TUESDAY TIDINGS - Article: The New Front in Breast Cancer - After Treatment Ends

My husband shared the following article with me today. It's from the Wall Street Journal. I thought it was very informative...

The New Front in Breast Cancer: After Treatment Ends

The article talks about the the long-term affects of chemo, radiation, mastectomy, and hormone treatments that breast cancer survivors face.

A breast cancer survivor, Carie Capossela, says: "The second-hardest phase—after the initial diagnosis—is the minute your treatment ends." I agree with Carie. I know that as I sat in that final appointment with my oncologist, I was dismayed to hear him say that the only thing he would be doing to follow up on my cancer was checkups, where blood tests are run, and a physical is performed. These check ups would be every 3 months for the first year, every 6 months for the second year, and then yearly for the rest of my life. No other tests would run, unless I showed symptoms or signs that worried my oncologist. This just didn't seem good enough!

The article also mentions that there is little data about the long term problems that survivors have - heart problems, nerve damage, osteoporosis and secondary cancers. There was a survey done that showed that... "Nearly 90% of respondents said they had at least one physical, psychological or social problem that was moderate to severe. Mentioned most frequently were fatigue, sexual dysfunction and sleep issues. What's more, 24% of those surveyed reported being depressed—about twice the national rate."

The article went on to talk about a fascinating idea - a "survivorship care plan". This plan would "summarize what past tests and treatments [survivors] had, what side effects to expect, what lifestyle changes to make and where to obtain follow-up care. When asked, 96% of survivors said they would want one."

There is much more to this article. I hope you'll take the time to click on the link above and read it. It really resonated with me.

At the end of the article, it says, "Many breast-cancer survivors say they find some peace of mind in reaching out to help other breast-cancer patients." I love this quote by survivor Janelle Hail: ""When I was first diagnosed, I felt like I'd been shot. I had a big black hole in me. When I started thinking about how I could help other women with breast cancer, that's when that hole started healing up."

Amen! We here at Lifting Hearts have always maintained that service - helping other survivors - is one of the keys to being able to heal. Speaking of helping, please join us at our survivor support meeting this Thursday night (7:00 pm, 3301 N. University Avenue, Provo) and help us make rice warmers. We are getting these ready as part of our "Heart to Heart" program. We'll be providing the doctors' offices in our local area with these bags to give to their breast cancer patients. We'd love to have your help. Come spend the evening with us!