http://www.BreastCancerSurvivorsofSarasota.com/

Breast Cancer Survivors of Sarasota, Sarasota, FL (2026)

09/01/2026

Sarasota Memorial offers screening mammography and advanced breast imaging services at 9 convenient locations in Sarasota County. To make an appointment, call 941-917-7322.

08/26/2026

Pregnancy After Breast Cancer:
The Data Has Caught Up 🌷
Breast cancer can interrupt the path to motherhood — but for many, it doesn't have to end it. And now we have longer-term data to back that up.
📌 The POSITIVE trial followed women with HR+ breast cancer who paused endocrine therapy to try for pregnancy. The newest results (2026, ~6 years of follow-up) show recurrence rates were essentially the same as women who didn't pause therapy — 12.3% vs 13.2%. This isn't just short-term reassurance anymore; it holds up years later.
💗 Even more compelling: among women who wanted to conceive, those who actually got pregnant did just as well — if not slightly better — than those who didn't. That's strong evidence pregnancy itself isn't fueling recurrence.
🌱 Also reassuring: most women whose periods stopped during treatment got them back within 6 months of pausing therapy — good news for those wondering if their fertility will return at all.
⚕️ None of this means "one size fits all." The right path still depends on your age, diagnosis, treatment history, recurrence risk, and personal goals — which is why this needs to be a real conversation with your oncology team, not a decision made alone.
💬 The takeaway: the data keeps getting stronger. If motherhood after breast cancer is something you want, that conversation is worth having.

Reference Links & Data Sources
* Primary Trial Publication (Initial Results):
* New England Journal of Medicine: Interrupting Endocrine Therapy to Attempt Pregnancy in Breast Cancer(Partridge et al., 2023)
* Longer-Term Follow-Up Data (~6 Years / 71-Month Analysis):
* The ASCO Post: POSITIVE Trial Update: Oncologic Outcomes Maintained After Pausing Endocrine Therapy for Pregnancy
* Clinical Oncology: 5-Year POSITIVE Data Reassure on Pregnancy in Breast Cancer
* Trial Protocol & Network:
* Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology: POSITIVE Study Results Announcement

08/25/2026

Terese Lasser: The Woman Who Started a Movement 🎗️
In 1952, Terese Lasser woke up from what she thought was a routine biopsy — and found she'd had a radical mastectomy without her consent. No guidance on prosthetics. No talk of rehab. No one to ask about intimacy, family, or what came next.
So she became that person for other women.
In 1953, she founded Reach to Recovery — a peer support model built on one simple idea: a woman who's survived breast cancer is one of the most valuable resources for a woman just diagnosed. Her volunteers weren't counselors or doctors. They were survivors — trained to walk into a hospital room and talk woman to woman about the things no one else would: fear, intimacy, prosthetics, arm rehab, telling your kids, feeling like yourself again.
It wasn't just a visit. It was proof — sitting right there in the room — that you could survive this and keep living.
Some doctors banned her from their patients. Hospitals weren't used to survivors showing up uninvited. She kept going anyway, one hospital room at a time, building a volunteer network from the ground up.
By 1969, the ACS adopted the program nationwide, formalizing the training and expanding it across the country. By 1974, it had spread across Europe. Today, Reach to Recovery International connects peer-support programs in countries around the world — all built on the same idea Lasser started with: someone who's been there, sitting beside you.
She didn't wait for permission to change medicine. She just started talking. 💬

08/24/2026

Beyond the Clouds 🦋💖
Cancer can cloud almost every part of your life.
It moves in quietly at first —
into mornings, into mirrors,
into the spaces where certainty used to live.
Sometimes you forget what's behind all of it.
The version of you before the diagnosis.
The version of you who didn't know
what her own strength looked like yet.
Then something breaks through.
A moment.
A laugh that catches you off guard.
A sunset that stops you mid-step,
like it's been waiting just for you.
Just enough to remind you —
you are still here.
Still soft. Still fierce.
Still capable of wonder.
There's still life beyond the clouds.
And you —
survivor, fighter, proof that storms pass —
you are the light finding its way back through. ☀️

08/23/2026

In the news 🦋 Robotic Ni**le-Sparing Mastectomy: A New Frontier in Breast Cancer Surgery

Ni**le-sparing mastectomy is going robotic — and it's changing what recovery and cosmetic outcomes can look like for breast cancer patients.

