5 years, still NED from metastatic EC

So happy for you, 5 yrs NED after stage 3 grade 3 EC is just wonderful!  Wishing you many more years of health and happiness.

Congrats on your post cancer thriving!

Happy Anniversary! Thanks for sharing this major milestone. I so appreciate your posts and share your wisdom and experience with others.

Love and Hugs,

Cindi

Yay, TC!! You know I'm a big fan of your story and advice, so I am so glad that you keep posting.

This is such a good post that I went to look at your MySpace and found it empty.   You've got to be tired of repeating yourself, so maybe you could share the details there to refer people back to as new members join the group. It's certainly easier than always needing to retype or trying to hunt down your old posts. Who knows what was lost forever from that catastrophic ouatage.

If anybody wonders "what now" after they finish treatment, TakingControl's story and posts are a really good place to start.

for posting this encouragiing news.  My cancer is grade 3 and I've been told it often reoccurs.  You have made me feel hopeful, even if I do have a recurrence.  Mary Ann

Adding my congratulations and best wishes for your continued good health, takingcontrol!  I am grateful for your detailed posts, which pointed me to look into Metformin.  I did convince my PCP to write a Rx for Metformin after she looked into it herself.  I've been on a 2000 mg/day dose for close to two years.  I also did finally find an integrative medicine-in-training doctor whose academic interest is cell mitochondria.  He prescribed various nutritional supplements to support cell health and cell energy.  And he asked me to go on the Mitogenic Diet (which is a lot like the Ketogenic diet except it allows a few more carbs per day).  I am two years past chemotherapy for my second recurrence since frontline treatment ended in October 2005.  I have confounded a few doctors that I am still upright after 14 years (I was Stage IC, Grade II (old staging system) endometrioid adenocarcinoma).  In my case, we are watching a small single pulmonary nodule, 5 mm, discovered in December 2018.  It has grown slowly since then, now measuring 7 mm in my left lower lobe.  It's still too small to find to biopsy or treat with surgery.  My doctor has ordered another CT for the end of January.  She's willing to believe that I may well be benefitting from Metformin, if, in fact, this nodule is malignant.  I maintain my ideal of, if not stability (aka benign), then waiting until it's large enough to harvest tissue for a definitive diagnosis.

Chemo was unpleasant but survivable.  It did take a toll on my body (very little hair regrowth, marked aging of skin, significant neuropathy in my feet) but I worked hard to recover my vigor.  I do credit the low carbohydrate, high protein and generous good fat diet for my current state.  But I wouldn't dissuade anybody from doing chemo or radiation.  I've had good responses to both (and I've had external pelvic radiation 2x).  

I don't know what takingcontrol determined was the cause of her cancer.  For me, if it wasn't simply an unfortunate glitch in normal cell formation, maturation and differentiation, then it was probably the highly stressful life I lived from childhood into my 50s when I was first diagnosed.  But who knows.  I do not believe I am cured of cancer.  I've had years long remissions, and I hope this latest creature remains stable or very slow growing because I feel fine and I am active and happy in my life.  But the pragmatist in me believes that, once you've recurred you cannot be cured but you can hope for control.  And I feel that there are things that I do that help my healthy body control the enemy.  I certainly am not at peace with the terminal nature of my disease and I am in search of a group of metastatic disease sufferers to join for discussion.  But all in all, life is good.

Takingcontrol's achievement is magnificent, especially given the spread of the disease that she beat back.  It does provide a story of hope for all us on this journey.  And we will take all such stories we can get, and I'll count myself as one more from a 14 years survivor.

Best wishes to all.  Oldbeauty

I realized that I didn’t post here. Congrats on your big milestone Takingcontrol! And thank you for sharing your story. I remember reading your story over and over again during my treatment. It gave me so much hope. Wishing you all the best!