I thought as I approached my 5th anniversary of ebc I'd licked it. Sadly, not so. In October 2012 it came back in my liver and spine. First time round I was diagnosed I had DCIS but there was involvement in a few lymph nodes. I was 51 when I was diagnosed with ebc. My mother died of breast cancer at 64 and my grandmother was 73. I kept myself reasonably healthy, exercised and ate well. I did have a fantastic career and there was stress involved at times but it was not unmanageable. First time around I was undergoing a messy split with my long term partner and was left as a single parent. In early 2011 I met a wonderful man who had lost his wife to breast cancer. We are still together despite my secondaries. You don't know if cancer will come back. You can torment yourself thinking about it. The best strategy is to do everything in your power to live healthily and well, love those around you and live each day fully and without regret as no of us know how long we have on this earth.