The Breast Cancer Support Center

Every person is unique, but when you face a challenge like breast cancer you are never alone.  Countless women, and even some men, have faced exactly same diagnosis and have survived and thrived. The following guide is designed to help you navigate your journey with the best information and resources that helped other survivors when they faced the same challenge.  

TSC has scoured the Web and assembled links to the very best breast cancer resources: articles, blogs, forums, and tools that can help you make better decisions and take action to overcome the range of physical, emotional, and other challenges you're facing now.

As you’ll see, we always welcome your ideas and suggestions to make this breast cancer guide even more helpful to survivors like you.

JUST FOUND OUT

Survivors Say: Best Resources for Breast Cancer

• American Cancer Society: Breast Cancer Resources This site brings together authoritative articles with the latest thinking in treatment, case, and prevention of breast cancer.

• National Cancer Institute: Breast Cancer The NCI's breast cancer page is a great place to start if you're looking for help understanding your treatment options, as well as screening, prevention, genetics, and causes of breast cancer, or if you're looking to join a clinical trial.

• Breastcancer.org You'd be hard-pressed to find a better site than this when it comes to finding both trustworthy breast cancer information and a warm, welcoming online community. Breastcancer.org's articles are regularly reviewed and updated and written in language free of medical jargon.

The Big Picture

Over a woman's lifetime (meaning through her 80s and 90s), her chance of developing breast cancer is about one in eight. There's been considerable good news about breast cancer in recent years -- for one thing, the death rate from the disease continues to fall, thanks to new research discoveries, earlier detection, and aggressive treatments. Your best chance of beating this disease is early detection. Learn how you or a loved one can find symptoms early:

National Cancer Institute - Improving Breast Cancer Detection and Diagnosis

Your Breast Cancer

The kind of breast cancer you have will likely influence your treatment and your prognosis. Learn more about the different kinds -- from invasive ductal carcinoma to invasive lobular carcinoma, as well as less common types -- in this article:

MayoClinic.com: Types of breast cancer

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also has excellent information on the different types of cancers and their treatment:

Basic Information About Breast Cancer

Your World

You might feel frightened, maybe angry, and also a sense of urgency to deal with the tumor in your body as soon as possible. All of these are normal responses to a diagnosis of breast cancer. One way to help deal with these emotions is to build a support system:

Breast Cancer Support

Here's help finding a group in your area, from Breastcancer.org:

How Can I Find a Breast Cancer Support Group in My Area?

Signs & Symptoms

You may have deteced your tumor through a mammogram or maybe you found it yourself through a breast self-exam (BSE). A lump in breast tissue is definitely something to check out, but most of the time they turn out to be benign. These sites detail the most common signs and symptoms of breast cancer:

Mayoclinic.com - Breast Cancer Symptoms

Breastcancer.org - What are the signs of breast cancer?

Do You Need A Second (or Even a Third) Opinion?

Many women opt to get a second opinion, whether about the diagnosis itself or for another point of view on the treatment plan your health-care team is recommending for you:

WebMD: Breast Cancer -- Second Medical Doctor's Opinion

Questions to Ask Your Doctor When You’re Just Diagnosed     

WebMD summarizes 10 important questions to ask your medical oncologist (who oversees chemotherapy treatment) and your breast cancer surgeon.

Breast Cancer: Questions to Ask Your Breast Cancer Doctors

What medications will I take?

The drugs you'll take to treat your breast cancer will depend on the type of breast cancer you have, its stage of development, and the drugs you'll be able to tolerate best (side effects of some drugs can be tough to manage):

Mayoclinic.com: Breast Cancer -- Treatment and Drugs

How should I tell my family, friends, and employer?

• American Cancer Society: Telling Your Family and Friends
• Videojug.com: How to Tell Your Employer You Have Breast Cancer (video)

Breast Cancer Myths

• "Breast cancer is always fatal."
• "Breast cancer always recurs even after what appears to be a successful treatment."

Information and Recommended Links for Survivors

• iVillage.com: Breast Cancer Tips and Dealing Strategies
• American Cancer Society: Tips for Coping with Breast Cancer
• About.com: Emotions and Breast Cancer-- Expressing, Coping, Surviving

Types of Treatment

Surgery

Surgery -- whether a mastectomy (removal of the entire breast) or lumpectomy (removal of the breast lump and as little tissue around it as possible, to retain the breast's natural shape) -- remains the first treatment in most cases of breast cancer:

Breastcancer.org - Surgery

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is prescribed for most types of breast cancers. The type of drug(s) and the length fo treatment depends on the type of breast cancer you have, so talk through your options with your medical oncologist, who'll oversee your chemotherapy treatments: 

Breastcancer.org - Chemotherapy

Radiation

Not all breast cancer patients have radiation, but it can be highly effective in preventing a recurrence: 

Breastcancer.org - Radiation Therapy

Possible Treatment Side Effects

This WebMD page walks you through possible side effects of chemotherapy and radiation:

Breast Cancer Treatment: Chemotherapy & Radiation Therapy

Side effects and treatment options for breast cancer are explained in this Breastcancer.org page:

Treatment & Side Effects

New Therapies

New developments are happening all the time to deliver more targeted therapies and lessen the time a woman is on a drug or undergoing treatment, as well as ease the side effects she experiences without raising her risk for a recurrence of breast cancer. A lot of research is focusing on genetic therapies as well. 

Here's a summary of recent breast cancer trial results from the National Cancer Institute: Breast Cancer Trial Results

American Cancer Society: What's New in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment?

