Breast cancer is one disease that can
lead to death if it has not been treated immediately. With this
information in mind, most breast cancer patients are having a hard
time to accept that they have this disease. These are the patients
who would get really depressed about depression and start looking at
their lives in a very negative and dark way. Aside from the disease,
they are also getting depressed because of the side effects that
chemotherapy is causing. With all the stressors and depression,
these patients would rather stop treatment and just wait for death to
come.
Because of this, the patient needs
every support that they can get in order to continue fighting for
their lives through medication. By having someone to listen to them,
it will be possible for the patient to continue with the medications
and thus see that there are still a number people who still accept
them and not see them as excess burden.
So where can the breast cancer patients
get support? First of all, they need not look that far as they have
their family members who are their immediate support. Their families
are the ones who can accept them the most. They can accompany them
during chemotherapy sessions and assist them once they are
experiencing some of the side effects. At the same time, since they
are family members, they know the patients better in terms of
handling their personalities.
Aside from family members, closest
friends can also be their strong support system. They may not be as
available as the family members but they would still be a great help
by just listening to the patients and continue giving them
encouragement.
Finally, there are breast cancer
support groups that can also help the patient go through their
disease. These are the people whom you may not really know for a
very long time but they have the same situation as you. They are
breast cancer survivors that would be helpful in giving you good
insight about fighting your disease. Just like you, they have had a
hard time accepting breast cancer once diagnosed and have experienced
chemotherapy side effects and even went on surgery to remove the
lumps or the whole breast. They will share their experience and how
they were able to muddle through and survived the disease.
You have two options in getting support
from these groups. One is that you will be able to get support
through live groups. You can attend several focused group
discussions in order to give you support through personal
interactions.
If you want everything to be in
private, you can check out several support group websites. You can
read their posts about their experiences and even post your inquiries
through forum posting. They would be able to give you support and
encouragement that you will need online.
Continuing with the medications to
survive breast cancer is very easy with breast cancer support group.
Remember that this is a battle that you need not fight alone.
To find a local no-fee breast cancer support group, contact your local Cancer Society.
Another resource are local no-fee "self-help group clearinghouses" worldwide:
http://www.mentalhelp.net/selfhelp/selfhelp.php?id=859
For men with breast cancer (Yes, men get it, but because so few of us know that, it's more deadly than for women), there's a "MaleBC" online mutual support group of men with it:
http://www.acor.org
Once there, click on A-Z cancers, then select "breast", then "MaleBC".
- Ed
www.selfhelpgroups.org