What is breast cancer? How is it treated?
There are many facets of breast cancer, and we understand that the information available can become overwhelming. Our experience has lead us to the following conclusion:
The more you know, the better decisions you can make about your care.
“I’m fully aware that cancer takes no breaks, knows no months and waits for no one, and for all these reasons it’s so important that we hold each other dear and appreciate one another. I appreciate you, Breast Connect, for all you do for us!”
– Beverly Zavaleta, Brownsville, Texas
Diagnosed May 2015
YOU CAN LEARN FROM SUPPORTIVE ORGANIZATIONS & WEBSITES
Below we have links that will give you a simple, easy-to-understand overview of the disease and additional websites that our survivors found useful after their initial research.
- The American Cancer Society
- BreastCancer.org
- Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation
- How a Child Understands Cancer
- Living Beyond Breast Cancer
- National Breast Cancer Foundation
- National Comprehensive Cancer Network
- Sisters Network Inc. : A National African American Breast Cancer Survivorship Organization
- For the Breast of Us – Organization for Women of Color with breast cancer
YOU CAN LEARN FROM BOOKS
Here are some books our survivors found useful after their initial research:
- Anticancer: A New Way of Life
- Braving Chemo
- Dr. Susan Love’s Breast Book
- The Emperor of All Maladies
- Ticking Off Breast Cancer
And here are some additional books that can help you explain breast cancer to your child:
YOU CAN LEARN FROM SURVIVORS
The majority of our east Tennessee members are survivors: women who have been through the journey. You can connect with these survivors in these ways:
- Join our private Facebook page here.
- Attend an Event. We have social events where we get together to share camaraderie and experiences. You are welcome to look at photos of past events and join us at our next event.
- Many of our members are survivors who are willing to share their experience one-on-one with others. If you would like to be paired with a survivor, make a connection through our Sisterhood program – make a connection here.
- Click here to sign up for our email list.
YOU CAN LEARN FROM SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION
For those who have completed their basic research and have an interest in the scientific studies and guidelines that have formed the treatments and standards that are commonly applied, these are a selection of articles published in reputable medical journals. This is not a complete library of pertinent content:
- National Care Guidelines: Breast Cancer
- Information on Healthy Living and Eating (supplements, soy, estrogen, etc.)
Here are PDFs of scientific studies on several items:
- This is a review of the famous Women’s Health Initiative Study that is quoted when discussing Hormone Replacement Therapy and breast cancer risk. This is one of the most-cited breast cancer articles in history:
- A randomized trial to determine whether lumpectomy with or without radiation therapy is as effective as total mastectomy for the treatment of invasion breast cancer.
- This is one of the most-extensive studies reviewing the benefit of radiation for DCIS patients:
- This article the reviews the risks (probabilities) of getting a second cancer in the breast based on the stage and treatment of the first cancer:
- This is an article that discusses the risks of breast and ovarian cancer for various BRCA mutations:
- This article discusses a genetic test to help make decisions about treatment strategies for a DCIS diagnosis:
- This article discusses the impact of exercise and diet on the recurrence of breast cancer after an initial diagnosis:
You can also check out our Breast Cancer Glossary of Terms.
Breast Connect is here for you. Please contact us via Facebook or email if we can help in any way.