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In 2006 I was 35, happily married with 2 children...and in August was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer. I chose to have a double mastectomy, reconstruction and trudged through four months of chemotherapy. In the end, I was cancer free and wanting to heal myself as well as others so I founded Breast Friends - Breast Cancer Support Group in my little community of Victoria, Texas. So far we have about 30 members and meet once a month as well as support one another on a daily basis. I love our group and what we stand for - we are a force to be seen when we get together (especially when we're practicing laughter yoga!) Advice I give to anyone I talk to who is newly diagnosed is this: 1. Take someone with you to help listen at ALL your doctors appointments. You will likely only absorb 25% of what your told so you need extra ears. 2. Get copies of all your pathology and other test results - look up whatever you don't understand. You need to be an active participant in your own treatment. 3. ASK QUESTIONS! Even if they seem silly. Your doctor should be willing to sit down with you and answer each and every one of them. And if they don't...find a new doctor! 4. Accept help. I know it's hard for us strong individual personalities to allow someone to come in and clean house for us, do a load of laundry or bring us meals - but you need to accept the help when it's offered. 5. FEEL IT! So many of us women put on a strong face and trudge through the treatment, fear and depression without really allowing us to grieve. You will go through the normal stages of grief and you need to let yourself do it. Journal, meditate, seek counseling, cry, get angry, cry some more, laugh, talk, seek others, admit that cancer SUCKS and feel it. Tears are healing, but then again so is screaming and tearing the stuffing out of a pillow now and then! :-) 6. Participate in survivor walks if you can. It really is a healing experience. I love supporting other cancer survivors. It's what I was put on this planet to do. It's amazing how many of my group members understand and agree when I say "Cancer was the one of the most important things that ever happened to me and it made me a better person" - and that's hard to understand if you've not gone through it. But it really does change a person, and usually for the better. It makes us stronger, better able to cope with adversity, braver, wilder, sexier, better able to laugh at life, better able to not sweat the little stuff, increases our capacity for love, helps us appreciate nose hair and I don't know one chemo survivor who complains about their hair anymore! Feel free to message me on my myspace page! www.myspace.com/groovygaia Pink Ribbon Wendi on October 4, 2008

