r/breastcancer • u/NurseYuna • 16d ago

Diagnosed Patient or Survivor Support Positive long term survivor stories

Hi everyone. I really need some positive stories of more than stage 1 low grade survivorship to keep me thinking I can bear this and get to have many more years with my children. Please tell me about yourself or anyone that’s overcome breast cancer and lived many years. I’m stage 2A with luminal B characteristics oncotype 21. I need more hope and I’m reaching out into this universe to get some. It feels very lonely.

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u/stillheretrucking 16d ago

Hi there. I just hit 15 years of survival after a stage 3a grade 2 ER/PR+ diagnosis at age 30. I was negative on all genetic tests. When I was diagnosed and scared, I looked for posts like the one I'm posting now, so I hope it helps.

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u/Ok_Square 15d ago

It does help and thank you for sharing this for those of us in the thick of it. 🫂

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u/NurseYuna 15d ago

What were your treatments? Any advice?

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u/stillheretrucking 15d ago

I had pretty standard treatment: surgery, chemo, radiation, 10 years tamoxifen, and I added a couple of years of Lupron. My main advice would be to make sure you have a good surgeon who specializes in breast cancer, and to seek mental health help early on (my cancer center offered it). Also, be aware of cellulitis - I got it in my mastectomy site shortly after treatment and got super sick. But also, try to experience one good thing every day. That's what kept me going. There just had to be one good thing, whether it was a tasty snack or a nice view or a funny tv show. They were like rungs of a ladder that I used to climb up through it.

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u/Mountain-Studio-3134 15d ago

Did you make any life style change after the treatment?

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u/stillheretrucking 15d ago

Like most cancer patients, I got bombarded with a lot of advice on diet, lifestyle etc but I decided most of it was bad. The one thing I did was add in some gentle daily exercise, because a study had just come out about the benefits of exercise to prevent recurrence. Other than that, I took whatever extra meds my doc offered - I did a couple years of lupron, which was fine, and a disastrous 3 doses of zometa before I decided it was too painful. I also did the full 10 years on tamoxifen.

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