३० येअर्स

Does anyone have, or know of anyone who has, 30 years survivorship?

Pizza Store

Well, seems like this blog is like opening a new Pizza Store, I'm waiting on visitors.

As I mentioned in the previous blog, I'm looking for people with more than ten years of cancer survivorship to leave a message and say how you did it/what you learned.

In the meantime.. I'll review points in the book I just read "Swimming in a Sea of Death" about Susan Sontag's death from her third cancer.

Her son, the author, says Ms. Sontag agreed with Lance Armstrong that you need to "call the best people" when you are diagnosed. I'll address that point today: I can barely get enough minutes together to call out for pizza. Even if I had the telephone minutes, I've got no one to call. I'm not famous. Yet I've made it 20 yrs. out from not the best diagnosis (what cancer diagnosis is "good"?)

So something else must be going on beside using the telephone. Since I had no powerful resources I relied on myself. No one coaxed me out of bed, I just got discharged, so I started walking.

Today's question, if you are a long term survivor, without connections... or even a phone... how'd you do it?

Thanks for any answers.

Long Term Cancer Survivors

I'm looking for information. I want to hear from people who have survived a cancer diagnosis for more than 10 years. Everyone I ever talk to who gets past the five or 10 year mark says, life isn't like the doctors said; you don't "get over" cancer.

I'm twenty years out from my initial diagnosis(breast cancer). I've learned, the longer you live, the closer to death you are. I've had BC twice. My friend had colon cancer three times. Makes sense, you live long enough and you'll get cancer again.

I'm reading "Swimming in a Sea of Death" by Susan Sontag's son, David Rieff. Great book. His mother ended up dying from her third cancer, a Leukemia , that was probably caused by the chemo she had six years earlier for her second cancer.


So just surviving treatments, means your going to have some problems.

This site is being created so that long term survivors can help people with less survivorship time.


This Blog's question is:


AS A LONG TERM SURVIVOR, WHAT CAN YOU TELL THE NEW SURVIVOR?


Does anybody out there have 30 years of survivorship? Like to know your thoughts.

What would you do differently?

And I've heard several Parents say, they expected to die and then 10-20 years later are still alive. They are sorry that they spent their children's childhood thinking they would die. How have you moved forward with your family if you've said for twenty years you are going to die?
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Me:
After twenty years I've learned-
Get a bone density test sooner.

Don't get so down about the weight gained on Chemo. At the time I didn't realize I was on steroids and no amount of motivation could help.

And the biggest lesson I've learned: healing takes years, not weeks or months, but years. (Took me seven years to get over having a numb arm.)

And I wonder how I could have, more quickly, gotten over thinking I was dead (doctors every 4-6 months can drive you crazy). I now think I'm going to live another ten years (they might be tough-living) but I've got some time. It's taken me twenty years to start thinking about the next twenty.


Thanks.

Please pass this blog on to anyone you know who could use the lessons, or has something to contribute.