John Anderson with Mary, Sharon, Caryl - all survivors
She made it. Five years later, and she is still cancer free. Five years is the traditional milestone in the medical community that says, in plain and simple terms, that she beat breast cancer and is cured. Your loved one has finally arrived at the pink ball, and it’s time to celebrate. It’s time to do something really big for her.
When John’s wife Sharon hit her fifth anniversary, they decided to take their whole family to Paris and London. The City of Light, aside from maybe Venice (which we went to as well), is the most romantic place in the world. On a night boat cruise down Paris’s Seine river, her face glowed as we passed the Cathedral of Notre Dame, while their boys, Seth and Isaac, hooted and howled to the people waving to us as we passed under the bridges. Sharon, given her initial diagnosis, was never quite sure if she was going to make the five-year mark. She had friends who never did. Yet here she was, wrapped in her husband’s arms—healthy, happy, and fully healed.
And John was the most grateful husband in the world.
You can also celebrate with other breast cancer survivors at wonderful events like Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure events held all over the country. Here, John celebrates his good fortune with his wife Sharon (in white hat), his friend Brenda, and his sister Mary (on his left), all healthy, and all breast cancer survivors.
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9 Comments
Oh, really?: “Five years is the traditional milestone in the medical community that says, in plain and simple terms, that she beat breast cancer and is cured.”
How I wish that was true! I was diagnosed with and treated for Stage I breast cancer in 2008 (surgery, chemotherapy, estrogen suppression). Not a single member of my oncology team has hinted that 5 years is a “milestone”, and they will consider me “cured” if my cancer does not return by then. On the contrary, I am fairly well-protected between now and then by estrogen suppression (anastrozole). But estrogen-suppressing drugs are only given for 5 years. So after that time, the risk that my cancer will recur actually goes up.
Here is a recent study that acknowledges the “substantial” risk of breast cancer recurrence even after 5 years:
http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/100/16/1179
The authors concluded, “This study demonstrates that patients with early stage breast cancer who are disease free at five years after [adjuvant systemic therapy] have a substantially increased residual risk of recurrence.”
That fact was one of the most difficult things for my husband to accept. He wanted to think I was “cured”. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with breast cancer.
I have had cancer and my wife now has breast cancer – I believe when we hit a 5 yr. milestone it gives us a level of reaching a goal/objective but your right we are never done…we always have cancer. I am 7 years out – I still have thoughts cancer but my life is normal as normal can be…I hope and pray that my wife at 48 see her 5 year clear mark!
God Bless
Dave H
I’m a three-year breast cancer survivor. When will I know if I’m cured? When I get to heaven.
I am an 11 year survivor of Stage 2 breast cancer. I am also a nurse. My oncologist has never said the five year mark is the end of it, as a matter of fact, she told me exactly the opposite. “Breast cancer does not respond like other cancers, the five year mark is great, but doesn’t mean the same.”
I pray I will not have a recurrence, but have plenty of personal and professional experience that tells me otherwise. One can be hopeful, but you must remain vigilant. Alternating mammograms and sono-cines every six months are the best approach.
As some of you have noted in your comments above, there is always a chance of recurrence. Statistics are, after, all odds. But the odds of recurrence are very good in her favor after 5 years. Here’s what the American Cancer Society had to say about those odds in a report just out last month: “Based on the most recent data, relative survival rates for women diagnosed with breast cancer are 89% at five years after diagnosis.” That’s for all diagnoses. For women diagnosed with early stage cancers, the odds, the statisticians say, reach into the high 90s. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/STT/STT_0.asp
Another anniversary date that seems a bit ambiguous is which date to pick for marking when to start the Clock ticking? Is it the date of getting the official diagnosis? The date of the first surgery? The date of the final chemo session?
I’m a BIG believer is looking at the glass as 1/2 FULL. Lord knows we could use any positives we can find along this crazy journey. What is the best date for saying you’ve made it to the FIRST anniversary??
No one on either side of my family for four generations back has ever had cancer, but I had to go set the precedent by developing high-risk prostate cancer (at age 62) in 2008. I never gave thought, in my earlier years, that cancer would ever impact my life so strongly. But in 2004, my wife Jeannie developed thymic cancer, and died 14 months later. My current wife Marian underwent breast cancer surgery in October 2007, and seems to be fine so far.
So, I have learned to deal with the intimidating presence of cancer in my life. It is hard. All I can do is wake up each day and think, “Well, cancer has taken away so much from my life, but it is NOT going to take away TODAY.” And then I do the best I can, not to let cancer score points against me, during that day, by my allowing it to enter my mind and take away from the quality of THAT day.
Two years ago, I shared Christmas dinner with a new friend, named Susan, who had been living with Stage 4 breast cancer for more than 20 years. And she had undergone plenty of treatments and misery during that time. But when I met her, she seemed happy and healthy, and did not seem the least bit worried about her cancer. She died three months later. But I learned a lot from her that Christmas day, just hearing about the dedication she had shown to LIFE during the 20 years she had battled the Stage 4 breast cancer. I was sorry to hear about her death, but to this day I admire the LIFE that she had obviously given such emphasis to, during her long fight with cancer.
I commend John Anderson and his wife Sharon for sharing their story. This is a valuable book, well-researched, well-written, and inspiring.
Dennis Jackson
Most folks agree that the “date” to mark an anniversary with breast cancer is her diagnosis date.
I am a 20 year breast cancer survivor and my oncologist told me that 5 years out is a good sign that the cancer most likely had not spread but even though I have not got it back yet she said you are never cured. I trust in the Lord every day and live life to the fullest.