I heard an interview with her on R2 yesterday and have been mulling over my thoughts since. She was very frank and upfront about her cancer, which I think is great. She’s in the UK 'cos she just competed at Wimbledon, and prior to that had done the French Open. Her first mammogram was in January, and she went following a recall for another in February, when she was biopsied, I think at the same time. DCIS was found, and much of this was removed in the biopsy, and the rest by surgery. She’s since had rads, finished them 2 weeks before the French Open and is now feeling quite well - or at least this is the impression she gave during her interview. She’s had her all clear and has been told her chances of recurrence were 25% without rads and 10% with. I wish her well, as I’m sure do most people.
My concern is people without experience of breast cancer or DCIS will assume that if Martina can cope so well, why are the rest of us who’ve had the pleasure of sometimes multiple surgery, chemo rads and hormones are making such a fuss about our aches pains lethargy etc etc. Am I being over sensitive here, or do others feel the same?
You are certainly not being over senstive. There are many celebs out there who claim they have experienced breast cancer which has turned out to be DCIS. Christina Applegate Cheryl Crow Diane Moran Carly Simlon and now Martina Navratalova. This information is totally misleading. Medical evidence suggests that the majority of women who have been diagnosed with dcis will survive and will not go on to develop invasive disease. I only wish I had been diagnosed with dcis.
Hello Broomstick Lady,
I totally agree with you about Martina Navratilova, she was on tv the other week and appears to make us all look like wimps!!
The clever b—er! We can’t all get immediate treatment as quickly as all these so called ‘celebrities’. I have grade 2 invasive bc and dcis and I waited 7 weeks for test results and am still waiting for my onc app, still don’t know about chemo or not yet! Hoping to get my app this week if I’m lucky.
We are not all in the easier position of getting immediate attention as these ‘celebs’ are!!!
Must be loverly to get so much attention. Don’t they make you bl—y sick!!!
Hi Ladies,
I totally agree with the case regarding celebs and the media perception that it is easy to go through treatment, however I was diagnosed with “only DCIS” following my first routine mammogram and having no symptoms. My surgeon informed me that it was so extensive and probably had areas of invasion as well and could only have a mastectomy as treatment. I had immediate recon as well, and despite many health professionals including my not so sensitive bcn telling me how lucky I have been to have “only dcis”, I do not feel this, I have ended up having a mastectomy and immediate recon. I now have an asymmetrical, different shaped breast from my unaffected one with no sensation and a 24" scar across my abdomen. NO I don’t feel lucky at all!!! and yes I am very sensitive about my treatment just as those who are unfortunate to have chemo, rads and hormone therapy are but get to keep their breasts! In the end, I know that none of us what to be in either postion. Sorry to moan and rant but thats how I feel!!!
Hi Ladies
To start with Martina Navratilova is a tough world class sportswoman and has the mental attitude that made her get there in the first place. She probably copes with illness and now cancer like other things in her life with massive inner toughness and outer bravado that ordinary lovely-but-not-world-class-anything people (like me and you guys) don’t possess and to be honest, I don’t want to.
People who know you won’t think ‘you should be like Martina’ and if they do, tell them ‘Well you win Wimbledon first and then I’ll follow your example.’
Second, please be a bit more gentle on people with DCIS - like me. I am so lucky compared to the majority of people on these forums, I know, as I had DCIS, it’s been removed (mid June), I got the clear margins and am now waiting to hear if I need radiotherapy and tamoxifen. And if i’m still lucky, that will be it (for now).
But, I had the same awful feelings after I got recalled after my very first mammogram, I had the nasty painful biopsy which they said would probably show it was nothing serious, then the dreadful stomach churning when they said I did have malignant cells which I needed an operation for. I have a disfiguring scar where I had the WLE, and currently a very bruised and tender breast. My hubby and I were shaken up by this. It made us think about dying and life. We’ve cried and I’ve had sleepless nights. DCIS may not go on to be invasive, but it’s not an easy ride and I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. As Marjay points out DCIS can be so extensive the only option is a mastectomy. I think that any operation however small, for a potentially life threatening disease, how ever small that chance turns out to be, is a huge deal for each one of us, and the forums are for support, to know that people out there understand this.
Didn’t realise I felt this strongly - but there you have it.
Good luck and very best wishes for your treatments and recovery.
Susie.x
Hello Ladies,
I’m so sorry that you have had to have such invasive surgery it’s very distressing to us all. We are all in the same boat as we have all at sometime been told that we have a dx of bc. I hope you are all doing well at present.
