Catherine Morgan Asks “Are You Afraid of Breast Cancer”?
Posted by Over at BlogHer.com, Blogger Advisory Council member Catherine Morgan has a fantastic round up of breast cancer blogging.
Many women are blogging about their breast cancer fears. From little fears to big fears. They have fears of mammograms, fears of treatments, fears or recurrences, fears of dying…and on and on. What are your breast cancer fears?
From Womenonthefence – Breast Cancer Awareness Month…
I had my own scare when I was 22 years old. One day, I found a lump in my left breast. It was scary as hell. I have a history of breast cancer in my family, and until I saw the doctor and got some answers, I did not sleep. At all. Even my husband, (who was my boyfriend at the time) became so desensitized to “feeling me up.” I mean, he felt my left boob like twenty times, and said, “I don’t like the way that feels.”
From On The Road To Queendom – Mammo…what?
I was petrified at the thought of the big scary monster of a machine smashing the hell outta my little skittle titties.
See, there is also the little fact that my mother’s sister, my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer about 6 years ago. They found it early and she was able to treat it and it has not come back. So, there was also that deep rooted fear that maybe, just maybe it had crept into my tiny little body too. That the big scary “C” monster would get me too.
From Battling Breast Cancer With Class – Fear of Recurrence…
I read the survival statistics for my particular stage of breast cancer at the five-year mark and they say I have a 49 percent to 67 percent chance of making it. Every once in awhile I’ll get stuck in a mode of fear and start obsessing about these grim facts. Then I realize all I can do is pop a Tamoxifin pill every day that is supposed to suppress estrogen, cross my fingers and carry on. I reason that yes, cancer could come back at anytime. But right now, I have my health back and I will never take that for granted again. So why not enjoy feeling normal as much as I can? The seasons change this week. Nothing ever stays the same, so cease the day!
From Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer – My Pregnancy Fears Allayed…
I have mentioned before that the effect of chemotherapy on my fertility was the most devastating aspect of being diagnosed with breast cancer. For some women, the result is permanent infertility, others, like me, have complicated fertility issues post treatment. One of my chemo buddys did get pregnant post treatment with the help of IVF, but tragically developed a recurrence while pregnant. This brings up a lot of fears for me. If a miracle were to happen and I conceived, would this increase my own chances of recurrence. There is not enough statistical evidence as yet to answer this question satisfactorily. However, the latest research does show that pregant women who develop breast cancer do not have worse odds of death or of cancer returning than other young breast cancer patients.
From Thought from Mary Alice Monroe – Life At The End Of A Fishing Line…
“This was her body. She knew she should let go of her old self-image and make peace with the way her body was now… Mia closed her eyes and said a small prayer for strength. She had to let this fear of cancer go down the drain with the dirty water. To live fully, she had to believe she would live.” (pg. 49, Time is a River)
From Susan Heim on Parenting – A Mother’s Story of Breast Cancer…
Since the cancer had already spread, it was necessary to find out just how far it had gone. Did it travel through my nodes and bloodstream, finding a home someplace else in my body? Needless to say, the days and weeks that followed were filled with full body scans, tests, and anxiety about the unknown.
Let’s face it: my son was four years old at the time I was diagnosed. Every mother knows that the will to survive comes in part from wanting to be here for yourself, but in larger part because your child needs you to be here.
Happy birthday, Shaq!
This weekend, my 12-year old daughter and her friends are hosting a surprise birthday sleepover for one of their friends whose mother lost her very short battle with lung cancer this past July. Each year, her Mom would have a huge sleepover birthday party for her which all the girls looked forward to. This will be the first birthday she will have without her Mom and it will probably be difficult for her and her Dad and brothers.