Ilene Goodman Leiomyosarcoma Survivor on October 3, 2008

At the age of 24 and three years into my marriage my husband and I discovered we would be expecting our first baby. We were so excited! We started to happily prepare for parenthood and both of us couldn't wait to be new parents. First the first six months of my pregnancy it was wonderful. Around my seventh month, I began to be bothered by swelling in my feet and legs and difficulty breathing. My Obgyn recommended I go to my primary care physician. An x-ray was performed due to the difficulty I was having breathing. The x-ray revealed a buildup of fluid around my heart, presumably from a viral infection. I was admitted to the hospital immediately and the fluid was then drained from around my heart and both lungs resulting in a loss of 22 lbs. all of which was fluid. I stayed in the hospital for a week and they monitored the baby with a hand held monitor every so often each day and claimed the baby was just fine. I was informed by the doctor that they did see something on the x-ray that showed one side of my heart being somewhat larger than the other. However, they informed me that after I gave birth they would look further into it with more testing and scans. I was released at the end of the week and home I went to await the baby's arrival which was approximately 10 weeks away. I was feeling great for a while and then the unthinkable happened. I lost the baby at 32 weeks. There was no explanation as to why. As it turns out, my baby may have helped save my life and bring about the turn of events that would soon take place. Two weeks later, while still grieving and trying to recover physically from my loss, I began to experience severe breathing difficulty and a racing heart rate (rate of 130/min). After my parents who happened to be over visiting that day spoke with the physician he informed them to immediately take me to the emergency room immediately where doctors decided to operate to insert a pericardial "window" to drain the fluid from around my heart. It was then that they discovered the cause of my problems: a large tumor was encroaching on my heart. Unable to see the entire tumor, doctors closed my chest and ordered an MRI, which showed a massive tumor extending beyond my heart into my chest cavity. A second surgery was performed, but the tumor was found to be even larger than doctors had suspected, and it was growing into the blood vessels of my heart and liver. There was a very large chance that if they operated on me I would bleed to death because of how vascular the tumor was. Just about a week after the surgery I was started on chemotherapy. At the time, I was at a community hospital. Fortunately, my mother-in-law has a background in the health care field. She was on hand for each consultation with the medical team. She realized that my condition was unique, and that I needed the most aggressive treatment possible. Which meant I needed to go to a "teaching" institution. After meeting with tumor specialists at several large regional medical centers, we decided to come to the University of Maryland Medical Center's Greenebaum Cancer Center. At UMGCC, my oncologist explained that I had a very large, rare tumor known as a leiomyosarcoma, a type of tumor that begins in muscles in the trunk. Further diagnostic tests revealed that my heart wasn't the only major organ being compromised. The tumor was growing from my diaphragm onto my liver as well. I would need to continue with chemotherapy in hopes that the tumor would shrink enough to be operable. The months that followed were a challenging time: six months of chemotherapy treatments, interspersed with hospital stays to treat infections that raged as my body's defenses were weakened by the powerful drugs. I persevered, and eventually the tumor shrunk to half its original size, making surgery an option. I was finally finished for the time being with chemotherapy. Up until this time I had not yet met my surgeon. On the day I met with my surgeon I felt very confident in the surgery that was to be performed. My mom & mother-in-law were with me at the appointment. My surgeon came in and we talked. He told me he needed to inform me of all the risks and uncertainties of the extraordinary surgery he was about to perform. He basically told me that the tumor was still rather large and he did not and would not know for sure what he was up against until he opened me up. There were three outcomes that could happen. The first was he could open me up and not be able to do a thing. The second was that he could open me up and only be able to remove a part, or (and this is definitely the outcome I wanted!!) he could be able to successfully remove the tumor in one piece. I have to admit that scared the crap out of me!! I was speechless. He told me to take some time and think about it. That weekend I thought it over and came to the only conclusion there was, to have the surgery. After going through everything else why would I give up now? With no guarantees, but a lot of confidence in my team of physicians, my family, myself, and God I would have the surgery. On November 16, 1995, family and friends gathered to support my family and I. My thoracic surgeon, Dr. Mark Krasna, along with a team of surgeons (one for the heart and one for the liver) performed a 10-hour surgery to remove the tumor, along with part of my liver, heart and diaphragm. To repair my diaphragm from where the tumor was removed, a combination of Gortex and mesh were used. Fortunately, my liver was able to regenerate and grow back after being re-sected. After recovering from the surgery, I had two more chemotherapy treatments. Then suddenly, in September 1999, I began having pain in my chest and discovered a lump by my breastbone. An MRI revealed that the tumor had recurred, again growing from my diaphragm, but now growing onto my breastbone. I was started on more chemotherapy to shrink the tumor in advance of yet another surgery. Even though it had been 3 years since I had any chemotherapy my body could only take two rounds of it. Fortunately, this time, the tumor did not appear to involve my heart. This allowed doctors to use radiation therapy to attack it. That was music to my ears after all I'd been through. This meant I wouldn't have to stay in the hospital for days upon days and my white counts wouldn't go as low as the chemo made them which gave me infections. My only noticeable side effect was some minor irritation to the skin on my chest and carbonation from soda burned going down, so I just drank water instead. The radiation lasted six weeks. In March 1999, I underwent a 14-hour surgery to remove the tumor. My entire diaphragm was removed this time, along with part of my breastbone. Doctors again used Gortex and my own chest muscles – which were stretched in a crises-cross pattern – to fill the space where my breastbone had been. Most of the tumor was removed, except for a small section attached to my vena cava, the main vein that returns blood to the heart. My surgeon promised me that he would do everything in his power to get me off the operating table alive. He felt it was too risky to try to remove the small section along a main vein as the chances were great that I could bleed to death. Therefore, the doctors decided to insert a catheter into my chest which would allow them to deliver daily radiation directly to the site of remaining tumor tissue to kill it. It's been 12 years now since my original diagnosis. I go back to see my thoracic surgeon/oncologist twice a year for follow-up visits, and have had no recurrence. I was so affected by the success of my treatment that I wanted to give something back to the community. Over the years I have given several speeches at local Relay for Life's and other events such as my doctor's annual "Cancer Survivor Day" celebration each June. I also became a volunteer speaking to newly diagnosed cancer patients. I feel by sharing my story with people they too can see that being diagnosed with cancer does not have to mean a death sentence. It can be beat and I'm living proof!!! I have learned many things about myself through this experience. I know that there is nothing I can't do once I put my mind to it. I learned to never give up. Life is too short to hold grudges. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but TODAY is a gift that's why we call it the PRESENT. I live by those words each day. Ilene Goodman on October 3, 2008