My rant about these ‘clebrities’ is that they all seem to talk so bravely but I bet they have some lousey days just like the rest of us and it would be much better if they could admit that at times. It would make us everyday folk who are just trying to get on with things feel so much better, I think.
When Sally Whitaker from Corrie was on GMTV a few weeks ago she was loverly, down to earth and spoke about her dx in a much better way than most of the people in the media, good on her.
I hope everyone is having a good day and continues to get better by the day.
Hi i was Dx the same time as martina and watched her 1st interview about her Dx and was infuriated that she said she was lucky they caught hers eary as her onc had said “once you can feel it as a lump thats it” its too late .Having had a 2.6 cm lump removed at that time this was very scarey to me and probably all the other ladies who are out there and are surviving and doing very well . I thought she was a bit insensitive and giving out the wrong messages to people who are going through Tx and newly Dx .It does also make me annoyed that celebs dont seem to have to do all the waiting for results ( which i found the most traumatic time)However i wish everyone who has to go through any kind of Tx for this ( famous or infamous) strength,love and a very long happy life xxxxxxx
Hi, l also remember her onc saying ‘once you can feel the lump…’ totally threw me, having lymph nodes involved, that was the very last thing l wanted to hear.
I really wish these people would think before they open their mouths. It is good to hear people speak about breast cancer, but lets have a bit more of a positive attitude, my friend is 11 years down the line of having 20 lymph nodes involved and she is very well, so it is not the end, once you can feel a lump!!
Things have moved on over the last 5/10 years with breast cancer, the treatment is better the prognosis has improved, so lets hear more of this.
These celebrities also have the access to medical professionals at their finger tips as Isabelle says. We have to wait weeks for tests, results, ops etc. I think I would feel much more at ease if my onc etc were at my beck and call and I could see them whenever I wanted to unlike the reality of having to wait weeks for appointments and operations etc. I’m sure Martina didn’t have to wait 12 weeks for her op!!
I agree with Sandra that they should be careful when they open their mouths and not frighten people who are going through it. But we also need honesty about how much things have to progress to tackle this horrible disease and the reality of how the treatment affects woman for many years even when they have a good prognosis.
Sorry Anne,I do agree with what you say about being honest and the reality of how the treatment affects womany for many years. And things do have to progress so very much more, before we see any signs of a ‘cure’
Just felt ‘my’ little rant was about ‘me’ and my ‘nodes’ This l apologise for, just one of those days!
Love and Hugs
Sandr xxx
Please please don’t apologoise it is so imortant on this site that we can say what we think and I do agree with you - it is certaily not all doom and gloom with all the new treatments that have been developed. I hope I didn’t upset you. Like you I know women who have done amazingly well - I remember telling you about my friend who had all nodes affected and only accepted 1 chemo and is still fit as a fiddle 8 years on and there are many many women the same!
There is a balance to be struck by talking about the progress made but not forgetting the progress that has to be made to rid us of this awful disease forever. Rant when you need to - I have been on another threat - this forum is so important for us to be able to do that. Hope your day improves.
I feel much less cross with her than I did with Trisha, that is because I really admire Martina
Sussex Girl, you made me laugh very loudly with your suggestion of saying to people that you want them to win Wimbledon, I am sick of people mentioning Kylie to me, I could adapt your idea and suggest they have several international Number Ones, just like Kylie, harhar, and then I will recover from BC like her
Sorry - I seem to have upset a few people. I’m not dismissing DCIS - it’s stil breast cancer and you have all the mental and physical turmoil that goes with it!
It CAN be easier to deal with / treat, as it appears to have been in Martina’s case, amd my ‘concern’ is that due to the high publicity she receives and the manner in which she’s being open about it, that she’s not doing those of us who’ve had complications and more invasive surgery and treatment than she has any favours by telling everyone how fine and fit and ‘normal’ she is less than 6 months after diagnosis.
I agree Broomsticklady. She is totally skewing public perception.
Nobody is knocking the experience of women with DCIS but Martina is intent on presenting herself as some kind of “face of breast cancer”. And she doesn’t represent me at all. She had a very small amount of non-invasive cancer. No chemo, no axillary clearance, no mastectomies, no Herceptin, no oopherectomy …
And what really annoys me about her is that she never speaks up and says “of course the majority of women have a much tougher time of it than me.”
It’s notable that those who had invasive cancer with node involvement like Melissa Etheridge and Kylie are very reserved on the subject of this disease. I guess it all boils down to prognosis.
When you are given a 100% survival rate it is easy to present yourself as a survivor.
Navratilova annoys me anyway - all this guff about beating the disease because she is a sports champion. So what? Bobby Moore didn’t beat colon cancer.
