five years

Whiile, unfortunately, I did not find this site until a year or so after my diagnosis, I celebrated my 5 years from my last treatment on Dec 19.  Two of my sisters and I went to New York to see the Rocketts and dinner at the bar at the Rainbow Room.  While we toasted to my luck, we also lamented the loss of my mother.  

I do find the anniversary bittersweet.  I am thrilled to be here after, what you all know, a scary and terrifying diagnosis, but am fully aware of all the lovely ladies we have lost here over that time.  By the way, I have a list of all the warriors who have left us starting with the name of a former co-worker who died of cervical cancer when I first found out I had cancer.  (I list all the gyn cancer warriors) While each loss is incredibly sad, some are just such a body blow.  There are times I just want to walk away from this page, but I remember how I felt and how it was easier to know that there are others out there who know what I am talking about.

I have read a lot of posts and know that there is no magic bullet and what works for someone may not work for someone else.  We all have other health issues which probably makes treatment different for each and every one of us, and even trying to do everything 'right' is not a guarantee to beat the beast, but we need to do what is right for ourselves.  

When someone asks what I want I ask them to pray for a cure for cancer.  I accept that nothing is the same as it was before cancer and there is no use wasting my time wishing it was.  While giving advice is never really appreciated, I do agree with my chemo nurse who says, "Go out and live!"  None of us know how much time we have. 

God bless you ladies, and may God hold all the cancer warriors in the palm of his hand.

 

 

«1

Comments

  • Soup52
    Soup52 Member Posts: 908 Member
    Congrats on your 5 years! You

    Congrats on your 5 years! You are a valued member:) As you said live life to your fullest!

  • janaes
    janaes Member Posts: 799 Member
    Notimeforcancer, im glad you

    Notimeforcancer, im glad you made it five years. Thanks for being a part of this group. You truely have been dadicated to it all these years

    Janae

  • ckdgedmom
    ckdgedmom Member Posts: 166 Member
    Congrats on 5 years!

    Congratulations NoTime...

    you give us hope and it's nice knowing that this battle can end in victory!!!!

    Today is the one year anniversary of my first chemo treatment. I remember that I barely slept the night before and was terrified. I cold capped to keep my hair so putting on that first cap felt foolish and scary (and so damn cold) but I had hope. When my nurse started my Taxol my friend and I cried for a while with a mixture of sadness, anger, terror, and much much hope and gratitude. I remember praying "Please God let this work"...when my oncology pharmacologist came by to check on me she said "you can do this"...and so I did...

    I wish I had found this site before I had all my treatments...the ladies here would have been a great comfort...

    Reading your story NoTime makes me feel so blessed and grateful and very hopeful...hopeful that maybe in 5 years I can also say I have been cancer free...knowing it is possible makes me feel blessed...

    (And BTW---there is no more perfect way to celebrate than the Rockettes and the Rainbow Room!)

    Congrats on your milestone...I know every step in this journey has not been easy..thanks for sticking around this board to let others know that the warrior can win...

    xoxo

    Anice

  • SF73
    SF73 Member Posts: 317 Member
    Such a significant milestone

    So glad that you and your sisters celebrated it. Congratulations! Thank you for all the informative posts here. As someone who is at the beginning of this long journey, I really appreciate your presence here and all the wisdom you share with us. At the same time I also understand why you would want to walk away from this page. It is very tough to get all those bad news. 

  • evolo58
    evolo58 Member Posts: 293 Member
    edited December 2017 #6
    Congrats! I think every

    Congrats! I think every victory is worth a celebration!

    I think what is so, so frustrating about the rare endo cancers, and probably Stage 3 and 4 of any cancer as well, reading the other boards, is that these cancers are like a pinball machine in your body. You have NO idea where that ball will go next, or if that ball will go somewhere at all. There is absolutely no pattern. Tendencies, perhaps. But no set pattern.

    I've accepted that there is no cure for cancer, but I wish there was a way to slow progression down to a snail's crawl and figure out where it could logically go and deal with it proactively BEFORE it gets there. If only we could even do that, we could manage this beast ... not only uterine, but other cancers as well.

    Even reading the stories of the ladies here who did not make it ... no pattern. No sense. Most, if not all, did everything right; kept on top of the latest protocol, tried to eat better and live right, etc. Most did not ignore troublesome symptoms and went to their doctors right away if they saw something wrong, only to be diagnosed with a Type 2 and/or Stage 3 or beyond cancer because lucky them got one of the nasty rare ones. 

    I do see some glimmer of hope. As I look through the years, I see more ladies with advanced stages living far beyond the two-year death sentence that many of us get when we're diagnosed. Many of the ladies here have had recurrences more than once. Back in earlier days, a single recurrence seemed to be more ominous. Advances in dealing with cancer of other types have helped us as well, as researchers find out how to deal with troublesome nodules in other parts of the body more effectively. 