My Journey through Breast Cancer, I was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer on December 25, 2003.Yes, that was Christmas Day. I had not been feeling good for months. I had been to the doctor a number of times and was working with my doctor on getting my thyroid levels under control. I have Graves Disease, which is a type of autoimmune disease that causes over-activity of the thyroid gland. Many breast cancer symptoms mimic the symptoms of the graves disease. Therefore, my cancer was not found as soon as it would have been. I underwent many tests, neglecting my yearly mamogram. Resulting in the biggest mistake of my life. The last few weeks before Christmas I knew that it was something much more than my graves disease. However, I decided at that point, a few more weeks wouldn't kill me. I was bound and determined to make it through Christmas and give my 5 year-old daughter and husband a very special holiday. I had a fear in my heart that it was possibly my last. ( Yes, I know how foolish I was and I am very blessed to be here today to write this. :) Miraculously, somehow I did make it through the Santa gifts on Christmas morning. I had succeeded in making it through Christmas. Now my cancer journey was about to begin. The hospital staff was amazed that I was able to walk around. They immediately found, that I was in need of three units of blood. My abdomen was enlarged and filled with fluid by this time. After quite a few tests I was told that I had breast cancer that had spread to my ovaries. I remember feeling numb when the doctor told me the news, but not surprised. I felt like he was talking through an echo chamber, I heard "you have breast cancer" over and over again in my head. I can not tell you what it was that came over me, but I suddenly found the strength to sit up in bed. I told the doctor that before he went any further, I needed him to know that I did not want to know any statistics for my life expectancy. I also remember telling him then, that only GOD knew how much time I had left. It was right then and there, that I knew that I would fight with everything I had to survive this new challenge. Challenges were nothing new to me and I wasn't going to be a quitter now! The next few days were a blur. I had a biopsy done on my breast, a bone marrow biopsy and a total hysterectomy. I was given the final diagnosis of stage IV double receptor positive her2 breast cancer, with the spread to my ovaries and bones. It was also determined that the disease had spread too far to have a mastectomy. Wow! what a lot to absorb in just a few short days. The doctor and the nurses were very surprised, at how quickly I had recovered from all of the invasive procedures that I had been through. I was hospitalized for exactly one week. Not bad for someone who many thought would never leave the hospital! The following week after being released from the hospital, I had a porta-cath inserted into my chest wall in preparation for the chemo thereapy treatments. Treatment started four days later. The chemo therapy schedule was brutal to say the least. I was given Taxol and Zometa through infusion and a daily dose of armidex taken orally. I had treatments 3 days a week for 24 weeks without a break. The following chemo schedule was 3 days a week for three weeks out of the month. I was on that treatment cycle for a little over a year. All things considered, I managed the many side effects quite well. After my second treatment, my hair began to fall out. I made the decision then to have my husband shave my hair off. The request for my husband to shave my head, was met with "are you really sure?", which he asked quite a few times. I was POSITIVE! It gave me power and a little bit of control in a situation where I had very little. It was harder for my husband and daughter to actually shave it, then it was for me to see my shoulder length hair fall to the floor. I know losing one's hair is very tramatic for some cancer patients and everyone deals with their own experience in their own way. For me, losing my hair was such a minor issue in my fight to survive, that not having hair, didn't really bother me much. Infact, I found it to be quite freeing not to have to worry about fixing my hair or shaving my legs!!! YES!! A definite bonus not to worry about my hair, especially when chemo zaps most of your strength. Sometimes just brushing my teeth took real effort. I did have a little trouble with low hemaglobin levels during the first few months of treatment. I needed two blood transfusions and regular injections of procrit. After about three months, my body began to produce red blood cells on it's own again. In fact, to this day, my red and white blood counts are better then those of many healthy people! In November 2004, my Oncologist announced that because I was holding so steady, it was time to end the intense chemo schedule that I had been on for almost a year. I should have been thrilled to hear this news, but I was scared to death!! What if it was the intense chemo that was keeping me stable? I actually talked my Oncologist into giving me one more chemo treatment! Was I crazy??? Four weeks later, I started having an infusion of Zometa once a month. (When cancer has spread to the bone‚ treatment with Zometa helps to protect bones and may reduce or delay complications like bone fractures and the need for radiation and/or surgery to the bones and compression on the spinal cord). I believe, that what's helped me, is the combination of the good medical care, a positive attitude and many, many prayers. I am very blessed and humbled to be beating the odds of Stage IV breast cancer. This past year I have been riding the cancer coaster with many ups and downs. My tumor marker is now out of the stable range and I am once again in the battle for life. I am more determined then ever to fight this disease for myself and for those I love. I will celebrate 5 years as a Survivor on Christmas. I will once again celebrate a double miracle! Miracles happen when you believe in them! The word Cancer evokes fear anytime it is spoken. It has taken many people way to early. I share my story, hoping that it will inspire others to schedule their mammograms, do monthly self exams and to never give up! This journey is a difficult one and I will not pretend otherwise. Yet, with all of the hard times and challenges, there are also many blessings. Every day is a blessing. My moto is: I will fight this battle until my last breath. Celebrate Life! Connie xoxo CONNIE on October 3, 2008

