A personal post on surviving breast cancer

As someone on the upper end age-wise of those active on social media and who faced breast cancer two years ago, it’s interesting to me how people with serious diseases handle their illnesses in widely divergent ways online. Some literally give play-by-play of their illnesses on Facebook or through a blog, putting forth very personal details, specifics of their good days and bad, and highlighting the help of friends and family. Others – like me – choose to keep their plights private, sharing the details through personal messages to family and friends, but otherwise not posting anything online. It was more than a year before I shared anything about my diagnosis and treatment online.

Take it from me – the internet and social media are scary places for those battling serious illnesses. Social media has changed the way we comprehend and respond to the news - some feel pressured to share the details online. Information that in the past would seldom be discussed publicly is front and center on many people’s social footprint. At the first hint of something serious, we “Google” and read everything we can find – from serious medical sites to Yelp ratings of doctors, hospitals and more. We read about the pros and cons of treatments, medicines and tests – pouring over posts from people that we’ll never meet and who as far as we know have no serious credibility - but we read their words anyway in hopes they will share insights that  matter.

I am two years out after being diagnosed with Stage 1A breast cancer in late summer 2013. As Larry said after we finished treatments later that fall, “After the initial devastating news of the diagnosis, everything else was good news,” i.e., it’s wonderful to hear: “that’s the results we were hoping to see” after we went through the surgeries, sophisticated genetic tests and radiation.

I was fortunate to have an amazing team of doctors in Gainesville - from Arlene Weinshelbaum who just had a feeling there was something destructive there even after an initial biopsy was inconclusive and who kept pushing to get a final determination; from Tina Lam, whose delicate touch as a surgeon left very little evidence of the necessary incisions; from radiation oncologist Cherylle Hayes who suggested accelerated partial breast irradiation – which meant delivering radiation internally directly to the spot of the cancer twice a day for five days instead of the typical six weeks of radiation; and to Laura Dickerson, the medical oncologist who has followed me since the initial treatments ended.

I urge our friends and family to make certain your loved ones monitor their breast health, donate to research when you can, and understand that everyone processes their diagnoses differently. So as October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month winds down, say a little prayer for those you know who have been affected by breast cancer and be thankful that improved diagnosis and treatment means that more and more women are surviving and thriving.