I just learned a good friend of mine has breast cancer..........

she's finding out today what stage it is and the prognosis. This woman is like a sister to me and I am crushed.

Vibes would be appreciated. More importantly, if you have a couple of pennies to rub together, please give a few to research. Too many have died. Link: http://ww5.komen.org/

Also I'll be changing my avatar and sig line appropriately until she beats this.

My mother had breast cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes, but she's 7 years cancer free now. Marie can beat it, too, especially with the support of good friends.

Your mom's story gives me some hope.

If you ever need to vent some worries or just talk it's a good place to go.

:hug:

I'm betting Marie will, to.

:hug:

and sorry about the no-rhythm offspring.

Good vibes going out to Marie today. :hug:

I'm sure she'll be fine. There's been alot of illness in my general vicinity lately and its flipping me out a bit.

:hug:

Two of mine friends were diagnosed recently. Both are now recovering nicely without a lot of hoopla. Treatments are so amazing these days. Cancer is not a death sentence. Try to keep her out of her head. You are a good friend.

Hmm. We need a 'keeping my fingers crossed' emoticon.

:hug: :hug: :hug:

Happened to a very close friend of mine during the past year.

Double mastectomy and underarm lymph nodes, but prognosis looks good at this point, with reconstruction this coming fall.

For those (like me) who don't have two nickels to rub together, here is the free donation for breast cancer research website.
Just click and money will be donated by the sponsors.

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2

1-800-4-Cancer or http://www.cancer.gov/ has great information if she has questions
Live help https://cissecure.nci.nih.gov/livehelp/welcome.asp

As others have said above, especially if caught early, it is absolutely curable. This is from someone who lost his mother to breast cancer in 1969. Its a different world now; my stepmother had it in about 1989, beat it, and lived to the age of 90, and many , many women survive it now. I pray that your friend will ultimately be OK. I don't have lots of money ( huge medical bills myself; on just one of em, my payments will not be completed till 2019 !), but I have performed ( for free of course) at several cancer-related charity events and am ready to do so again any time I'm asked. Again , good vibes and best wishes being sent ..

she is not a young woman, as that can be more difficult to treat over the long haul.

I wish the best for her and those treating her. I hope she is able to afford the best treatment for her diagnosis. Bless you for being such a good friend to her and supporting her through all of this. One of these days, hopefully soon, we'll get this crap licked. Completely.

Any other news yet?

my mom is a breast cancer survivor.... it's often curable, and I'm hoping that is the situation w/ your friend.


:hug: one for you

and

:hug: one for your friend

and to you as well.

:hug:

Good vibes for your friend Marie! :hug:

I hope research soon makes breast cancer easier to find soon, and safer with a 100% survival rate.

Of all the crucial moments, I think the most important was when the surgeon called me when she was coming out
of ICU, and wouldn't tell me what the story was until we were all in her recovery room. Then she told my wife
and me that my wife had full-blown breast cancer. A cloud passed over my wife's face and she looked at me. I
said, "Ok, so what do we do to get rid of it?" as if we had been told she had a wart on her toe. The surgeon
said she would recommend a round of chemo and radiation, and I said, OK, so that's what we'll do. My wife said,
yep, that's what we'll do. The Chemo was rough. Apparently, the less fat a woman has to distribute the chemo,
the rougher it is on her in many cases. That's what the cancer clinic said, anyway, and my wife had none to spare.

Luckily, Düsseldorf has one of the best specialized breast cancer clinics in Europe, and the treatment they
prescribed worked. She had her big year of operations, chemo, radiation and rehab in 2001 at age 49. But she
is still very much with me now at age 57, and plenty of people think she looks 20 years younger.

So tell your friend there is good treatment out there and a lot of hope that she is perfectly justified in
having. It was no thrill having been there and done that, but she can get through this.

Two people on DU that I know of have close friends with it. My grandmother had it. Apparently a lot of people get it. WTF? Is it environmental or does being born female just mean one is a walking time bomb?

Anyway, I can only hope the docs get it early.