What's happening:
BayCare Medical Group just launched the first program of its kind in West Central Florida, led by Dr. Robert Gabordi — one of only three surgeons in Florida, and just ten nationwide, trained on this robotic platform. Mayo Clinic (Rochester & Jacksonville) is also among the early adopters, with surgeons integrating nerve reconnection techniques to help preserve ni**le sensation.
Why it's a big deal:
* Tiny incision (~2.5 cm) means less scarring and faster healing
* Ni**le, skin, and sometimes sensation are preserved
* Mastectomy + reconstruction happen in one combined surgery
* Robotic precision allows finer dissection than the human hand alone

The evidence so far:
Studies show comparable major complication rates to traditional surgery, better cosmetic results, higher rates of ni**le preservation, and early signs of improved sensation retention — all without compromising cancer control, even in early clinical trial data.

The trade-offs:
It's not for everyone, at least not yet. Surgeries run 6–8 hours (about 53 minutes longer than traditional approaches), and the procedure isn't recommended for tumors near the ni**le, locally advanced or inflammatory cancers, or patients with very large breasts, high BMI, or anatomy that limits robotic access. Insurance coverage also varies, and availability is still limited to a handful of centers — Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, Rochester, Cleveland Clinic, MSK, and Penn Medicine.

Bottom line:
Robotic NSM represents real progress in preserving both the body and the sense of self after a mastectomy — but access is still narrow, and it demands highly specialized surgical teams. As more surgeons train and case volumes grow, expect this to expand well beyond its current handful of hubs.

New technology like this should expand patient choice, not create a two-tier system where cosmetic and sensory outcomes depend on your zip code or your insurance plan. As this technique grows, the advocacy priority should be pushing for broader surgeon training, transparent outcome data, and equitable insurance coverage — so this isn't just an option for patients near a handful of major medical centers.
Every patient deserves to make an informed decision that's right for their body, their cancer, and their life — with real access to the full range of options, not just the ones nearest to them.

Source:
Patient outcome evidence (Gabordi R, et al. First Series of Robotic Ni**le-Sparing Mastectomy in West Central Florida." J Robot Surg. 2022: Confirmed safety and strong outcomes).

**leSparingMastectomy

08/22/2026

Post-Mastectomy Pain Syndrome: What You Should Know 🎀
What it is
Post-Mastectomy Pain Syndrome (PMPS) is chronic pain in the chest wall, armpit, and/or arm that persists beyond the normal 3-month healing window after breast cancer surgery. It's primarily neuropathic, caused by nerve damage during surgery — especially to the intercostobrachial nerve — which is why some clinicians call it intercostobrachial neuralgia. Despite the name, it isn't limited to mastectomy; it also occurs after lumpectomy.
Common symptoms include burning, tingling, numbness, electric-shock sensations, tightness, and shooting pain. It can start right after surgery or emerge months later, and may last for years.
How common is it?
Estimates vary widely by study and definition, but roughly 1 in 4 to 1 in 3 breast cancer survivors is a reasonable working estimate — with some studies reporting rates as low as 13% and others as high as 60%. One long-term follow-up found that 7–12 years post-surgery, about half of affected women still had symptoms while the other half had resolved. PMPS remains under-recognized and under-treated: fewer than half of affected patients receive targeted care.

Risk factors
-Younger age (the strongest predictor)
- More extensive surgery (e.g., axillary lymph node dissection)
- Poorly controlled pain right after surgery
- Radiotherapy and chemotherapy
- Prior chronic pain history and higher BMI
- Upper lateral quadrant tumor location
- Anxiety, depression

Because PMPS is driven largely by nerve injury and pain sensitization around surgery, prevention focuses on the perioperative period:
- Regional anesthesia/nerve blocks
- Aggressive acute pain control after surgery
- Nerve-sparing technique, including sentinel lymph node biopsy over full dissection when appropriate
- Preoperative gabapentin or pregabalin
- Prehabilitation (physical therapy and education before surgery)
- Psychological preparation to address anxiety

No single strategy eliminates risk — early, aggressive, multimodal care offers the best chance of reducing incidence.

