I'm a cancer thriver. Diagnosed in 2013 with an MRI at the age of 49! I was told that I had a 5 centimeter, at least, tumor and positive lymph nodes, after being given the all-clear just 2 months before by the mammography and ultrasound team at another hospital.
Read MoreI am Ilene Alizah Kaminsky. Alizah means happiness in Hebrew. I am a great granddaughter of a rabbi and cantor from St. Petersburg Russia who emigrated in 1910 through Ellis island.
Read MoreIn January of 2017, at the ripe old age of 38, I felt a lump in my left breast. I was tandem nursing my almost 4 year old and almost 2 year old at the time. I started taking herbs and saw my lactation consultant since I’d already had a few clogs.
Read MoreI was diagnosed Metastatic in 2012. I have had many ups and downs living with MBC. I have gone through 6 major surgeries in 8 years.
Read MoreI discovered a knot in my left breast while I was sleeping and went to the breast cancer doctor. He did a mammogram, biopsy, and ultrasound all in the same day.
Read MoreI was having my yearly appointment with my primary care physician when she looked it up the date of my last mammogram. It was 2012. She said, “let’s get back on track.”
Read MoreI was diagnosed with de novo Stage IV breast cancer in July 2019 after finding a lump in the shower. It had already spread to my bones and liver. My annual mammograms showed nothing, including the one from October 2018.
Read MoreI was diagnosed in April of 2019. I had scans, an MRI, and multiple tests to determine what I had and found that I had Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer.
Read MoreDiagnosed in June 2019. Receiving chemo on a weekly basis. It has shrunk the tumors and has the cancer under control right now. Will continue with this therapy for the time being. No mastectomy or radiation scheduled at this time.
Read MoreUpon my return to school six months later, my wheezing lungs, dependence on Depends (suddenly having lost urinary continence), and inability to ingest a meal did not cause my colleagues much concern. Perhaps they thought it was due to my pharma-cocktail.
Read MoreAdvocating for breast cancer patients’ needs and research through legislative and direct action is important. For me, it's living for a greater purpose beyond myself.
Read MoreI was diagnosed with breast cancer in July of 2019. I was informed that I already had metastasis to the liver a month later.
Read MoreIf it went to my brain, it’s breast cancer. If it went to my liver, it’s still breast cancer. Now it’s on my spine.
Read MoreI was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in 2011. After a mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation, I was in remission until a hysterectomy in February 2018 discovered there were other things going on.
Read MoreErin was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer in 2013 at the age of 33. Four and a half years later, it came back in her lungs.
Read MoreI was diagnosed with breast cancer at 38 after I had my daughter. My breast wasn’t producing milk even though she was biting it. I asked my doctor about it after I had her in 2006 and my doctor ignored me. I pushed and finally in 2008 I was told I had had METS from the get-go and that is had now spread to my lymph nodes and my liver.
Read MoreI was told I had bronchitis and was given antibiotics in January 2018. I remember telling the doctor, “Thank you, I thought you were going to tell me I had lung cancer.”
Read More“Mr. Marcus, you have kidney, lung, and brain cancer. Stage 4. We are going to monitor you for the next 24 hours but there is not much we can do for you here. You need to go home and start making arrangements. At most, you have two years to live.”
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