Quote:
Originally posted by la petite moi
As for the cancer, my parents say its a 1-2. I'm not sure what the survival rate for that is, but she's going to have to go through surgery, chemo, and radiation- which will leave her very weak.
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Stages of Breast Cancer
Stage I
In stage I, the tumor is 2 centimeters or smaller and has not spread outside the breast.
Stage IIA
In stage IIA:
no tumor is found in the breast, but cancer is found in the axillary lymph nodes (the lymph nodes under the arm); or
the tumor is 2 centimeters or smaller and has spread to the axillary lymph nodes; or
the tumor is between 2 and 5 centimeters but has not spread to the axillary lymph nodes.
Stage IIB
In stage IIB, the tumor is either:
between 2 and 5 centimeters and has spread to the axillary lymph nodes; or
larger than 5 centimeters but has not spread to the axillary lymph nodes.
As cancers go, that's actually pretty positive news because it means it hasn't spread to other organs yet. While chemo and radiation are not pleasant experiences for a person, these stages are pretty treatable.
Don't worry so much about cheering your mom up, she's gotta deal with this in her own way. And if you become too cheery around her, if it's not what you are normally like, you may scare her a little. (Remember those funny cigarettes you thought your m om was smokin' -- they're supposed to be really good to alleviate the side effects of chemo)