In the Fall issue of CURE, experts and survivors talk about the feelings of guilt some patients and caregivers experience immediately after treatment and even years later. Did you have survivor guilt? How did you handle it?

I still have it as a survivor. In the 3 years since I was diagnosed, I've known many other survivors who have died - many younger than me. I try not to wonder why I wasn't among them...I'm grateful, but still feel guilty at times. That, and I'm waiting for "the other shoe to drop."

All the Best,
Lisa
www.pinkkitchen.info

Since I had stage 0 DCIS, my guilt was more about thinking I even had the right to call myself a survivor, since I didn't have the same battle as women with more advanced cancers. I know other women with stage 0 who have felt the same way. It's a great diagnosis to have because the prognosis is so good. Yet although our cancer is caught early, the treatments and corresponding emotions are the same as for more advanced cancers. And after five exploratory and reconstructive surgeries including a mastectomy, I figure I've earned the right to call myself a survivor. We all have.

Jackie Fox
Author, From Zero to Mastectomy: What I Learned And You Need to Know About Stage 0 Breast Cancer
http://secondbasedispatch.com