I do agree that “celebrities” could do a lot more to educate as it were , the general public .
It´s not easy to hear that dx of BC . Fright , apprehension , sheer terror . We feel it all , and we wait weeks to know the outcome .So we wait , not knowing what the next stage of our treatment is going to be . During this time , we try so hard to be "normal " get over our operations while wondreing what next ? What else will this throw at us ? How will I cope ?
Children , work , finances , travelling . All this the ordainary woman has to deal with and make decisions about . Celebrities don´t have these mundane details to cope with . Managers and PR will be there on hand .
Nobody wants them to pile on the agony , but likewise , don´t dumb down what is a life threatening dx , tell the media you cried and ranted and railled at the injustice of it . Tell the world how frightened you were , went weak at the knees , threw up . How can others accept how totally knackered you can feel when she´s there running around with a racket in her hand , and half of the ladies here would´nt even be able to lift it !
I do think that the wrong message can be given , but then the media is as much to blame .
Kris
Obviously Martina is a fierce woman, but I agree w others here that she did not seem to think about how her comments might be received by the public. And strange that she could not express any sympathy for women who might be going through a similar or worse experience. And yeah, she seemed to forget the fact that being a multi-millionaire might make her experience different from that of an average income woman. I found this all disappointing, I actually used to think she was intelligent, now I think she is just extremely good at tennis. I think she is mechanical, and just can’t put down her “fighter” attitude, even when it would be appropriate to do so. Basically she was saying the way to deal with cancer is to “beat it” --but I think anyone who knows anyone that has cancer (or has direct experience w it) would say “it’s just not that simple”.
I don’t have breast cancer, but it runs in my family and I was a bit surprised by Martina’s comments the other day. To hear her insist all women get a mammogram every year (without consideration of the woman’s age) to me was odd. Her recent experience does not put her in position to be dispensing medical advice. From my own perspective, I’m 45 and so far have resisted getting a mammogram because I want to wait until I have menopause. My choice about when I get a mammogram is my choice, I gather my own information, and make my own choice. Every ob/gyn I’ve ever seen has tried to persuade me into the mammogram. Maybe I will do it before menopause, but then again, it will be MY CHOICE -and I take full responsibility for it.
I must admit to have being irritated by the way celebrities talk about their cancer. Unfortunately, there are always people that will tell you to pull yourself together and cite Martina/Trisha etc as running marathons, climbing mountains etc… That is why I hate it but I have tried to look at it from their point of view. When I was diagnosed with BC, I had lots of friends etc going on about how brave etc I was. Pure tosh, but designed to make me and them feel better because cowards dont get cancer do they? I think that kind of response magnified by millions makes them feel special, immortal etc and thats why they all come up with the fighting metaphors etc…
Also, as someone else pointed out on another thread, they need to keep their jobs. BC raises their profile and will probably give them more opportunities. I am not knocking them here, Why shouldnt they grab something good out of something so awful?
Finally, I suspect the media plays a part themselves. People dont want to know the awful truth. If I try to tell someone my fears for the future, they immediately change the subject or quote the ‘be positive’ line. Only other BC sufferers can appreciate how we all sometimes feel.
The only ‘good’ thing about Martina Navratilova getting it is that it shows that women who do ‘all the right things’ are not immune.
Hi Iv’e had enough of celebrity breast cancers and am not bothered any more by what they say.But the one thing I do agree with is advising women to go for mammograms or scan at an earlier age especially if there is family history.I had invasive cancer and DCIS at the age of 45,if mammograms were from the age of 40 as they are in the USA I think my cancer would have been picked up before it became invasive.
Of cause it’s up to the individual to decide wheather to have one or not.
Or if you´re against mammograms, try thermal imaging . I know a friend of mine had that .Thankfully it picked up no problems in the breasts , but it did in her thyroid and back , both of which she has treatment for . I was well impressed !
Kris
I read that you ‘wish you were diagnosed with only DCIS’ - well I was diagnosed with ‘only DCIS’ - which involved three operations and radiotherapy. Yes it was traumatic, and that’s not over egging the pudding. I now have secondaries but ‘only’ in the spine. For which I have had extensive chemotherapy and a spinal operation and more radiotherapy on different areas, and several stays in hospital.
This is my point. Once you start the very dangerous and divisive game of saying ‘my cancer is much worse than yours’ all you do is elevate yourself on the shoulders of other fellow bc sufferers. The truth is no-one knows where anyone else’s cancer is going. I have known women with a far better prognosis than mine die, and a far worse one survive.
