Publications
Just for Me: Supplement to Insight for the Newly Diagnosed, Summer 2008
Try out this special section focusing on your life in the first two years after a diagnosis of early breast cancer. In our first issue, guest columnist and LBBC member Terri Welch tells you why "Bald Chicks Rock" and we present excerpts from our new Guide to Understanding Your Emotions and news about an investigational medicine to strengthen bones during therapy with aromatase inhibitors.
Table of Contents
Letters to the Editor
Dear Friends:
Welcome to Just for Me!
Over the years, some of you have asked us for extra information in Insight focusing on your unique experiences, "just for you." Ask and you shall receive!
In the next few issues of Insight, we will test run a special section focusing on the first two years after diagnosis. Just for Me will have letters to the editor, a first-person story from a reader, news you can use and information about LBBC programs.
Just for Me is all about you, so please let us know whether you like it and what other stories you want to read. Please contact me anytime at with your comments, questions or a story you want to share.
Warmly,
Jean
Introducing our Guide to Understanding Your Emotions
Our just published Guide to Understanding Your Emotions will help you make sense of what you are feeling, whether you are recently diagnosed or months or years from treatment. The six sections of the brochure explain common (and not-so-common) emotions, signs of anxiety and depression, when to consult a healthcare professional, responding to your emotions, understanding your feelings after initial treatment ends and practical strategies for moving forward.
The guide, by Mary Alice Hartsock, was reviewed by a team of healthcare professionals and women like you. Below we share several sections. Order your free copy of the full guide today online or by calling us at (610) 645-4567.
How Treatment Impacts Your Emotions
For some women, fear about survival or worries about recurrence and family can consume life during and after treatment.
Reminders of your breast cancer may seem like they are everywhere. Frequent news coverage and statistics about breast cancer can influence your feelings. Hair loss, weight gain or loss, scars, insomnia, fatigue, lymphedema and difficulties with intimacy can alter your body image and self-esteem. It is common to feel uncertain early on and over time about how surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and hormonal therapy may impact you physically.
You may be especially concerned about the ways your lifestyle and the lifestyles of your loved ones could change because of your treatment. You may worry that you will not be able to maintain your job, insurance and income if you must take time off work for treatments or sickness. Plans in your life may have to be put off, or you may resent that you do not feel "normal" anymore.
Finishing treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation can be a relief, foster a sense of accomplishment and be difficult, all at the same time. When treatment ends, you may feel you are losing frequent contact with the medical and personal support teams you count on. You are not alone; these, too, are feelings many women share.
If your feelings become more intense and interfere with your daily life, consider talking to a member of your healthcare team to determine if you are experiencing an anxiety disorder or clinical depression. Healthcare professionals can help you to identify mental health resources that are available to you. On your own, you also may wish to seek out a mental health provider who has experience working with women affected by breast cancer.
Looking for Help
There are a variety of ways to respond to sadness, anxiety and depression. You may discover that talking to a mental health professional such as a psychologist, social worker or psychiatrist can help you work through and learn to cope with your emotions. Also, making lifestyle changes and focusing on aspects of your life that help you feel better are useful ways to cope with your feelings.
Complementary methods such as relaxation techniques or physical activities such as walking, Tai Chi, yoga or other forms of exercise may reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. Some symptoms that are especially responsive to these interventions include poor sleep, heart palpitations and agitation. These interventions also may help you to establish a sense of control over your life.
Working with a healthcare professional, you may choose to use prescription medications during the most difficult emotional times. There is no single solution to addressing your feelings; you should choose the methods that make the most sense for you.
Your Emotions After Initial Treatment
Completing initial cancer treatment can stimulate a variety of feelings and reactions. During treatment, you may not have had time to think about all that has happened. After, you may experience a period where you feel vulnerable because you are no longer "proactively" fighting the cancer. You might become more nervous about aches and pains or other symptoms. Seeing doctors and nurses less often can leave you with unanswered questions when you notice changes in your body. It is okay and normal to feel this way, but if you begin to feel hopeless or your feelings gradually worsen, you may want to talk to a mental health professional.
As you transition into your post-treatment life and start returning to your regular routine, your personal support team may seem less present. When your loved ones see that you are feeling better on the outside, they may not understand that cancer and cancer treatment are still affecting you on the inside. Still, you may feel angry or abandoned because of the change in the amount of support they are giving.
Try talking to your family and friends to help them understand how you are feeling. Find a friend who is willing to talk when you need her. Seek out a support group to maintain connection with peers who are facing similar challenges. You may need to educate your family, friends and co-workers about your ongoing needs as you recover.
