My friend has breast cancer too

Sam726
Sam726 Member Posts: 233
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
It really has come to my attention that this disease is sooooo common..a friend of mine was just diagnosed today. She is young like me...36. I am in total shock again. I feel for her. I want to be there for her. It is funny...now that I have cancer, I am finding so many people I know have had it. I guess people feel they can open up now that they know I know what they went through. Anyone else feel this way?

Comments

  • lanie940
    lanie940 Member Posts: 490 Member
    #2
    I agree. It was all too
    I agree. It was all too sureal to find out I had it after knowing my cousin in Calif had had it twice.
  • Cat64
    Cat64 Member Posts: 1,192
    #3
    Sam
    I'm so sorry to hear that! So young too! Somehow I think you had something to do with her having the test that lead to that diagnosis.(?) It will probably be of great comfort to her having a friend like you right there beside her battling the beast! You are an angel of strength,determination,courage,&bravery! Does she live near you? I hope you told her about all of us & she will hop on & start posting?!
    Can't say I feel that way. I have yet to come across anyone with BC other than the survivor that called me from Reach to Recovery. She was much older. Course I don't really tell anyone I have it. Brian does a good enough job of that for me!
    Please let her know she will be added to the prayer list.
    Take Care
    Cat
  • MyTurnNow
    MyTurnNow Member Posts: 2,686 Member
    #4
    This is way too common and
    This is way too common and frequent nowadays....one in every seven women. Those odds are too high. It is a wonderful thing for your friend that you can help her through the initial days of diagnosis. I know these are the most stressful because it's a total shock. Or, at least it was for me. You can help her with your knowledge and direct her to this board which has been a lifesaver for many of us.
  • mimivac
    mimivac Member Posts: 2,143 Member
    #5
    Sam,
    It is all too common, and in younger women, too. Just visit www.youngsurvival.org sometime. But you're right, as soon as I was diagnosed, I started noticing how many people are affected by cancer, of all kinds. I guess I never really noticed it b/c it didn't have much relevance in my life before. Now it seems that everyone I tell has either had it or has a close relation who has. One in 3 women and one in 2 men will develop some kind of cancer at least once in their lives. Amazing and sad. At least your friend has you to help her through it.

    Mimi
  • Marcia527
    Marcia527 Member Posts: 2,729
    #6
    Yes, it seems to be
    Yes, it seems to be everywhere. Not just breast but all kinds. Also Parkinson's and MS is showing up in the 30 somethings too.
  • jennN
    jennN Member Posts: 40
    #7
    lanie940 said:

    I agree. It was all too
    I agree. It was all too sureal to find out I had it after knowing my cousin in Calif had had it twice.

    friend w B/C
    Yes,I feel the same way. People that were'nt very friendly before are now opening up because they had been going through this. I have met so many people that are helping others because they too have been hit. I'm so thankful to be in such a supportive community. It's been really difficult, and I hope I never have a friend that has to go through this. Although, in the back of my mind I worry about my daugther. She is only 11, but said, "I'll bet I get this too." Wow...talk about a lump in my throat. I have tried to be matter of fact with her and said, "Well, let's hope you don't have to deal with this. Just be sure to check your breasts for lumps and we'll have you start mammograms early. In a way it's good that we found out I have it so you can err on the side of prevention and catching it early if you do." She seemed to take it in stride. The same day (probably what precipitated the comment) I decided to take her with me to a specialty store where they sell mastectomy bras. I decided if I treat this like it's doable for me then it might not be as scary for her if she has to deal with it...or if she had a friend who has to deal with it. Although my lumph nodes were clean I worry about recurrence since I'm Her2nu positive. If for some reason this is what takes my life, I want to have helped her be stonger in some way.
  • Dawne.Hope
    Dawne.Hope Member Posts: 823
    #8
    I agree with what's been
    I agree with what's been said and it's been my experience too.

    After I was dx, I was absolutely amazed at all the women who came out of the woodwork who've had bc.

    I haven't yet had the experience of meeting young women like myself that have been through it ... it was here on this site that I realized how many young ones are affected.

