First Advice For Breast Cancer Patients

By Erica Heilman
The prognosis for women with breast cancer is good. Treatment options have multiplied in recent years; newer treatments are more effective and less invasive in their effect; and most women diagnosed this year will survive their breast cancer.

But none of this helps to alleviate the initial shock and disorientation that comes with a cancer diagnosis. Nearly a quarter million women will be diagnosed this year with breast cancer, and many will find themselves in a complex world filled with unfamiliar medical terminology, technology and treatment choices. Getting oriented in that world is the critical first step toward treatment and recovery.

Below, breast cancer experts from around the country offer a newly diagnosed patient some first words of advice.


Get informed. Explore all available information resources.
First I would tell her, all is not lost. Life has not ended today at the time of the diagnosis. Most women today who get breast cancer survive it. I would try to reassure her that with proper treatment and good care, there is much to be hopeful about.

I would urge her to get informed. The better informed you are, the more you can do for yourself. You can actually help your health care providers by being informed. So I would urge that patient to get informed and get familiar with a whole variety of information sources.

There are wonderful sources of information, for instance, on the World Wide Web. There is a wonderful array of sites where you can get information in plain English that's very understandable, and that's not fringe information. The National Cancer Institute's Web site is a great source. NABCO, or the National Association of Breast Care Organizations, also is a wonderful source of information. Ask your doctor which sources of information he or she would recommend. Then use that information to develop questions that you may want to ask your doctor or whoever is providing your care.

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Advice To Women Newly Diagnosed With Breast Cancer


Family, or the equivalent of family, is extremely important. A woman diagnosed with breast cancer needs a tremendous amount of support. A woman's breasts are so much a part of her body, and if they're taken away, often women feel that some of their femininity has been taken away, and that's not true. The family can be enormously supportive and helpful in this respect, to provide comfort and confidence. They need to be supportive of her feelings, and supportive of the route of therapy that is chosen.
But at the end, she must make her own decisions about treatment. She should gather all the information she can, from doctors, from other women, and from discussion with family, and then she must choose her own approach.


Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH; Associate Professor of Medicine and Deputy Director, Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Research Center; Baylor College of Medicine



Put together a healthcare team and bring someone with you to your visits.
The first thing she needs to do is acquire a team of physicians that will plan her treatment, and that usually involves a surgical oncologist, a medical oncologist and a radiation oncologist. For some women, surgery may be all that is necessary. For some women, radiation may not be needed, but it is important that that team is put together that will meet with her to coordinate her care. Sit down with those clinicians and discuss treatment plans.

I find it very helpful when a woman brings someone with her who is her advocate, be it her spouse, significant other, a family member or a friend. Oftentimes this information is very overwhelming and you need another person there who will capture some of that information and who you can go home and talk things over with. If she doesn't have someone like that, often a tape recorder is helpful to capture that information.

For some women, it's very helpful to get a second opinion. But again, the team that is working with you should be able to spend the time it takes to educate and to walk you through the process, and help you know what to expect.

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