4-3/4 YRS STAGE IV BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR/WARRIOR CONNIE on October 3, 2008

the video bellow i entered it in a story that inspires contest please vote for me and u can also read my written story on the right the one that says survivorerica with the black and white mask...just click on the web site on the bottom and hopfully by spreading my story i can help someone out there not to go thru what i went thru... http://www.brickfish.com/Pages/PhotosAlbums/PhotoView.aspx?picid=639599_35164999&pid=1214154&scid=338&=EP_338_PPIMEMAIL_PPIMEMAIL&isep=1&pbapi=1214154&pbvi=38525191&pdi=2366 Erica Pimentel on October 3, 2008

From Crackle: Sep 25 2008 - VID00013 Erica on October 3, 2008

I would like to thank all of you for sharing your story. You are a survivor the day you are diagnosed. JoAn on September 26, 2008

We would like to just tell Mrs. Lisa Russell that we love her and that she is our hero for hanging on through her battle with cancer. We love you and you are truly blessed. Keep hanging in there and we'll be praying for you! Love, Ryan and Amberly :) Ryan Granberry and Amberly Hennig on September 16, 2008

I would like to dedicate this message to my aunt Rachael. She is still fighting with cancer, and doing well. I just want to let you all know that if you have cancer, God will help you and protect you, everything happens for a reason... Amberly Hennig on September 16, 2008

On September 19, 2002, I was diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer, the rarest and most lethal form of Breast Cancer. I was 34 years old and had no family history of cancer. Prayers went up immediately for my family and myself. I know this because my pastor, Charles Bonner, was at the hospital with me since my biopsy was done surgically. My husband, Chris, works offshore, and I told him not to come home for the biopsy. I thought everything was going to be okay. Boy, was I wrong! My Mom was there also and I'm so glad that she was! My world was rocked and life as I knew it would never be the same again! My three daughters were ages 16 years (Casey), 8 years (Paige), and 20 months old (Jordan). Of course I called my husband to come home immediately. I think God must have equipped his truck with angel wings, because the trip from south Louisiana to Anderson's Hospital in Meridian, MS was the fastest he has ever made before or since. I had four chemo treatments, a mastectomy, four more chemo treatments, and 35 radiation treatments. But before any of this, my oncologist told me that my faith would get me through this. He didn't promise a cure, just peace with my circumstances. I thank God for giving me such a faithful doctor. It's been six years now, and I'm happy to report that I'm still cancer free! God answered my prayer which was to please let me raise my children. He even gave me a bonus... I have a three-year-old grandson! Though I lost my Mom in 2005, I know she looks down on us and personally thanks God everyday for healing my body of this dreadful disease. Just like many of you, I know what it's like to lose all of your hair. Last year on my 5-year cancer diagnoses anniversary I had my pony tail cut and donated it to the Pony Tail Club with Pink Heart Funds. God is truly GREAT by allowing me to give something back! Debbie Wall on September 15, 2008

WOW!! EYE Catcher Site... Hey! Your website is very good; Layout, Images, Font & Text color, and Logo are really awesome... I’m impressed with your website, that’s because, I like your website’s theme... your website is perfect. I give you 9/10 - Sumit Ojha http://www.glowindia.com , www.glowindia.com , glowindia.com Oh by the way, please also visit my site... Sumit Ojha on June 9, 2008

