cancer question: I myself am a survivor, and from what I’ve gathered there are several others here. I can speak only for myself. Every cancer survivor I know (including me) has an inspirational story. They are frightening, harrowing, courageous, and filled with episodes of resilience. For some reason some end in great triumph and joy, but not all of us are lucky enough to walk out on the other side, as shown above by ortise. I’m sorry but I don’t consider my story unique or even interesting to anyone unless they are suffering the same malady. I am grateful beyond all measure and cannot look at it as anything other than part of my journey.

I am thirteen years away from two lumpectomies (on same breast), chemo and radiation. Just before I was diagnosed, I had a personal tragedy that made the cancer seem “ho-hum.” I did have a wonderful Oncologist and Surgeon who understood that there was a person attached to the breast and also was fortunate to have only the two sentinel nodes involved. And had the chemo after the anti-nausea pill had been invented/

And I was lucky to be near a wonderful hospital that wasn’t too urban. The rides to and fro were beautiful. I did change a lot of things, mainly attitude and view of the world. (Eating differently, exercising more carefully, and throwing away the cigarettes were easy.) My beloved brother was not so lucky; he died of blood cancer in 1999 after a valiant and imaginative fight.

I greet each day with joy and gratitude and try to help others in need. I say “no” to any activities that may cause me stress unless connected to vital family business.

If you are collecting these stories for personal reasons, I wish you hope and a good journey. I found for me that 6 months with a breast cancer support group was very helpful.

Ortise, I send you my condolences.

Haven’t heard from Cak in a while. Is she doing OK? She has been a great inspiration.

My brother’s fortitude was his last and most valuable gift to me. That showed that there is still hope. We’re all in this together.
To the valiant ones, survivors all.
ortise

I am basically not very inspiring but in 2000–2001 I was becoming weaker and more anemic. I had every test that seemed reasonable but one day had a crisis that got me to the emergency room. I was VERY anemic but they found an unrelated problem that was potentially fatal. They gave me 4 transfusions, solved the unrelated problem and set me up for more tests. I put off the colonoscopy for 3 months (negative sigmoidoscopy and fecal occult tests) until I was off for the summer. Of course it was Stage 2 colon cancer (partly beyond the colon wall) so on my 53rd birthday I went into surgery thinking I might not see 54.

Things worked out, no cancer cells in the lymph nodes so it was just a matter of waiting for the incision to heal and start the 5 year countdown. The inspiring thing came over the next few weeks. My siblings all got colonoscopies even though none had any symptoms and they were considered to be too young for regular testing. Three of the four had serious polyps which were removed. My Dr said that it was a possibility that we could have lost 80% of our family within 5 years. Amazing.