Second but not secondary!
In 2003 a week after having my 4th baby, my partner of 12 years left and I was diagnosed with stage 3 esterogen receptor +, I had a lumpectomy and node removal (18 removed, 2+). Had chemo, radiation ...
Forum Discussion
It can happen. It is just awful that there are situations where breast cancer recurs or people get a second primary cancer. Just as we never wanted BC in the first place we certainly don't want it ever again.
It is such a difficult situation because until they can tell us what causes BC what do we do? We are told (and I do believe this) that MOST people will be treated and never have BC again. But this does not mean that it doesn't happen and if it is going to happen to us of course we would remove our breasts rather than go through the trauma and risks of treatment (even that first time, let alone a repeat some years down the track). But this is drastic action which does have an impact on your health and quality of life (having a single mastectomy has taught me that). If everyone chose this course we would have a lot of people suffering unnecessarily and possibly make it harder to really find out why some people get BC more than once. Even worse, removing both breasts does not guarentee that the cancer will not recur in the small amount of breast tissue remaining or elsewhere in the body.
What we need is for the researchers to find more answers about this disease. Finding the BRAC genes at least gives some women more information about their chance of getting BC but there is still so much missing from the picture.
It can sometimes feel that there are a lot of ladies on here facing this awful situation of a repeat occurrence (either a recurrence or new primary). But we need to remember that most ladies who are treated don't even find their way to BCNA and hopefully have treatment and go onto live cancer-free lives. I met 2 of them yesterday. 18 years and 20 years free of this disease (both diagnosed in their 40's). This gives me the hope and strength to think that this does happen for most women.
Meanwhile, hurry up researchers and find out more so we can make more informed decisions about surgery options or maybe just never get BC in the first place!
Wishing you all the best. Take care. Deanne xxx