Category Archives: stage I breast cancer

Five Year Milestone

Posted on September 25, 2012 by April Yablonsky

A couple of weeks ago marked the five-year anniversary of my breast cancer diagnosis. It has brought up many feelings, both positive and negative about my diagnosis and treatment (both physical and mental). It was a great time to reflect on how far I have come both physically and emotionally from the shock and devastation of diagnosis, and the accompanying months of treatment.
Life before and after cancer have been vastly different for me. I know that my age likely made a big difference in how I think about this time – I was 28 at the time of diagnosis – …

 

Hair – Part II

Posted on August 21, 2012 by April Yablonsky

Last week I talked about losing my hair from my chemotherapy treatments. At the time, I thought that would be the worst part, but I also found the process of growing my hair back more traumatic than I would have thought. I remember at first, when I would see little stubble of hair growing in on the top of my head, I would get all excited and show people what I called my ‘seedlings.’
As a woman who has never in my life had hair above shoulder length, I had no idea how long it would take to grow back. Of …

 

Hair – Part I

Posted on August 14, 2012 by April Yablonsky

Me, in the summer of 2008, wearing my expensive wig with the headband needed to hold it on properly.
When I think back on my treatment days, I always think about my hair loss. It was one of the first questions I asked my oncologist when I was diagnosed, and it was a side effect of chemo that caused me the most stress, especially long term. When I take a step back, it amazes me that out of all the fear and pain caused by cancer treatment, hair loss was the focus of so much anxiety. I felt shallow for caring …

 

Reach to Recovery

Posted on June 12, 2012 by April Yablonsky

 
We all know that it is so difficult to handle a breast cancer diagnosis and face treatment. Even under the best circumstances when family is the pinnacle of supportive, there is rarely something there for you who knows exactly how you feel. Imagine how much more comforting and understanding someone could be who has gone through exactly what you are facing? How would you find such a support system?
I recently found out that The American Cancer Society runs a fantastic outreach program for breast cancer patients called Reach to Recovery. Through this program, breast cancer patients anywhere from the time …

 

Good News for Women 67 + Years Diagnosed with Early Stage Disease

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Jean

A large study found that women older than 67 diagnosed with either ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) or stage I breast cancer were just as likely to be alive 10 years after diagnosis as women not diagnosed with breast cancer.
DCIS is a non-invasive  breast cancer. DCIS stays inside the breast milk duct, it doesn’t spread outside the milk duct into the surrounding normal breast tissue or into the lymph nodes and to other organs.
Stage I is the earliest stage of  an invasive breast cancer. In stage 1, the cancer cells are invading neighboring normal tissue but have not spread to …