Treatment
Standard medications (gabapentinoids, topical agents) offer only modest relief alone. More targeted options include nerve blocks, cryoneurolysis, radiofrequency techniques, neuromodulation, and — in select cases — surgical approaches like fat grafting or nerve reconstruction. Physical therapy for shoulder mobility and scar tissue is often a good first-line, low-risk step, while a pain specialist can coordinate more advanced interventions.

If you're experiencing any of these symptoms, talk with your doctor — they can help determine the right diagnosis and treatment plan for your specific situation.

You deserve real answers and real relief — you don't have to just live with it.

08/20/2026

💕Join Us: Breakfast with Sisters 💕
Life after a cancer diagnosis can feel overwhelming—but you don’t have to walk it alone. Our breast cancer support group meets regularly for coffee, connection, and conversation that heals. Whether you’re newly diagnosed, in treatment, or a long-time survivor, there’s a seat for you at our table.
Come share your story, listen to others, and laugh with women who truly understand. This sisterhood is built on strength, honesty, and the kind of support that only comes from shared experience.

📍 Location: every second Friday - Sarasota
Every third Thursday - Venice
🗓️ Next Meetup:August 21
💌 RSVP or Questions: DM
Let’s lift each other up—one story, one smile, one sip at a time. 💗

Join our private support below:
https://facebook.com/groups/breastcancersurvivorsofsarasota

08/20/2026

What Breast Cancer Patients Really Mean When They Say "I'm Fine" 🦋

Sometimes "I'm fine" doesn't mean fine at all. It means something closer to: I don't have the energy to explain what's really going on right now — and I'm not sure you're ready to hear it.
There comes a point where some of us stop answering honestly — not because we're doing better, but because we're tired of watching the conversation change the moment we're honest.
Sometimes people get quiet. Sometimes they change the subject. Sometimes you can see the discomfort on their face before you've even finished your sentence.

After a while, "I'm fine" becomes easier than explaining everything underneath it — the fear that hasn't fully left, the fatigue no one can see, the scars still healing in ways that don't show up in a mirror.
Here's what "I'm fine" can actually mean:
🌸 I'm scared, but I don't want to make you uncomfortable.
🌸 I'm exhausted, but I don't know how to explain a tiredness that sleep doesn't fix.
🌸 I'm grieving the person I was before, even while I'm grateful to be here.
🌸 I'm managing today, but I'm not sure about tomorrow, and that's a lot to say out loud.
🌸 I've said the honest version before, and it made things awkward — so today, I'm choosing "fine."

None of this means we don't want support. It means we're protecting ourselves from the moments support doesn't show up the way we need it to.

If someone in your life is a survivor and says "I'm fine" — try asking again, gently. Sometimes the second question is the one that opens the door.
And if you're the one saying "I'm fine" today — you don't have to perform okay-ness for anyone. Not even here. This space is for the whole truth, whenever you're ready to share it. 💗

08/19/2026

Today is World Breast Cancer Research Day. 🎀
For those of us who have heard the words "You have breast cancer," research isn't just something happening in a lab.
It's hope.
It's better treatments. Earlier detection. Fewer side effects. More options. More time. And someday, hopefully, a world where far fewer families ever have to hear those devastating words.
Every breakthrough we have today — every improved screening tool, every advancement in reconstruction, every new treatment option — started somewhere. With a clinical trial. A donation. An advocate who refused to stay quiet. A researcher who refused to stop asking questions.
Research is the reason survival rates continue to improve. It's the reason more women today have more options, more hope, and more time than the women who came before us.
Behind every statistic is a scientist who kept looking for answers. Behind every treatment protocol is a study, a trial, a team dedicated to understanding this disease a little better than the day before.
We've come so far — but there is still so much work to do.
Today, we’re grateful for the research that has helped so many of us survive, while continuing to hope for the breakthroughs that will help the next person facing this disease.
Because surviving breast cancer shouldn't be the finish line.
We need better treatments. Better prevention. Better survivorship. And ultimately, a cure. 🎗️
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Breast Cancer Survivors of Sarasota

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