Holistic Treatments

Alternative and natural therapies are covered well in this Breastcancer.org page: 

Complementary and Holistic Treatments

Breastcancer.org also has a place to discuss these therapies in its active online community:

Breast Cancer: Alternative, Complementary & Holistic Treatments

Lifestyle

A healthy diet and regular, vigorous exercise are crucial to prevention of breast cancer and will also help you as you're going through treatment. Your doctor may recommend that you consult with a dietitian as part of a holistic approach to the treatment of your cancer:

• Healthcentral.com: Breast Cancer - Prevention and Lifestyle Factors
• Susan G. Komen for the Cure: Lifestyle Changes May Help Prevent One-third of All Cancers

Insurance Work & Money Matters

Need help in finding low-cost insurance and other programs? Check out this useful FAQ page:

Avon Foundation Breast Center at Johns Hopkins: Questions Women With Breast Cancer Frequently Ask About Health Insurance Benefits

If you've lost your job and your insurance coverage, read this page from Breastcancer.org:

Q&A: Lose job and insurance coverage? 

What Kinds of Doctors You Will Need

Breast cancer involves many different types of doctors and treatments, all working together toward one goal: getting you well. You are likely to see a breast surgeon, a medical oncologist, a radiation oncologist, and other specialists. A pathologist will analyze your biopsy and write the pathology report that is the foundation of your treatment plan. 

Wrongdiagnosis.com: Doctors and Medical Specialists for Breast Cancer

Resources to Find Doctors

• Healthcentral.com has rounded up a list of sources for finding first-rate specialists and hospitals for breast cancer treatment: Top Breast Cancer Hospitals and Doctors
• WebMD offers practical advice on finding the surgeon that's right for you: Finding the Best Breast Cancer Surgeon
• The National Cancer Institute designates some US hospitals as comprehensive cancer centers that have met the NCI's standards of excellence. Here's a full list of all the centers nationwide.

Dealing with an Emotional Rollercoaster

Here's common sense advice from the American Cancer Society on how you can cope day-to-day in the ongoing battle against breast cancer:

Tips for Coping with Breast Cancer

Depression can be part of the long and tough fight against breast cancer; here are excellent tips on how to deal with depression and move beyond it:

WeTV.com: Coping with Breast Cancer and Depression

Books Survivors Find Helpful

• Breast Cancer Survival Manual, Fourth Edition: A Step-by-Step Guide for the Woman With Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer, by John Link
• Chicken Soup for the Breast Cancer Survivor's Soul: Stories to Inspire, Support and Heal, by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Mary Olsen Kelly 
• Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book (4th ediition), by Susan Love
• Living Beyond Breast Cancer: A Survivor's Guide for When Treatment Ends and the Rest of Your Life Begins, by Dr. Marissa Weiss

Communicating with Your Health Care Providers

• Always be honest; never withhold information.
• Talk to your doctor(s) frequently.
• Keep all phone numbers for your support group – which includes your doctor(s) and pharmacy – handy at all times.

Dealing with Breast Cancer: Information and Recommended Links for Co-Survivors

How you can help

• Breast cancer is also hard on friends and family. The Breast Cancer Network of Strength has some helpful advice for supporting a breast cancer patient: Guidance for Friends & Family - Breast Cancer Support

What to say

• “I’m here for you.”
• “I support your decisions.”
• “I love you.”

What not to say

• “We’re going to make this all go away.”
• “This type of cancer always recurs.”
• “We’ll go to every hospital and doctor and spend as much as it takes to to fight this.”

Things you can do for a survivor every day

• American Cancer Society: Survivor Offers Advice to Friends, Family of Women with Breast Cancer

How to build a support network

• Learn seven ways to create more support around you, from the Breast Cancer Network of Strength: Build Your Support Network

How to help a survivor deal with day-to-day challenges

Your job can present particular challenges as you make your way through treatment. Here's some sound advice about how to negotiate issues that may come up at work:

• Breast Cancer Network of Strength: Breast Cancer and the Workplace
• About.com: Breast Cancer and Work

Remission / Recovery / Recurrence

        
Unfortunately, not all cases of breast cancer result in a cure. Or you may have been treated successfully, but cancer returns (what's called a recurrence). If you've finished treatment you may have a nagging fear of recurrence, which can make it difficult to move into survivorship fully. That's natural, as are emotions like anger, disbelief, frustration, sadness and more.

Here's more about what remission means:

About.com Breast Cancer Remission

Lifestyle changes like eating a healthy, low-fat diet; sticking to a regular exercise regimen; and stopping smoking can go a long way in keeping you healthy and lowering your risk of a recurrence:

Susan G. Komen for the Cure: Preventing Breast Cancer Recurrence - What's Right for Me?

Learn why it's so important to continue with check-ups after you've finished treatment:

• WebMD: Breast Cancer Recurrence
• WebMD: Breast Cancer Survivors - Life After the Treatments End

Sometimes, of course, breast cancer is terminal, usually when it has metastasized (spread to other organs). Here's advice on help you through this very difficult time:

• MakingMemories.org - This foundation is "dedicated to providing a spark of joy into the lives of women and men who are losing their battle against breast cancer."
• Breast Cancer Network of Strength: End of Life Issues - Recurrent & Advanced Breast Cancer
• Breast Friends.com - Cancer Survivor Support
• Breastcancer.org Forum: Palliative Therapy/Hospice Care