I’m currently in the trenches of waiting for MRI/ultrasound results after being diagnosed Grade 2 IDC Hormone positive/HER- and would love to hear from anybody on here through the other side of treatment and living fun lives again! Right now just feels doom and gloom like life won’t be any kind of normal again
Im doing ok considering but just feels like abit of a dark cloud over me at the minute waiting for results and picturing different outcomes. I’ve got 2 young children that are keeping me busy which is helping!
I can help you out with a positive story! Same as you I was diagnosed with Grade 2 IDC ER+/HER2- last year at 46. I thought when I heard the words “it’s cancer” life would never be the same again. I had a lumpectomy, radiotherapy and taken tamoxifen for 1.5 years so far with no real issues. None of these treatments have been anywhere near as bad as I thought they would be.
Since then I’ve been skiing, wearing bikinis on the beach, training for the London marathon for MacMillan (sorry, not sorry, I’m one of those incredibly annoying people!), go to the gym regularly, enjoy my work and, most importantly, appreciate my family and the fortunate life I have more. And, yes, I wear underwire bras every day!
I know I’ve been “lucky”, and I’m always conscious of sharing my story as do not want to appear insensitive to the very real challenges some people have. But, when someone asks specifically for a positive story I love to share as I know how much hearing other people’s experiences helped me when I was in your position.
Don’t get me wrong, I would have preferred it all never happened, and there were some really tough times and dark days, but if anything the overall experience has enhanced my life. It certainly hasn’t been what I feared when I heard those words. x
@katie91 15 years ago my sister in law was diagnosed with breast cancer aged 52. She had a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It took her some time to recover but now, at nearly 67 she says she rarely even thinks about it. She and my brother have recently returned from a 4 month odyssey around South America. Here she is up a mountain!!
Hi Katie, just wanted to say hi, I was diagnosed 3rd Nov and I’m now waiting on the results of a 2nd biopsy. Thank you for asking for these positive stories. Like you I will be reading all the positive stories that I can get my hands on. I’ve had some desperately low days and stories of hope really help shake me out of it
I’m 19 years post triple postive BC age 36. I had chemo, radiotherapy , herceptin and tamoxifen. I am planning a half ironman triathlon to celebrate 20 years since diagnosis in May. I am fit, healthy and cracking on with life through triathlons, skiing, running, yoga etc….hang in there…you will find a new normal. Best wishes.
It’s coming up to five years since my pretty nasty diagnosis, and looking back I can honestly say life didn’t stop with breast cancer - it just changed shape (like me ) a bit. I had a mastectomy (no recon), chemo, radiotherapy, Zometa infusions and I’m on Anastrozole for ten years. I also developed lymphoedema along the way.
A few months after finishing treatment, we went on our usual 16-night holiday to Spain - bikinis, swimming in the sea, the lot - and I’ve kept travelling regularly ever since. I still go to the gym, use the pool, weights and equipment, and wear ordinary underwired bras and lowish-cut tops when the sun’s out.
Sadly, my husband passed away 18 months ago, and that’s been by far the hardest part of my life - much harder than cancer. But I’ve kept going. I’m out with my girlfriends most weeks, we’ve started doing little overnight trips, and I volunteer as a call companion for a couple of isolated older ladies (I’m no spring chicken and retired the year after my treatment finished), as well as media manager for a rugby team.
This summer I made a 24-year dream come true by travelling to Australia for a month - on my own, though it was group travel. I’ve since had my first proper solo holiday (three nights in Spain) and have another trip booked for March.
Honestly, my post-cancer life isn’t that different from before - except for a big, husband-shaped hole - but there’s a lot more travel, laughter with a group of the most supportive ladies and gratitude in it. I’d give up every trip to have him back, but I know he’d be proud that I’m still out there living life to the full.
Thank you so much for sharing your story, you certainly do sound like you’re back to loving and living life again! Hearing your story has definitely perked me up and let me see there is light at the end of the tunnel!
I’ve been keeping myself busy with my daughters and have actually managed to feel “normal” much more than I felt a week ago but then I get that heavy feeling when I remember! I’m sure it will continue to get easier as it has done already!!
You’ve given me hope, and WOW training for the marathon!!! How’s that going?
Hi, I was diagnosed with breast cancer ten years ago, and am living life to the full. Since treatments finished in 2016 I have spent my time keeping fit, engaging with my hobbies and travelling the world. There is life after a breast cancer diagnosis and it is fantastic!
Reading this has made my heart warm. If mine, and all the other wonderful stories here, have given hope then I could not wish for more. x
The training is going well, thank you! It’s a big thing for me as I started running a few months before I was diagnosed. I was about to do my first half marathon but got into a funk because of the worry and stress so didn’t do it (if I had to go back I would have carried on with all of my plans). I was determined after surgery to get back into it so was jogging (gently!) after two weeks and did my first half six months later. There were tears at the end, I don’t mind admitting! London feels like the ultimate two fingers up to cancer (you didn’t get me!) and in the process I will be raising money for MacMillan who were incredible helping me come to terms with my diagnosis.
