tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7125354934408472049.post5487056149973551190..comments2024-02-20T00:10:20.214-06:00Comments on KatyDid Cancer: Day 1,057: Angelina Jolie and MeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7125354934408472049.post-46831387809358713862013-05-15T15:11:51.497-05:002013-05-15T15:11:51.497-05:00Love how you word your opinions, Katy. When it com...Love how you word your opinions, Katy. When it comes to medical issues, it's helpful to remember that they call it "practicing medicine" for a reason. They don't have all the answers and our bodies are not all cookie-cutter-copies with the same solutions applying to all. <br /><br />tracey.becker1@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09606831315390042198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7125354934408472049.post-76468293674195405572013-05-15T12:48:06.299-05:002013-05-15T12:48:06.299-05:00I think we can make strides towards risk reduction...I think we can make strides towards risk reduction, but not prevention--at least not yet. And early detection only helps some people. The reality is that 50% of people will develop cancer at some point in their lives. If we all lived to be 200, maybe that number would be 100%. Like all odds, it's a gamble. Only 2% of women with breast cancer fit my demographic (under 35 at diagnosis). The fact of my previous cancer increases my odds of another cancer by 400%. So we are all susceptible, but some are more susceptible than others. You just keep marching; nothing else to do.Katy Jacobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02524508177957058950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7125354934408472049.post-17434017080526742492013-05-15T12:24:15.016-05:002013-05-15T12:24:15.016-05:00Amen! The options suck in these cases. Everyone...Amen! The options suck in these cases. Everyone's preferred option would be not to have to make these decisions, or to "go home" as I said.Katy Jacobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02524508177957058950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7125354934408472049.post-90217593344104089162013-05-15T12:20:54.808-05:002013-05-15T12:20:54.808-05:00I had risk-reducing bilateral mastectomy, but I...I had risk-reducing bilateral mastectomy, but I've never been under the delusion that it was the right choice for anyone else, or that it would decrease my chances of dying from cancer. I did it because I thought the other options sucked more. <br /><br />It was a personal choice, for me, and it was right, for me. I can live with it, I can see a future for myself with it. Not true of the other options, for me. Breast surgery is not for the faint of heart, I would never push that on another woman. But if I know someone who's thinking about it and wants advice, I'm all hers.Brehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17491681785692183310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7125354934408472049.post-12858985126367359972013-05-15T11:55:58.312-05:002013-05-15T11:55:58.312-05:00I once worked at Swedish Covenant Hospital and whi...I once worked at Swedish Covenant Hospital and while there, I became acquainted with the Chief of Oncology. He was a pleasant man with a French accent (which I never held against him) and he said, "If you live long enough, you WILL get cancer." Most people die before they get their cancer - heart attack, stroke, bus. They die of other causes - and even old age, as far as that goes. That's called "Not living long enough to get your cancer". The point is that cancer is a mistake in replication of DNA in dividing cells. <br />What causes the mistake? Chemicals in your body, maybe. Or a bad gene, maybe. A gene damaged by some form of radiation, maybe. Or maybe it's just an error. Maybe. <br /><br />Each case is unique. Treatment is unique to the individual, in many cases. Most cases, maybe. Or it should be. Cookie cutter approaches are probably not the right answer.<br /><br />All of us are susceptible. Testing for the most common types of cancer at an appropriate age is the wisest approach to prevention. Given women's special susceptibility to certain types of cancer, self exams and mammograms and pap smears are appropriate at ANY age. <br /><br />I am so glad you found yours, and had it treated. It saddens me that this has to be an ongoing concern for you, but truth? It should be a concern for everyone.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13024392628362568010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7125354934408472049.post-46217682541267529842013-05-15T10:45:20.960-05:002013-05-15T10:45:20.960-05:00Well said, Katy. Thank you for weighing in. Well said, Katy. Thank you for weighing in. Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04175833982955486083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7125354934408472049.post-17849647699183622372013-05-15T10:01:30.868-05:002013-05-15T10:01:30.868-05:00We got TNBC in 2010. One year after my husband los...We got TNBC in 2010. One year after my husband lost his job & insurance in '09. We're living on Love & a Prayer, with zero income. What hurts me more then how I feel like I was tortured and left to die. Is how people discredit my explanations of TNBC facts. Like you're out of treatment. You're Well as can be. Kiss the ground and be thankful you're alive! I'm in pain from head to toe. Nonstop! My hands drop anything I hold without warning. My feet feel like I'm walking on hot coals and fire as someone pounds my toes with a hammer. My body does the strangest things ever in my life! Hard to describe. I lost more teeth pieces and I can't afford care. I just want to feel human and alive! I want a sliver of Quality of Life!! I wish people understood us!!! What you've written is spot on. Thank you most kindly! I wish you all life's best. I wish there was a way for all of us to have that testing done! I located my Bio mom in time to find her Dying from Breast Cancer. She was just 46. I was 19 & pregnant. I never heard she loved me, if I had a dad or any family. I couldn't share she'd be a grandmother. She didn't live and I never saw her again! Being a Young Motherless mother was hard to do! My husband saw her Dying look on my face when I got TNBC. When I wasn't much older then she was when it claimed her life! He begged me to live! So I'm still here. I'd love the testing to help my married daughters and my grandchildren!! They deserve to know!! Everyone is so beautiful ,great, amazing, inspiring and so special. So worth saving!! We have to have the words out. We have to be able to get the needful tests & care through treatments! There should be Quality of life after cancer, without recurrence! There should be a rainbow after the storms, rain and sun.. Thank You, Angellinda from Custer, WI. The middle of NO where!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com