Proper english, have or HAD ?

I agree with Zahalene. It is always possible that there are cancer cells roaming around your bloodstream that may or may never set up camp somewhere else in your body (definition of stage 4) cancer. This is true even if your nodes are negative and you were stage 1, sorry to say. Because of that, you can't give blood to the blood bank for 5 years after treatment for cancer in my area. Having seen some cancer survivors get a reoccurance or new cancer after 15 years (and successfully treated at that time so don't panic!) and then getting stage 1 lung cancer myself two years ago, I'm not sure I will ever give blood again. Too risky! But that doesn't mean I currently have breast cancer (or for that matter the lung cancer). I usually just say that I WAS diagnosed and treated for breast cancer and then I WAS diagnosed with stage 1 lung cancer. The listener can decide what he or she wants. At times I am a pessimist, but I am working on being a little more optimistic. Now that I've made the 5 year mark for the breast cancer, I feel like most of the threat of reoccurance is gone. Most reoccurances happen in the first two years which is why they check you so often then. There are slow growing beasts that double only every two hundred plus days so they may take as long as 8 years or more to show up if the potential for mets is there. So think positive and say "HAD" but keep going to your doctor for rechecks and taking whatever preventitive measures they recommend. You don't want to let your guard down when it comes to this beast!

C. Abbott

I suppose I should follow my own advice here, but you could ask your Dr. that question and see if he/she will give you a straight answer. In my mind I am forever a cancer survivor. I was told that cancer cells were found in the tissue removed during the mastectomy. Since then they did more chemo (whole body) and radiation (localized)so it seems logical to assume that I am cancer free, but Drs. have not said so. They may be hesitant in case I come back and sue them if/when it reappears (I won't, I know there are no guarantees). I suppose it is a decision each survivor makes. Not sure why it seems such an iffy one.

Thanks for the food for thought. seof

Thanks for the answers. It's not a technical question for the onc, its a preception question and I think the majority is still divided. I kind of like HAD I don't want to wait 5 years to say that.
By the way--- the web master sent me my "Bill S" log in information so ABE is going away