Elizabeth Edwards died of Breast Cancer this morning at her home in North Carolina.

Edwards, 61, Was First Diagnosed With Breast Cancer in 2004.

Yesterday, media reported that her condition had worsened and that she had posted a message on her Facebook page that included these lines:

“I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces — my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope. These graces have carried me through difficult times and they have brought more joy to the good times than I ever could have imagined. The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that.”

Edwards, estranged from former Senator and presidential candidate John Edwards, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. She spoke with WebMD about her breast cancer in May 2009.

Edwards’ Breast Cancer Story

Edwards first noticed a lump in her breast in late October 2004 while showering in a Wisconsin hotel, on the road in support of her husband, John Edwards, in his vice presidential campaign.

That lump turned out to be stage II breast cancer, which was diagnosed in November 2004, the day after the general election.

Edwards got treated for her breast cancer in 2004-2005. First came chemotherapy to shrink the size of the tumor, followed by a lumpectomy (surgery to remove the tumor while saving as much of the breast as possible) and radiation therapy.

In March 2007, Edwards hurt a rib, and after getting an X-ray and other scans she learned that her breast cancer was back as stage IV breast cancer, the most advanced stage of the disease.

Edwards’ breast cancer was in her bones, and perhaps also in her lungs and liver, though that wasn’t certain at the time. In May 2009, Edwards told WebMD that the spot in the liver was “fairly inconsequential” and the spots in the lungs “turned out to be nothing.”

Still, Edwards wrote in her 2009 memoir, Resilience, that her cancer “wasn’t leaving. Not ever.”

When cancer spreads to the bone, it’s generally considered incurable but may be treatable.

When she talked to WebMD in 2009, Edwards said that to treat her stage IV breast cancer, she took a chemotherapy drug at home, another cancer drug intravenously every two weeks, and a third drug that helps protect the bones when cancer has spread to the bones.

Even so, Edwards didn’t shy away from the fact that she could die of her cancer. And she voiced regret about not getting routine screening mammograms as often as recommended.

“I didn’t get screened the way I should have,” Edwards told WebMD in 2009. “As a result, I found out later than I could have” about the original cancer, Edwards added that not getting screened “does not change the reality. It only changes your options,” as early diagnosis can make a difference in treatment.

But throughout her treatment, Edwards emphasized her life, not her risk of death.

She was passionate about her children and health care reform, and she said she didn’t fear dying after living through the death of her first child, Wade, in a car accident in 1996, when Wade was 16.

Edwards is survived by her husband, John, her daughters, Cate and Emma Claire, and her son, Jack.

Cathey’s loving parents.

Catherine “Cathey” Grey Carrington Clawson, 48, died Thursday, June 17, 2010, at her home in Manteo only six months after the discovery of a primary brain tumor. Mary Blanch and Boyce Harwell’s daughter. Such good people.

Cathey was born July 7, 1961 in Chapel Hill to the late Dr. Samuel M. Carrington Jr. and to Mary Blanche Meekins Harwell. She lived and attended schools in Chapel Hill, Paris, Boulder, Houston, Manteo, Chattanooga and Rock Hill, graduating from Rock Hill High School in 1979. She earned a BA in clarinet performance from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1983 where she performed in the New Music Ensemble and was principal clarinetist in the Wind Ensemble and the University Symphony Orchestra.

Cathey lived a life filled with music, including performances with numerous groups in Cincinnati, the Community Symphony Orchestra in Charlotte, numerous wedding performances on the Outer Banks, and her favorite, the Roanoke Island Trio, with Sue Waters, violin/viola, and Lee Kearney, piano. She maintained a music studio which grew to 45 students, teaching clarinet, saxophone and piano. Cathey’s most recent employment was in human resources for the National Park Service Outer Banks Group which she called “her NPS family.” She loved working there and believed in their mission.

Cathey was a loving person that always thought of others first and herself last. She was an avid reader, devoted mother, skier, camper, traveler, and hiker. She hiked in Switzerland, the Great Smokey Mountains NP, Grand Canyon NP, Rocky Mountain NP, Red River Gorge, the Napali Coast of Kauai, the Maroon Bells NF, El Dorado NF and Mount Tallac, Klamath NF, Big Sur, Muir Woods NM, Point Reyes NS, Sunset Crater Volcano NM, Wupatki NM, Yellowstone NP, Grand Teton NP, and Glacier NP.

Cathey is survived by her husband, David Clawson; three sons, Zachary, Grey and Gage; her mother, Mary Blanche Harwell; her stepfather and second father Boyce Harwell. The family gives special thanks to the loving caregivers who made it possible for Cathey to remain in her home.

The incredible sand sculptor of Duck. Loving husband of Ms. Lori Tate.

Cancer.

My Aunt Doris, my Dad’s sister. She is on the left. All three of my grandmother’s children (pictured, my father in the middle) have died of cancer.

BIRTH 15 FEB 1935 • New York City, New York
DEATH 11 NOV 1984 • Dunstable, Massachusetts

Mother of Joel and Mikey, wife of Pete Bergas.

My Aunt Joan, my Dad’s sister. She is on the right.  All three of my grandmother’s children (pictured, my father in the middle) have died of cancer.

Aunt Joan was my cousin Mary Susan’s mom.
(Mary Susan if you are reading this please contact me! I have been looking for you for years!)