Survivor Stories
- Mimi: Being a Lesbian with Breast Cancer
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In 2006, while in my 20s, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. As many people know first-hand, a cancer diagnosis changes your life...
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- Annie: How I Manage Ovarian Cancer
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On the morning of my birthday in December 2003, I looked into the mirror and thought to myself, "Damn, forty looks good on me!" Six months later I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
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- Barbara: Breast AND Ovarian Cancer Survivor
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I always knew that someday I would hear the words "you have cancer."
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- Cancer as a Turning Point
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Cancer was a wake-up call for me.
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- Carmen's Story
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I used to be a shy woman who didn't like the spotlight and never did any public speaking. Ovarian cancer has changed all that.
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- Cheryl: Ovarian Cancer, Stage 1
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My name is Cheryl and I am one of the few women that are diagnosed with Stage 1 ovarian cancer. The cancer was found as a result of a follow-up CT scan I had for kidney stones.
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- Debbie: Ovarian Cancer and BRCA1+
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My history with ovarian cancer began three years before my diagnosis, when my younger sister was diagnosed with Stage IIIC ovarian cancer at the age of 46 in August 2003.
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- Eileen: Blogging about her experiences
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I was diagnosed October 25th, 2005 with an aggressively-growing estrogen-driven breast cancer on my right breast. I had a (big) lumpectomy and a bilateral reduction at the same time, ACT for the chemo and 5 weeks of radiation.
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- Gladys: It's Not Our Moms' Breast Cancer Anymore
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Forty-five years ago, when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, a woman had few choices.
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- Grace: Why I Volunteer on SHARE's Hotline
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I was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 1993 and it was a great shock to me. I came to SHARE even before I had my surgery because I needed to talk to someone.
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- Jeanne: I Had Reconstruction
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When I realized I needed to have a double mastectomy, I couldn't decide whether or not to have reconstruction as well.
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- Jennie's Story
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The idea of breast cancer wasn't new to me when I felt a lump in my breast three months after I missed my scheduled mammogram in 2000
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- Kathy: How I Deal with the Fear of Metastatic Breast Cancer
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My name is Kathy Hynes Kadish and I have been metastatic for 9 1/2 years.
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- Lilla: How I Became a Breast Cancer Advocate
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I never meant to be an advocate. Even though my first breast cancer was in 1995 with a recurrence in 2000, I didn't realize until 2005 that individuals could be Breast Cancer Advocates.
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- Marie: August Interrupted
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On August 12, 2011, I heard these six words while sitting half-naked in an exam room at St. Barnabas Hospital - "We are dealing with Breast Cancer." Just like that, my doctor didn't beat around the bush or try to avoid the inevitable. She knew from one look at my ultrasound that it was cancer. Speechless, my mother and I stared at each other for a few seconds and then all I could come up with to console her was, "Don't worry, mom, you are going to die before me." I'm not sure if she found comfort in that, but we both laughed and I knew that finding humor was the only way to get through this.
» more- Marilyn: Supporting Other Breast Cancer Survivors
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I'm a 19-year breast cancer survivor, and I co-facilitate two SHARE support groups in Queens.
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- Marsha's Story
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I was diagnosed with breast cancer in November 1999, a month before my 57th birthday.
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- Megan: I Chose Not to Have Reconstruction
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I was lucky. Because I had my bilateral mastectomy after chemotherapy, I had ample time to consider my options, a luxury many breast cancer patients don't have.
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- Roberta Hufnagel, Metastatic Support Group Facilitator
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I'm a social worker and psychotherapist and I'm now 70 years old. I was just 36 when told I needed a mastectomy and a year of chemo. I learned about SHARE 5 years later and became a group facilitator soon after. In 1986 SHARE began the only metastatic breast cancer support group in NYC, and perhaps the only one in the country. I became the facilitator and have led the group ever since. SHARE now offers three groups, for women living with metastatic breast cancer. Two groups (which I facilitate) meet weekly and the third group meets monthly. Two of the groups meet in SHARE's NYC office and the other group is conducted via conference call. The phone group enables women to have the advantages of peer support if they are either too far from Manhattan or are unable to come into the office.
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- Shirley: What I Get from SHARE
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When I came to SHARE, I was warmly welcomed by the people here, and I more or less felt at home right away. So I have been volunteering for SHARE for about two years now.
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