In February 2000, at age 45, I was diagnosed with breast cancer after my annual mammogram detected an abnormality. 

Surgery (a lumpectomy) removed the small tumor, but also revealed that the cancer had spread to a few lymph nodes.  (Fourteen were taken from my armpit; 4 of them had cancer.)   After a week of staging tests (to discover whether the cancer had spread beyond the lymph nodes), it was determined that it was stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma.Because of my "young" age and the cancer in the lymph nodes, my treatment plan was on the aggressive side,  including 3 months of chemotherapy, then 6 ½ weeks of radiation,  3 more months of chemotherapy, and nearly 10 years of follow-up with oral doses of  hormone therapy drugs Tamoxifen and then Femara.

So - I have been a cancer survivor since February 3, 2000, when my breast tumor was diagnosed. On March 6, 2000 I had my lumpectomy.  If you are a cancer survivor, you know the significance of such dates, and you never forget them.

I had "no evidence of disease" for 22 years.  Then on February 1, 2022 I received a second breast cancer diagnosis.  This was not a recurrence. It was in the other breast, with different properties, so it is considered a second primary occurrence.

This time, the surgery was an outpatient lumpectomy with only 3 lymph nodes removed.  There was no cancer detected in the lymph nodes, and the tumor was small, so it was classified as Stage I invasive ductal carcinoma. (It was classified as "invasive" because it had broken through the wall of the tumor, not that it had spread to the lymph nodes.)  Because I chose to have a lumpectomy rather than a mastectomy, and because of the invasive nature of the tumor, it was recommended that I have a course of 21 radiation treatments .  In addition, the tumor was estrogen-receptor positive and progesterone-receptor positive, which means that I will do another course of the hormone therapy drug Femara.

 The status of my tumor made me eligible for a genomic test that predicts the likelihood of a recurrence and the relative benefit of chemotherapy.  The results indicated a very low likelihood of a recurrence over the coming decade, and a less than 1% chance that chemotherapy will provide any additional benefit.  The experts say that this tumor, with its size and growth factor, has probably been growing, albeit very slowly and undetectabe until now, for about 9 years. 

Much has changed since my first diagnosis in 2000 , including advances in diagnostic techniques, medical procedures, testing, and treatments.  The medical staff here has changed since then - my medical oncologist is the only one of my original "team" who is still practicing.  In addition, we have a beautiful new cancer center, which opened two weeks before I received my diagnosis.

There are support people known as nurse navigators now for breast cancer patients; the navigators provide support for navigating through the initial information-seeking and decision-making that comes with a new diagnosis.

One significant change, for me, is that I have a deep and sustained yoga practice.  It has made all the difference in my ability to navigate through these times.
Read my Survivor Stories from Coping with Cancer Magazine: 
(2007) Things I Miss About My Treatment Year
(2010) Sharing Our Stories
Read my blog for some reflections on cancer and yoga.