Breast Cancer Awareness: The Importance of Knowing

A family member was very recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

The news was overwhelming for me, and in the span of two weeks she had gotten the diagnosis, surgery, and is currently in post-op recovery. We are not sure if she needs chemo yet, but we are in good spirits. To those who pray and to those who don't-- please keep my family in your thoughts.

While our story seems to have a happy ending in store for us, I wanted to share my experiences with others who may be in a similar situation.

I have never been so grateful for the internet, as knowledge about breast cancer, its stages, what type of tests to take and what kind of symptoms to expect has provided great comfort for us. It has been difficult for me to keep my head straight the past couple of weeks, but simply knowing about how bad breast cancer is/isn't has been a great help.

That said, I would like to share the following pieces of information that provided me the most comfort:

1) 1 in 8 women develop breast cancer. 1 in 5 of those don't beat it.
2) Early detection saves lives.

Stage	5-year Relative Survival Rate
0	100%
I	100%
II	86%
III	57%
IV	20%

*She was stage I/IIa, and so this simple chart went a long way in assuaging my fears.

3) Be strong when speaking to/being with the patient. This may seem like an odd bit of advice, but my personal experience was that I was incredibly emotional. However, crying in front of the person or expressing too much worry isn't a good idea, and if you need to let your emotions out, you should do it in front of someone else.

4) Listen, and don't tell her what you would do in her position. Letting the person you love make their own decisions about the whys and wherefores of their treatment is a must, even if you would personally do something else. Again, this may seem like a silly bit of advice, but when you're in my shoes and you want nothing more than your loved one to be well, you'll probably want to start calling the shots. Don't.

5) Other helpful links: http://www.cancer.org, http://www.locateadoc.com/articles, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breast_cancer, http://www.breastcancer.org/

Please help promote breast cancer awareness. I cannot stress how important early detection is, and how grateful I am that she caught it sooner rather than later.