After diagnosis, I went to Internet to research breast cancer. The websites seemed overwhelming and I didn’t know what to look for. Massachusetts General Hospital and my case manager provided by my insurance company gave me boxes of information. These are the publications I found the most helpful and how to get them; start with these. When I find more quality resources I will update the list.
National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship Cancer Survival Toolbox I found this after I finished treatment, which was disappointing, because this would have been helpful. There are 12 programs on 10 CDs. These offer coping skills to help you through your cancer treatment. Currently I am listing to “Living Beyond Cancer”, which is on disk 8 and 9 and I am impressed. This combined with the information from the National Cancer Institute will provide most of the information you need.
CURE, Cancer Updates, Research & Education magazine A free resource for people with cancer and their caregivers. With every subscription you will also receive cancer resource guide produced by CURE and the American Cancer Society. I like this magazine, I admit I don’t read every word, but there is always something interesting and helpful. It is a quality publication you might enjoy. .
What to Avoid I watched a video called “The Breast Cancer Diaries”. I found it very depressing; she cried often. I decided I would not cry, but learn about about each step of treatment, accept the side effects and get the most out of life. I had almost every side effect I read about, yet I only cried twice.
Once after going to a romantic comedy with friends. I sobbed because I was sure nobody would ever love me again and my sex life was over, the other because somehow, for no logical reason, I was sure I was HIV positive and sobbed to the CDC and at Planned Parenthood where I was tested. The test was negative and I had a boyfriend while in treatment.
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