    It's sad.
  • MAJW
    MAJW Member Posts: 2,510 Member
    #9
    IT's an epidemic, I believe......
    And it seems to be striking younger and younger women.....anyone see the 10 year old little girl with breast cancer on TV????????? How awful is that? One of my daughter's best friends (my daughter is 36) was diagnosed just this past Friday......she's 40.....Yes, finding a cure is of the utmost importance but I want to know what is CAUSING all this....Two of my doctors believe it is enviornmental, along with low vitamin D levels.......who knows?
    I am 58 and I swear growing up, I NEVER heard of this many women and such young women with breast cancer......and I have ZERO family history of it....My mother had tons of friends......never heard of one of them with breast cancer.....

    Let's pray they find a CAUSE and a way of preventing it for future generations of girls...
    God Bless your friend Sam, and you....
  • Ritzy
    Ritzy Member Posts: 4,381 Member
    #10
    MAJW said:

    IT's an epidemic, I believe......
    And it seems to be striking younger and younger women.....anyone see the 10 year old little girl with breast cancer on TV????????? How awful is that? One of my daughter's best friends (my daughter is 36) was diagnosed just this past Friday......she's 40.....Yes, finding a cure is of the utmost importance but I want to know what is CAUSING all this....Two of my doctors believe it is enviornmental, along with low vitamin D levels.......who knows?
    I am 58 and I swear growing up, I NEVER heard of this many women and such young women with breast cancer......and I have ZERO family history of it....My mother had tons of friends......never heard of one of them with breast cancer.....

    Let's pray they find a CAUSE and a way of preventing it for future generations of girls...
    God Bless your friend Sam, and you....

    I think younger women have
    I think younger women have always had it, we just didn't know or hear about it. There are a couple of older women at my cancer center, and, one while I was taking rads that had it when they were in their early 30's, but, they didn't want anyone to know back then because there was such a stigma attached to it. They said that they didn't want people to look at them and try to figure out which breast was gone and stuff like that. One even said that she had friends that said they were afraid to be around her because they were afraid they would catch it and didn't want to lose their breasts. Isn't that awful? I was shocked by this. And, they said the internet wasn't really popular and available to all, so, it wasn't like there was a way to know like we do now and especially on sites like this. And, the media didn't talk about it because it was kind of taboo. I guess I never realized that. And now, these poor women are back because their bc came back. Bc does just plain suck!

    Sue :)
  • lanie940
    lanie940 Member Posts: 490 Member
    #11
    MAJW said:

    IT's an epidemic, I believe......
    And it seems to be striking younger and younger women.....anyone see the 10 year old little girl with breast cancer on TV????????? How awful is that? One of my daughter's best friends (my daughter is 36) was diagnosed just this past Friday......she's 40.....Yes, finding a cure is of the utmost importance but I want to know what is CAUSING all this....Two of my doctors believe it is enviornmental, along with low vitamin D levels.......who knows?
    I am 58 and I swear growing up, I NEVER heard of this many women and such young women with breast cancer......and I have ZERO family history of it....My mother had tons of friends......never heard of one of them with breast cancer.....

    Let's pray they find a CAUSE and a way of preventing it for future generations of girls...
    God Bless your friend Sam, and you....

    My oncology surgeon had a
    My oncology surgeon had a sister who had it at 8 years old. It is extremely rare. He said nobody in his family ever talked about it or were allowed to talk about it. His own Mother and his wife's Mother had it and several other female family members had breast cancer. That is why it is his life's goal to find a vaccine to cure breast cancer.He has received sever grants to continue the study. He and his wife have 2 daughters also.
  • VickiSam
    VickiSam Member Posts: 9,079 Member
    #12
    lanie940 said:

    My oncology surgeon had a
    My oncology surgeon had a sister who had it at 8 years old. It is extremely rare. He said nobody in his family ever talked about it or were allowed to talk about it. His own Mother and his wife's Mother had it and several other female family members had breast cancer. That is why it is his life's goal to find a vaccine to cure breast cancer.He has received sever grants to continue the study. He and his wife have 2 daughters also.

    Sam - I'm so sorry to hear about your young
    friend ... Breast cancer hits women of all ages. I have met more people going thru bc or had a love one with bc in the past 2 weeks. It is pretty scary to say the least.

    I hope she is reviewing our acs board, and getting all the information available to her before proceeding forward with surgery or treatments.


    Vicki Sam

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