There exists a sisterhood of women who have survived breast
cancer. Those of us in this group know many members who have not survived.
Recently I was giving a breast cancer awareness talk at a community college.
One youngish woman asked in all sincerity, “But women don’t really die any
longer from breast cancer so shouldn’t all this money and education be spent on
more life threatening diseases?”
Luckily I was not the only person giving the presentation
and my partner found her words faster to reply. This was a question in my 8
years of breast cancer outreach I never before had heard.
My speaking partner is a 32-year breast cancer survivor. She
was diagnosed at age 30 after giving birth to her second child. 32 years ago
breast cancer treatments were just short of barbaric and she told her story and
how research and treatments have come a long way from slash, cut, and poison
but yet still some women die. Actually younger women have a higher mortality
rate, however breast cancer is not necessarily a death sentence. Some women
with metastasized breast cancer can live 5-15 years. But not all breast cancers are alike.
I told the story of a friend of mine who was diagnosed 5
years after my diagnosis. Her cancer stage was actually better than mine but it
was a different kind of cancer. She did everything according to protocol set by
her oncologists. After her 5-year mark it was discovered her cancer had
metastasized and with-in 5 months she was dead.
In the last 5 years I have lost 3 friends to breast cancer.
2 more have been diagnosed with the disease, and 2 more have had a reoccurrence.
It is a sisterhood that binds us together, one we never wanted to join. The fatality
rate has been reduced through educational and social outreach, and medical
advances resulting in early detection but it is still a life threatening
disease with no cure!
Do you know some one in the sisterhood?
14 comments:
Having recently lost my aunt and a dear friend to breast cancer this post really resonated with me. Thank you. My aunts cancer was found at stage 4 and she was very lucky to get 2 years. My friend, who unlike my aunt, had her mammograms every 6 months since she was 21 because her mother had the disease was diagnosed three years ago. She did everything she was supposed to do and more and she died at 49. Her mother is still living with the disease more than 30 years after her diagnosis. There is so much we still don't know and the idea that younger women don't know that scares the hell out of me. Thank you again for your wonderful post!
Hi Haralee, I'm 4 1/2 sister of BC and have 8 close friends who also went through it. You're right, every one is different, every one I talk to about breast cancer has had a different experience. I try to support organizations who are only focused on finding a cure, as all the awareness in the world isn't going to end breast cancer. I hope there's a cure by the time our daughters are of the age. The young girl you spoke of might even benefit from the research being done today. Thank you for the work you do in speaking about your experience, and the post!
I am sorry for your loss Kathy. Breast cancer can be like that, strike 2 of the same family with very different outcomes and the medicine and research can not tell us why.
Claudia, We are left breast sisters in the sisterhood of breast cancer! New treatments and medications are promising but the elusive cure….
This always breaks my heart about losing loved ones. I don't know where all of the research money goes, but we all have to be careful where we donate.
Sometimes when I'm sitting at a table with 7 other women, I wonder which one will be diagnosed with breast cancer. A morbid thought, but there's a lot of reality in it.
I look forward to a time with NO cancer of any kind. I HATE IT. I hope you continue being well, my friend.
I do know people who have survived breast cancer. And who have died from it. My son's very young and vibrant doctor died from breast cancer just a few years after she had her 2nd child. I'm still so sad about that.
Thanks Cathy. It is a hard statistic to not think about in a group of women if no one has had breast cancer or wonder how many survivors are present.
it is sad when a young woman with young children dies from a disease that we hear so much about but that still takes lives.
I don't know anyone who has passed because of breastfeeding cancer but I am always on the watch list. It is a nerve racking experience. I have had enough losses in my life from so many different cancers. I know how serious this disease is and yes even though there is progress they is alot more needed. Great post Haralee!
Thanks Rena. You are lucky! You are right about more progress needed to find a cause or a cure.
I know far too many people with BC and have lost too many family member to the disease. I have been under watch myself with a triple biopsie to prove it.
I wish you the best JJ. Watchfulness is tiresome and biopsies are no fun but I applaud your own advocacy of your health!
My mother had breast cancer, and so far she is doing well many years later. I keep praying that we will find a cure SOON!
Me too Lana! I wish your Mother well.
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