Fearing a Recurrence
Breast cancer recurrence is one of the most common fears that can impair your quality of life. Your fears of recurrence may change over time, depending on how long you wait between doctor’s appointments and follow-up exams, your health status, how you cope generally and other things going on in your life, such as holidays, family milestones or anniversaries of your diagnosis. You may hear about a friend or a famous person diagnosed with breast cancer, and the news could trigger memories or emotions around your experience. Milestones can trigger emotions—you may experience more intense joy at happy occasions or mixed, bittersweet emotions on a variety of occasions.
After you finish treatment, you might be ready to move on with life and want to stop thinking about cancer. You might become sad about having to go to follow-up visits or experience anxiety during regular testing.
It is important to continue going to follow-up appointments, even if you do not want to think about cancer. To lower your anxiety around follow-up appointments, consider doing yoga or meditation, finding a supportive friend who can accompany you to medical appointments or talking to a mental health professional.
Bald Chicks Rock, or I Was Diagnosed with Breast Cancer, and All I Got Was a Bald Head
Some people cry after their breast cancer diagnosis. I bought pink ribbon jewelry. I woke up in the recovery room, and my surgeon said, "Well, it was cancerous." I immediately thought, "Well, I had breast cancer, but now I don’t. Whew! Glad that’s over! Let’s buy some jewelry to celebrate!"
It never even occurred to me that I’d have to go through chemo and radiation and all that hoohah. It wasn’t until I went to see the oncologist that reality struck.
Oh. Chemo. I’m going to lose my hair. And feel really yucky. Wow.
Though I had my moments of depression afterward, and a few bouts of crying, I quickly decided that since laughter helps the immune system, I would choose to go through my months of treatment looking for the funny stuff.
The first time I went to the oncologist, I passed the entrance that said, "PET SCAN," and—I swear I am not making this up—I thought, "Oh, that must be where you take your pets to see if they have cancer."
My daughter and I went to get her hair cut last summer. We walked in, she with her shoulder-length blond hair and me with my bald head in a hot pink do-rag, and the receptionist looked up and said, "Who’s getting her hair cut today?"
I finished chemo in July, and my hair started growing back about a month later. I went by my daughter’s kindergarten class in the fall. While chatting with some of her classmates, I told them I used to have long hair like their teacher. They looked at me disbelievingly. I lifted up my ball cap to show my quarter-inch-long hair. "It’s growing back, though, see?" I said. One little boy looked at me consideringly, and said, "You look better with the hat."
My husband and I went shopping in October. By that time, my hair was long enough to look like I was one of those fabulous ladies who choose to cut her hair in an extremely short crew cut. One old guy walked by, looked at me and said, "I’d kill my wife if she did that." His friend replied, "What? Get breast cancer?"
I bought a t-shirt from CafePress.com that says "Bald Chicks Rock" and a hat that says, "Coiffure by Chemo." For Halloween, my costume consisted of jeans and a t-shirt that said, "Sinead O’Connor" in black Sharpie.
To help you keep your spirits up during your treatment, I compiled a Top Ten List of Cool Things I Enjoyed During Treatment:
10. No more plucking! Besides the hair on your head, those pesky chin hairs and stray eyebrow hairs go away as well.
9. Lose weight without going on a diet. If you take your anti-emetics, you will probably not throw up after chemo, but you may not feel like eating much.
8. Save money. No more spending money on shampoo, conditioner, perms, hair coloring or, ahem, Brazilian waxes.
7. Save on the water bill. You will take the shortest showers of your life. You will have very little to shampoo, condition or shave.
6. Shorter showers save the environment.
5. Smooth legs with no hassle.
4. If it gets hot, you can take your hair off.
3. Free food. Your friends and neighbors will more than likely start providing you with food once you start treatment. My family ate the best meals of their lives during my treatment.
2. Free makeup. The American Cancer Society has this free seminar called Look Good, Feel Better, where they show you how to tie scarves and do your makeup. You get a bag of free makeup and a free wig or scarf!
1. Guilt-free laziness. For the first time since you were a teenager, you can lay around all day and watch TV, and nobody will say anything.
So, get a funny t-shirt like the one that says "Does This Shirt Make My Head Look Bald?", have a head shaving party and rent some funny movies for when you don’t feel well. And remember, Bald Chicks Rock.
Want to share your story in our next issue? Write to us at or call Janine at (610) 645-4567.
