Tuesday, December 1, 2009
When you first find out you have Breast Cancer:
Breast Cancer patients view life with new lenses. Time takes on new meaning. What's important in life takes center stage. More times than not the first question that enters your mind is,why did I get breast cancer? Rather than waste precious moments wondering whether your illness was caused by something you did or did not do, or worrying that you mother, sister or daughter will develop breast cancer if yours is a new case in the family, spend your time wisely looking forward and moving on. Only 5 to 10 percent of breast cancer has a genetic origin. For the rest, don't ask why, because there simply is no "why". The race for health and wellness is winnable, and it is achievable, but none of us can do it alone. Without friends and family and companions and, above all, information, we are wandering in the medical and spiritual wilderness. The bottom line is simple: health is our most precious gift. To preserve it, as patients, we neeed to be active, we need to be assertive, and we need to partner with our health care providers and our loved ones.
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The surgery textbooks describe the feel of cancer: gritty and hard with an irregular, rough surface. Cancer is Latin for Crab, and breast cancer sends out crablike tentacles.
ReplyDeleteThe only walls in life are those we construct ourselves--cancer doesn't define who we are or determine what we can accomplish.
ReplyDeleteThink about...
ReplyDeletewhat breast cancer means to me
*How do I schedule my life around treatments?
*How do I tell my kids? Will they understand?
*Will my husband still find me attractive?
*What do I tell my employer? What options do I have?
*How can I be sure my doctor is offering me the best treatment for my type of breast cancer? Should I get a second opinion now?
*After surgery, what will I lok like? How will I manage the pain?
*What clothes will I be able to wear?
*Will I lose my hair?
We all have fears and questions. You can't always control the ones above (but, you often can); you CAN always control the answers to the two most important questions you'll ever ask yourself:
*What does this cancer journey mean to me?
*How can I make breast cancer "the best thing that ever happened to me"?
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