Hey , I am Sherry and I am a cancer survivor of 11yrs, This battle with cancer started in June of 1996 when I found a lump in my breast , oh God no one knows how terrified I was but , I called the doctor and got an appoitment . I saw a lady at my clinic which told me that it was only a cyst and these things dont grow too fast but I needed to see a surgeon . Well when they made the appointment with the surgeon it was almost a month later . When the surgeon checked me he immediately told me that it was a tumor , not a cyst . By this time I was the scaredest I have ever been in my life . He biopsyed the tumor and 3 days later they called me on the phone and told me over the phone that I had cancer and that it was very bad , they had an appointment for monday , well that was Friday and I sure wasnt waiting till Monday. At this point I was just scared half to death but I was trying to keep it together because my 14 yr old son was there and he was so scared , so he called my sister Delores and told her to please come out , the doctor had called and told me I had cancer . She came out and calmed me down , as good as she could . She called the surgeon and told him I had to be seen that day , I was just too upset to wait till Monday . So they let me come in . He saw me that day and told me , he was 95% sure it was cancer and I would need a masectomy and have to take chemo and radiation . Oh my God , by this time I just was numb . I am sitting here and I am thinking I am going to die, Oh God I dont want to die. I asked him could I have a second opinion , So he sends in another doctor and he is just very uncouth and tells me essentially the same thing only in a very unfeeling kind of way. They made an appointment for my surgery for the next Tuesday . In the time period of of one week , I had the biopsy on a Tuesday , they called me on Friday told me I had cancer and by the following Tuesday I had my breast removed . And to beat all that I only stayed in the hospital one night . I couldnt believe all this . Was this all really happening to me . Oh God let this be a dream . But is wasnt . So I go home after I get my orders from my doc, whom I thank very much for being so great to me . I asked him what all could I do and he said what do u want to do , so I told him , I sure wasnt sitting home , Could I drive my car. He told me as long as I kept my arm in the sling I could. So I go home and thats on Wednesday and by Friday I am about to go crazy from worry so with my arm in a sling and a drainage tube coming out of my side , I get in my car and drive down to my moms, She lives in a small town call Ury which is about 6 miles from where I live . I had to do something to try to keep from thinking and it helped to be around people . But I still could hear it in my mind , u got cancer and your going to die. So I made my mind up , there was no way that this disease was going to kill me . I was going to live and I was going to ask God to heal me . I started going to church . I told all my family that God was going to heal me . I prayed so much and when I slept at night I held a small testiment that a Preacher had gave me in my hand and I would lay another Bible on my chest , this is how scared I was , but I knew what is said in the Bible , ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE , JESUS GAVE SIGHT TO A BLIND MAN AND HEALED THE LAME AND MADE THEM TO WALK AGAIN , HE RAISED THE DEAD , And I knew , I just knew he was going to heal me . I went to take chemo therapy treatments at the southern wva clinic and had a wonderful Oncologist , I love that doctor he was so wonderful and kind to me . Everytime I went I prayed and asked Jesus to go with me , I was so scared . The nurses was great to me and when I told my chemo nurse that I was scared but I had asked Jesus to come with me to the chemo treatment , she cried and said that was wonderful. Hey this was a battle and I was fighting it with Jesus helping me . Believe me it was the fight of my life. The cancer had went into my lymph nodes and I knew that a lot of cancer patients didnt make it after it went into their lymph nodes ,It just wasnt good at all. I asked my doctor was I going to die, he told me , PLAN FOR THE WORST AND PRAY FOR THE BEST, I told him I wanted everything he had to give me, as much as he could , that I wasnt going no where and I was going to live . I had a daughter and a son , plus I had a grandson . I meant to live . So after my first chemo treatment all my hair fell out , even my eyebrows and eyelashes , and it hurt so much to lose my hair and I cried a lot but I fought on wearing a wig and most people didnt even know it was a wig. My husband and my son was so good to me during this time . But I didnt let them wait on me , I wanted to do it all, but when I would take the chemo I would be so sick , so for about a week they would help , after that I would do what needed to be done . My daughter would come over on weekend sometimes and help , my little grandson was afraid when I would take off my wig, he wanted mama to have her hair back. I was afraid if I gave in to this disease and didnt do for myself that it would take me and I wasnt giving into CANCER. PLUS GOD WAS GIVING ME STRENTH TO MAKE IT . I had the drainage tube and 22 staples in my chest . I had to measure the drainage that came out of that tube for 10 days , believe me when you have a masectomy no one knows what a woman goes through but her. Until I got my staples out and the drainage tube out my husband helped me on with my clothes but after I got them out I done whatever needed to be done. I took a total of six chemo treatments one every three weeks and I would be so sick for a week , I would think I was going to die, but still I didnt want everyone crying and thinking I was going to die, I wanted them to be saying , hey , That Sherry , she is a fighter and she is going to win this battle . So I took all my chemo treatments , which I drove to and from each one . My sister Linda went with me to them . I had what they call anticipatory nausea. I would get so sick it would be awful . Before they even got the IV in me , most every time I would be throwing up through the whole thing , which would take at least three hrs. I took medicine to try to help the nausea, which didnt help at all , so I just had to deal with it . I usually threw up for four days and then I would be ok. After my chemo treatments which went from August to Jan . I started on Radiation . I had a wonderful radiation doc too. He was wonderful to me . You know a lot of people told me I better go somewhere else and get all this done that doctors around here would let me die, but I told them I am not leaving my home and besides I got Jesus on my side , I aint going to die. I went to each and every Radiation treatment by myself except for two. My husband went with me to one and my son went with me to one . My husband worked and my son went to school so , I went alone and that was fine . It was very scary going to the clinic and the machine was so big it would come down very close to my chest which they had placed very tiny tattos to mark me , so they would know where to give me the radiation . I would lay there and sing amazing grace the whole time , scared to death but I knew Jesus was with me . I took my last radiation treatment right before Valentines day and was a wonderful day for me to finish my chemo and radiation . The last dose of chemo , my doctor hugged me and told me he gave me the maximum dose of chemo . He was always telling me how wonderful I was doing and giving me words of encouragement . You see, I know God sent this doctor to me , just like he sent the surgeon to me and the radiation doctor. All these men treated me so wonderful. I WAS BLESSED WITH WONDERFUL DOCTORS . So here I was and I finished my treatment at least I thought I did, now I had to take 5yrs of a pill form of chemo , tamoxiphen . It didnt make me sick or anything . I was tired a lot . Thank God my hair was growing back by this time and i was just beginning to be able to relax some and not be so scared. I took my 5yrs of chemo and I still go see my doc every 6 months. It has been almost 12 yrs now and I cant thank the lord enough . With my courage and determination and JESUS there with me every step of the way . I MADE IT . I AM SO THANKFUL TO JESUS . I always knew the lord had something in store for me , and I prayed about this and I started singing gospel music. I love it , he has blessed me with a great singing voice and I sing at my church , CHRISTLIKE WORSHIP CENTER , I also sing at gospel sings sometimes . I am very happy now and am blessed with my daughter Laura, son Lee, grandson Cody , and a grandaughter Cheyanne. I am also blessed with my husband .He has been right by my side and helped me a lot , he could care less if I am minus a breast , he loves me for me not for my body . Plus he tells me I am beautiful , I could have reconstructive surgery , my doc tried to get me to . But I asked Roger my husband and he told me . Whatever I wanted but he didnt love my breast , he loved me , Oh lord how blessed am I to have a man like that . Now a days I am a healthcare giver for my cousin that is mentally handicapped. I keep going on and Thanking the lord for what he has done for me . I dont think I can give him thanks enough. But he knows , he knows , I LOVE THE LORD AND OWE HIM MY LIFE , I THANK HIM FOR EACH SUNRISE AND EACH SUNSET .SO RIGHT NOW I AM SPEAKING THESE WORDS TO U JESUS I THANK YOU SO MUCH AND LORD I LOVE YOU , THANKS, YOUR PAL, SHERRY SHERRY DUNCAN on March 30, 2008

