From the book by the same title, Hope
Is Contagious, by Margit Esser Porter is dedicated to those fighting
breast cancer.
The Lupine is a flower that was chosen to symbolize the tenacity of cancer patients. To quote from Life Magazine:
| There is something about breast
cancer that makes it different from foot cancer, or for that matter, any
other disease. It's about body image, it's about nurturing--it certainly
is abut femimity. It is loaded for women in ways that other health threats
are not.
Amy S. Langer, age
42, Diagnosed 1984
Executive Director
National Alliance
of Breast Cancer Ogranizations
|
| We live in an age when CANCER no
longer has to mean a death sentence.
Edythe, age 86, Diagnosed
1996
|
| Nobody but us
really knows what it's like. Linda Ellerbee, age
52, Diagnosed 1992
Television producer,
journalist, author
|
| If you work, keep working. If you
have a social life, keep socializing. Dont' let the cancer downgrade your
life. Rather, force it into a role of enhancing your life.
Bette, ag45, Diagnosed
1985 & 1995
|
| Listen to music. Watch Birds.
Gail, age 49, Diagnosed
1994
|
| From the first day of the diagnosis
I had to learn to live with fear and the ambiguity of this disease. The
not knowing has been harder than any of the treatments. I finally found
a place for the constant uncertainty of breast cancer.
I take chances I never took before. I live life one day at a time and savor every moment. Elizabeth, age 35,
Diagnosed 1995
|
| I believe that there are at lease
as many "so-so" doctors out there as there are really good ones--find the
one that works for you and with you.
Lindy, age 47, Diagnosed
1984
|
| The doctors had a conference about
my tumor, which was the size of a walnut and close to the chest wall.
They told me I had one year to live. That was twenty-six years ago! Martha, age 74, Diagnosed
1970
|
| The best support I got was from
a woman who had lived throught both breast and ovarian cancer and was now
80 years old! My advice is to connect with women who have been there and
are well now.
Especially well in spirit! Patricia, age 53,
Diagnosed 1991
|
| I had always thought that a diagnosis
of breast cancer meant having to lose a breast.
I was so relieved to find out that these days in many cases you can keep your breast and not have to trade it in for your life. Sarah, age 29, Diagnosed
1994
|
| Cry when you need to.
Anne, age 57, Diagnosed
1996
|
