What do you consider your cancerversary date?

I use the date I was
I use the date I was diagnosed as my Survivorship Anniversary. I made sure to celebrate the end of chemo, radiation, and Herceptin! June 1st will mark my 2nd anniversary-YIPPEE!

camul said:

Mine is Feb 8th opening day
Mine is Feb 8th opening day of the 2002 Olympics, got to see fireworks from the hospital window. This was the day of my mastectomy and the fireworks were to celebrate getting rid of the cancer.

This is hard for me
This is hard for me since my doctor put things off.BUT my tumor was found on July 2.My son's 40th Birthday. My dx was Aug 19 When I was told I had bc.So I celebrate Aug 19 as my cancerversary.Although when it came time for my mammo I told them I want it scheduled for January. That was 6 months after tumor was found and wanted to keep my appt then(like I did for many years) and not change to Feb. Of course my doctor agreed.

My mammo is coming up July 12 but won't celebrate till Aug 19. Just over a month.

I also had 2 surgeries within 2 weeks and had some celebrating then when the cancerous tumor was the only one but 2 benign tumors were found during the first and second surgery.That was a celebration to find out the last 2 found were benign.I was so scared.

I know what you mean about WHEN we celebrate.It's hard for some of us.

Lynn Smith

sbmly53 said:

Looking back
I had my mammo on 10/28, stereotactic biopsy 11/14 and got the results 11/17. Surgery was 12/7 (a day that will live in infamy, 2 days before my 56th B'day).

When I recall how the mammo went - I always get called in twice, but this time I was called in again and spoke with the radiologist. The films were up, they were pointing out the suspicious area, but I was either in denial or blissfully ignorant. But that day - 10.28.09, that is the one I go by.

Sue

Date I was dxd. July 14 09.
Date I was dxd. July 14 09.

Hugs

Donna

Good Question
I was talking to one of my co-workers that has undergone a double mastectomy about this very subject. I think your cancerversary depends on you. We both decided that our cancerversary was when we started to actively fight the disease. Her date is when she started chemo and radiation since she had treatments to shrink tumors prior to surgery. Mine will be the date of my surgery since I did not have prior treatments, January 21st.

Brooklynchele said:

Still confused then
Wow this discussion is leaving me even more confused! My surgery was actually BEFORE my diagnosis. I was diagnosed 6 days after the surgery (from the pathology) and then went for a 2nd surgery a week and a half later - to get clear margins and do the sentinel node biopsy. But the second surgery showed that there was no cancer left which means that all of the cancer was actually gone (because of the surgery) BEFORE my diagnosis! So I still don't know whetehr to use the first surgical date or the date I received the path results. I'm inclined to think it's the surgical date... (Although they just found 2 masses by ultrasound in the "clear breast" that I get biopsied next week....)

Marking all the anniversaries
Every one of the dates is a milestone for me. I was diagnosed 7/12/10 and started chemo the next week ending on 11/25. Mastectomy was 12/22 followed by rads that ended 3/30. I was pronounced in "clinical remission" at the end of chemo because the tumor and reduced in size. The tumor had clean margins but there were lymph nodes involved so on to the radiation. Every one of my dates is important. I don't celebrate the 7/12 date but I'm sure aware of it. And I guess there are things to celebrate after all. The reinforcement of how strong I truely am, how many friends I have, how my faith and prayers have held me up on the journey, etc.

CypressCynthia said:

I usually use the date I was
I usually use the date I was initially diagnosed February 25, 1987. Sometimes I use the date I was diagnosed with mets which was April 1, 2009 (yes, April Fools).

Date I was diagnosed October
Date I was diagnosed October 26th, 2010 (My father's birthday).

Lorrie

War analogy
I think of it sort of the way historians look at wars. I consider the anniversary date my diagnosis date (April 10th, 2009), mainly because that was the day I started my journey. I had my mastectomy on May 21st and we call the D-Day or Shock and Awe Day. Then Sept 24 is VC day (Victory over chemo) and December 7, my last day of radiation is Mission Accomplished!

I agree with what so many of you have already said - everyday is an anniversary worth celebrating!

mickeymom said:

War analogy
I think of it sort of the way historians look at wars. I consider the anniversary date my diagnosis date (April 10th, 2009), mainly because that was the day I started my journey. I had my mastectomy on May 21st and we call the D-Day or Shock and Awe Day. Then Sept 24 is VC day (Victory over chemo) and December 7, my last day of radiation is Mission Accomplished!

I agree with what so many of you have already said - everyday is an anniversary worth celebrating!

Love the analogy!
What a way to look at it. I"ll have to write that down so the chemo brain won't forget it.