when i was 35 when i was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer. i went thru chemo, radical masectomy and radiation. 5 years later my husband and i were surprised with an unexpected pregnancy. at age 40, what a shock (i already had 2 boys ages 21 and 16) neither my husbands family nor mine had any girls so you can only imagine the excitment we all felt when we found out that i was going to have a healthy girl!! after anna was born i was diagnosed with breast cancer again in my other breast and had another masectomy but no need for radiation or chemo - thank God. that has been 4 years ago. i am healthy and happy and enjoying my little anna and every day of life is a blessing and a gift and i know it!!! michelle sherman on March 28, 2008

There are so many lessons learned during a time when you are at your weakest. I think the hardest thing for a mother to ever go through would be watching your child on death's door and not being able to do anything to actually save your child. My daughter was diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma at the age of 13 months. She went through intensive treatment at ST. Jude Children's research hospital. One of the best things that came out of the entire experience was the knowledge that their are good...no great..people out their. You may not know how loving and giving and selfless people can be until your in great need for compassion and help. I learned first hand of just how giving human nature can make us. My daughter was close to death and brought back which can only be accredited to almighty GOD but out of that our family has been blessed onehundred fold. Good things follow those who keep a positive outlook in the face of adversity. Jessica Hopkins on January 17, 2008

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JoAn Niceley                        Breast cancer                             2002                    niceleydone34@aol.com  

Suzy Johnson                                          Breast cancer                  

Lisa Russell                                    

Jim Daley

Montana

Tori Hopkins

Maddy