You Are Not Alone After a Breast Cancer Diagnosis

I will never forget a comment on one of my blogs from a woman from South Africa that really took my breath away. We originally met each other on Facebook when I first started my weekly musings and although I hadn’t heard from her in awhile, I was so please to see her name when a message from her arrived. I have learned over time that if I don’t hear from someone after communicating on a regular basis, it may for so many reasons. Happily this was the case with her and here I will share a portion of her message:

“Reaching out to others when things seem rather bleak will help you even if it is just in the sharing of your feelings.”Barbara Jacoby

“Here’s a trillion hugs to you from me for all the times you came up with some supporting information / comment when I was down and hopeless whilst going through breast cancer treatment. Thank God I’m all better now (except for only having one breast left) but I often remember what a great support you have been to me in my ‘hour of need’ you might not have realised this at the time, but just knowing that there were people all over the world who helped me pray for healing, helped me tremendously to deal with that problem in my life.”

Well, needless to say, I did not realize at the time that I apparently was making a difference for her because it was women like her who were communicating with me that helped me to understand that I was not alone and that there were others in the world who cared enough to take the time to send me a message of encouragement and support that made my own journey easier.

Therefore, when I received my friend’s message, I was reminded of the importance of knowing that when you are dealing with breast cancer, you are not alone. There will always be people who reach out to let you know that they are praying for you or who want to share their experiences if they find that they are similar. Quite often, if you are willing to provide just a bit of information about the specific type of breast cancer with which you are dealing and perhaps a particular issues that you are having, you will hear from others who are willing to provide all sorts of suggestions and ideas about how they dealt with that issue.

Of course, no one is suggesting that you ever take any medical advice and use it without first discussing it with your own doctor. We are not trained to know how what may seem to be the most innocent herb or food item may interact with the medication/treatment that we are receiving. But, I know from personal experience that it wouldn’t be the first time that information provided by one cancer survivor, when shared with another patient’s physician, turned out to be the perfect solution. There are so many things being tried and researched around the world and we are so fortunate to have access to information from unimaginable sources that we may never even have considered.

No matter your needs or your level of involvement with your own care, it helps to know that assistance and answers and people who care are just a quick social media or personal outreach away. Reaching out to others when things seem rather bleak will help you even if it is just in the sharing of your feelings. Always remember that you are not alone no matter what you are facing and how great or small your problems or issues may be. And most of all, I want to thank my friend who provided me with that reminder which has pretty much become my mantra and that is we are all in this together.