3. Being Healthy Doesn’t Completely Protect You
Teri Gandy-Richardson’s stage 2 breast cancer diagnosis in 2016 blindsided her. The yoga instructor in Brooklyn, New York, thought she was doing everything right. “I was living a healthy, active lifestyle and eating pretty healthy,” she says. “So that was kind of a shock.”
4. The Outlook Can Be Better Than You Think
Learning you have cancer can stir up a lot of fear and anxiety about your future. “When you get that diagnosis, you think it’s a death sentence. That’s just where your mind automatically goes,” says Gandy-Richardson.
5. You May Need Financial Help — and It’s Available
Soon after Chase was diagnosed, she wondered, How am I going to afford this? When it came to finding financial assistance, the social worker at her cancer hospital turned out to be “a godsend.” She pointed Chase to nonprofit organizations like the Patient Advocate Foundation, which helped fund her 16 rounds of chemo.
These are some other organizations that offer financial assistance for everything from copayments to fertility treatments:
6. Treatment Side Effects Could Surprise You
Nausea, vomiting, and hair loss are well-known side effects of cancer treatment, but Chase was shocked by the black splotches that appeared on her palms and on the soles of her feet. The pain in her teeth also took her by surprise.
“They tell you that you might get mouth sores, but they don’t tell you that your teeth will actually ache. I didn’t know what was wrong,” says Chase. Her doctor eventually explained that these were lesser-known side effects from chemotherapy.
7. Healing Isn’t a Linear Process, and You Won’t Be the Same When Treatment Is Over
After undergoing mastectomy for stage 1 ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in 2019, Eve Wilson pushed herself to get well. She’s since learned that the process of healing from breast cancer surgery isn’t always linear.
“It takes as long as it takes, and it goes far deeper than just physical healing,” says Wilson, who is the codirector of Awakened Lifestyles, a personal coaching company in Brisbane, Australia. “The breast cancer journey was really a seven-year process, and I wish I hadn’t expected so much of myself in terms of recovering sooner.”
Chase learned that even though treatments can eradicate your cancer, you won’t necessarily return to your former self. Eight years after her treatment, she still has nerve damage and overwhelming fatigue. Even the texture of her hair is different. “It was really hard for me to deal with the fact that I will never revert back to my precancer body,” she says.
8. There’s More Than One Way to Do Breast Reconstruction
“It has been truly life-changing, and I highly recommend looking into this if you don’t want to have implants in your body,” she says of the procedure. Gandy-Richardson chose implant surgery because she wanted to preserve the muscles in her abdomen.
9. Self-Care and Emotional Support Are Critical
And no one knows what it’s like to live with breast cancer better than someone who’s had it. The place to find fellow cancer warriors is in a support group, Chase discovered. “There was such a camaraderie,” she says. “We were very real with each other, which I think is missing when we’re seeking support from our family members and friends outside of cancer land.”
She joined a local support group in Atlanta as well as a few virtual ones. “You really can make connections. I call them my ‘cancer besties,’” she says. “Cancer is what brought us together, but then we actually developed true friendships.”
10. You Are Strong Enough
Even for a trained cancer surgeon, a breast cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming and terrifying. That’s what Lisa Curcio, MD, discovered when she was diagnosed with a rare type of breast cancer called Paget’s disease 24 years ago. “The diagnosis paralyzes you. I don’t care what you know about breast cancer, it’s paralyzing,” she says.
Though she’d had plenty of experience treating cancer in her patients, Dr. Curcio wasn’t sure she could handle it herself. “One thing I learned is you’re always stronger than you think you are,” she says. “I’ve never seen a single patient who’s gone through breast cancer treatment who wasn’t strong enough to do it.”
Her experience inspired her to switch her focus from general cancer surgery to breast cancer surgery. Today she is the medical director of breast surgery at Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck, New York, and a medical reviewer for Everyday Health. “My diagnosis really helped me see that it was my calling,” says Curcio.
The Takeaway
A breast cancer diagnosis brings many unexpected challenges and important lessons. From understanding that breast cancer doesn’t always stem from family history or lack of a healthy lifestyle to finding financial help for treatments and emotional support critical for recovery, knowledge can dramatically affect your journey. And remember: You’re stronger than you might think.