I’m so pleased you can see there is light at the end of the tunnel. X
I’m part way through my treatment ER6 plus HER2 positive there was another one but I cannot remember what it is …. treatment is not as bad as I thought I am doing everything I can to support my body to get through it . Eating as healthily as possible and out and about and resting …. just listening to what my body needs for the first time ever . So many plans for after treatment …. and you are part of a club that none of us want to be part of but you will be stronger and smarter going forward …. side effects of treatment are you do not take BS from anyone and my sense of humour comes out of left field and tends to sort the’ black cloud folk’ out ….you will learn who they are …have a horror story at every turn …walk away your mental health is way more important than their shit show …. take joy in the small things in life and have fun with your kids they will keep you grounded …. and we are all here to help you through xx
The waiting and unknowns are the hardest part. What helped me was keeping my brain and hands busy at the same time which means activities like coloring books, cooking, gardening, scrapbooking, anything to keep hands+brain busy together.
I am 1 year from treatment and on Tamoxifen for the next 4 years. Just had my 1 year followup mammogram and it came back clear!
Well done for reaching out. There are so many of us going through this tough journey, its important we share hints and tips. I really recommend following Dr Liz O’Riordan on FB. She is amazing at explaining this in an easy to understand way. She was a breast surgeon who has been through Ca Breasr herself. She is great to learn from.
Like you, I was diagnosed with IDC Grade 2 hormone positive in August 2024. The initial stage of testing and waiting to find out about treatment definitely felt the hardest. I was lucky in that I only needed a lumpectomy and sentinel lymph node removal in the end - margins and lymph nodes luckily clear.
I had 2 weeks of radiotherapy and have been on Tamoxifen since January.
Radiotherapy was completely fine for me and am also doing well on Tamoxifen. I was soo scared of that, after hearing some many horror stories about side effects, but these have luckily been very mild for me.
Just try and deal with everything one step at a time. It’s good to be informed, but at the same time it’s not helpful to worry about all the things which may not happen (I’m great at that!).
Wishing you positive results and lots of strength for the coming months!
Keep the faith. I was told I’d be living with cancer, not dying with cancer. 8 years down the line I’m still here! I too was diagnosed with HER2 (amplified). After lumpetctomy, radiotherapy, 5 years of Letrazole and since then Tamoxifen, I’m having a full life. Don’t despair. I’m not sure what country you’re from. I’m from England and the NHS has been superb. Wishing you all the best.
I was diagnosed with grade 2 DCIS hormone +/HER- last October at the age of 69. It was a very small lump (6mm) and was found on a routine mammogram.
I had a lumpectomy and 5 days of radiotherapy - neither caused me much of a problem, and I feel that I had a much easier ride than some women on here.
I am now on Anastrazole, which has (I think) given me frequent back ache/stiffness, but that seems to be the only side effect. My Dexa scan showed osteopenia, so I am taking Alendroic acid and Vitamin D/calcium.
Apart from those minor issues, my life has returned to normal, so please be positive - your life can be good after your diagnosis x
I don’t come on here very often, but caught your post asking for positive stories from the other side of treatment. I remember vividly the horrible waiting and wanted to respond. I’m post-treatment (ER +, chemotherapy, mastectomy, radiotherapy, 10+ tamoxifen) Like you, I had young children at diagnosis, felt like things would never be normal, found a new normal, which- with time- became quite like the old normal, which I am incredibly grateful for. In between- including during treatment - there were lovely times. Sending very best wishes to you.
Diagnosed almost exactly a year ago, grade 2 oestrogen positive. Mastectomy, chemo after a high (29) Oncotype score. Now taking Letrozole an getting on with life
Hi Katie, I had exactly the same diagnosis in February. No-one likes a cancer diagnosis but as diagnosis go this is one of the much better ones. I’ve been through the lumpectomies (I had it in both) and the radiotherapy. I’m 67 and I’ve been back at work full time since end of May. I don’t get tired anymore. My boobs get a bit achey at times, but they’re big so I think it probably pulls on the internal scarring a bit. I’m just back from my postponed trip to Australia and it was loads of fun and i didn’t have to make any allowances for anything. I’d say the worse bit has been coming off the HRT but my body will adjust eventually. Brain fog is a bit ridiculous still but i’m just honest about it with everyone and then the pressure goes away. Please don’t be scared, it’s all good news and it won’t be long until life feels normal again. Everyone goes on a journey with it, and so will you, and then the journey will end and life will be fun again.
I also can’t resist sharing a positive story! 2 years ago I had a lumpectomy, node removal, chemo, then radiotherapy . At 42, I was put into menopause and on AI after (zero oestrogen ).
It’s not just that I have an appreciation for life now, it’s that I’ve toughened up. I can do hard things. And I don’t care what people think as much.
I did a 10km race just after chemo then again the summer after and I had never done a 10k before! Also I did doubles HYROX last month, and let’s say completed it in one piece!
Take it one day at a time. Give yourself space to be upset. There will be light at the end of the tunnel, and it will be brighter than you can imagine
) a bit. I had a mastectomy (no recon), chemo, radiotherapy, Zometa infusions and I’m on Anastrozole for ten years. I also developed lymphoedema along the way.
).