    In addition to the ladies we know did not win this battle, I wonder about those here who posted, then suddenly stopped. Was it because they wanted to move on, or ... or ... ?

    But in the meantime, we are all fighting for our lives here. And every year one of us manages to win is a wonderful thing indeed. Again ... congrats on the five-year mark, and here's hoping for many, many more five-year anniversaries, both with you and with those here.




  • TeddyandBears_Mom
    TeddyandBears_Mom Member Posts: 1,811 Member
    No Time,  Congrats on this

    No Time,  Congrats on this major milestone! So glad to hear your news and that you made it a special day with your sisters. If we learn one thing after dealing with this, that is an awareness of how special life truly is. Thanks for sharing your milestone with us.

    I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and hope that 2018 brings peace and healing to all.

    Love and Hugs,

    Cindi

  • Lou Ann M
    Lou Ann M Member Posts: 996 Member
    Happy anniversary

    I am glad that you and your sisters got to celebrate.  I do understand the bittersweet.  So many have been lost and there is no rhyme or reason to any of this.  May you be around for many more years to celebratE.

    Hugs and prayers, Lou Ann

  • barnyardgal
    barnyardgal Member Posts: 272 Member
    Congratulations! 

    Congratulations! 

  • Jairoldi
    Jairoldi Member Posts: 221 Member
    edited December 2017 #10
    Yay!!

    Thanks for sharing. It is so helpful to hear of milestones reached and the celebrations!

  • Violet123
    Violet123 Member Posts: 28 Member
    Congratulations!     

    Congratulations!     

    You give the rest of us hope, 5 years is quite a milestone.   Thanks for all the advice and wisdom you share with this group.   

  • EZLiving66
    EZLiving66 Member Posts: 1,482 Member
    Happy anniversary! Five years

    Happy anniversary! Five years seems to be the golden number in cancer survivorship and a milestone to be celebrated.  

    You're right, none of us will ever be the same but who's to say that's not a good thing? 

    Here's to another five, ten, twenty, h*'ll why not thirty years of good health!

    Love, 

    Eldri 

  • HorseLvr
    HorseLvr Member Posts: 102
    edited December 2017 #13
    Congrats on 5 years! So sorry

    Congrats on 5 years! So sorry about your mom, though. While no time is a good time, this is the worst time of year to lose a loved one.

  • Kaleena
    Kaleena Member Posts: 2,088 Member
    Congratulations!

    Terrific on five years!   I too was in New York and saw the Rockettes!   It was during the first snow fall there.   Thank you for sharing your good news.

    Hugs,

    Kathy

  • txtrisha55
    txtrisha55 Member Posts: 693 Member
    edited December 2017 #15
    CONGRATULATIONS!

    So glad you reached this goal.  Praying for many more years for you and all the women fight this beast.  trish

  • Northwoodsgirl
    Northwoodsgirl Member Posts: 571
    edited December 2017 #16
    Congrats on 5 years

    Thank you for sharing your 5 yrs of living without cancer! No matter how much time passes we are forever changed and so thankful for each and every day. I am sorry to hear that your Mom has passed. She lives on in your memories. So glad you did something special to mark your anniversary! 

  • cheerful
    cheerful Member Posts: 261 Member
    edited January 2018 #17
    Congratulations on reaching your 5 year mark!

    Congratulation on reaching your 5 year mark! I hope you continue for the rest of your life with No Evidence of Disease!

    Glad to hear you went out to celebrate your 5 year milestone.  Hope you enjoyed the hoiday season.  Hope you have a Happy & Healthy 2018!

     

    Cheerful

    a/k/a Jane

  • Cass83
    Cass83 Member Posts: 151 Member
    edited January 2018 #18
    Congratulations!

    I am playing catch up and reading through the posts and saw this one. Congratulations!!!

  • Abbycat2
    Abbycat2 Member Posts: 644 Member
    No Time, I am so happy for you!

    I think you will remain NED forever. I don’t check in as often but when I do, I can’t help but notice that there are so many new members. I am so sorry to see new members facing the gut-wrenching shock of hearing “You have cancer”. You and I have been fortunate in that we remain NED. I worry about some of the women here who I have gotten to know who continue to fight this disease either as a recurrence or as a continuation of when they were first diagnosed, such as Lou ann and Editgirl (Chris) to name just two.

    The best to you, No Time, and to all the other women dealing with this cancer.

    Cathy

    Stage  3A, UPSC

  • Wannabeatit
    Wannabeatit Member Posts: 100 Member
    edited January 2018 #20
    Ned

    You give us hope! Love seeing your posts. You have lots of information to offer and constant support. Congrats! Betty-Ann

  • rcdeman
    rcdeman Member Posts: 263 Member
    So happy for you,

    So happy for you, NoTimeForCancer! Wishing you many many healthy years to come! Your story gives us hope!

    Love,
    Rebecca