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The Voice of People With Breast Cancer

Education

Our Voices Blog


Contributor : CBCN Team

Facing fear, choosing courage, and supporting others

I grew up as the daughter of a mother who battled lymphoma for 10 grueling years, only to be taken away by leukemia in the end. As a teenager, I accompanied her through this harrowing journey, unaware that I was accumulating PTSD along the way. Health and wellness became my fixation, a supposed guarantee against cancer. But this obsession was rooted in fear – fear so profound that I avoided having children, terrified of subjecting them to the horrors I witnessed with my mother's treatments.

TNBC: Who’s at Risk?

Treatment can be difficult for this type of breast cancer. Without receptors, triple negative tumors do not have the proteins they need to respond to common breast cancer treatments like hormone and targeted therapy, which are used for hormone-positive or HER2-positive breast cancer. Research shows that some people have a greater chance of developing triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) if they are subject to certain risk factors. 

Oncofertilty: What it means and more importantly, what are your options

“Are you going to freeze your eggs?” I was asked this question multiple times when I was first diagnosed with breast cancer.  Yes, I still had my monthly period and no, I wasn’t in menopause. But I was 47 years old, so the query felt out of place. When I’d remind the doctors of my age they’d sigh and say, “Oh, right. You look younger. So do you think it’s something you’ll want to do?” Umm, no. A hard no. Divorced, single and edging towards 50, starting a family by myself was not something I wanted.

Navigating Life's Tough Challenges: Building Resilience in the Face of Adversity

When I received the news that I had breast cancer, my world seemed to crumble before my eyes. Overwhelmed, vulnerable, and defenseless, I faced a daunting journey ahead. As a seasoned business owner, I had encountered my fair share of adversity, but nothing could prepare me for this level of fear. For the first time, I found myself fearing the unknown, dreading the loss of everything: my health, my quality of life, my business, and all my assets. How could I possibly endure this?

2023: Our Year in Review

2023 was a year of many changes, and CBCN’s work reflects that. In this post, we look back on some of the many activities and projects that we participated in, developed, or updated. With each development, CBCN is committed to ensuring that breast cancer patients and survivors are the driving force of the organization and that their views and concerns inform our priorities.

Latest Research from SABCS 2023 – Metastatic

There was an abundance of promising new research that came out of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. Here are some highlights for metastatic breast cancer. Be sure to check out our early-stage highlights.

Anxiety, PTSD and Depression: How to manage the emotional side of breast cancer

For me, hearing these words felt like I was falling into a deep pit that I had no way of crawling out of. My diagnosis wasn’t something I could negotiate or talk my way out of either—two things I am fairly good at. This lack of control and inability to change my situation hit me hard. I had to accept that cancer was my new reality, and this filled me with fear. The feelings that followed oscillated between depression and anxiety—and they weren’t fleeting.

Latest Research from SABCS 2023 – Early Stage

CBCN had the pleasure of attending the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in December. Below you’ll find the latest research for early-stage breast cancer. Watch out for the latest research on mBC.

Our Top 10 Blog Posts from 2023

In 2023, our most read blog posts reflect the interest that patients have in connecting with others, seeking support, and sharing experiences and personal stories. Diagnoses at a young age, parenting with breast cancer, living with mBC, and other personal stories made up most of our list. Lifestyle, the latest research, and different options for reconstruction fill out the topics that our readers were most interested in last year. Here CBCN presents our top 10 blog posts from 2023.

For Lorraine’s Sake

Our mother had breast cancer in her 50s, which increased her two daughters’ risk of also developing breast cancer. In 2005, my sister, Lorraine Smith, who was 41, enrolled in an early detection program and had her first mammogram. At the time, mammography reports were not disclosed to the patients, and they were not told anything about the density of their breasts, and what it means.

Advanced Breast Cancer 7th (ABC7) International Consensus Conference Round-Up

CBCN had the opportunity to attend the ABC7 conference in Lisbon, Portugal from November 9 to 11, 2023. Here are some highlights from the conference.

Single and Breast Cancer? You may be on your own, but you don’t have to go through it alone

I was single when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Freshly divorced too. I’m still single, because let’s be honest, I’m insecure about what my right boob and armpit now look like, never mind the fact that I’m still carrying 40 pounds of Tamoxifen weight. So, when I think about the idea of being naked in front of another human being, it makes me want to run upstairs into my bedroom, rip open my dresser drawers, pull out and put on every single pair of big panties, sweatpants and baggy sweatshirts I own all at the same time. But that’s the easy part. The emotional stuff is harder.

Q&E Sessions: A Surgical Oncologist Answers Your Questions About Breast Cancer Clinical Trials

In today’s post, we provide the questions that were sent in and asked during the live session of our Questions and Experts session held on October 3, 2023. In this session, Surgical Oncologist Dr. Mark Basik answers your questions about clinical trials. In the parentheses, you’ll find the timestamp of where to find the question in the on-demand video.

Breast Cancer Research Highlights from the ESMO Congress 2023

The European Society of Medical Oncology held their annual congress in Madrid, Spain from October 20-24, 2023. Members of the CBCN team had the opportunity to attend and learn about the latest research to be announced for breast cancer. Here are some of those highlights.

Can You Prevent a Breast Cancer Recurrence? No. But There Are Six Steps You Can Take That Can Help

Man, I’d be rich if I was a scientist and discovered a way to prevent a breast cancer recurrence. But I’m not. Instead, I’m a normal woman who is often riddled with worry that I’ll one day have one. I’m not thinking about this 24/7, but I am thinking about a potential recurrence often enough that the thought is a constant in my life, lurking in the back of my brain. It’s normal, I had breast cancer, I could have it again. These nagging thoughts always seem to resurface and escalate right before I’m scheduled to see my doctors for a mammogram or ultra-sound screening. And so, because I’ve been counting down the days until my next breast cancer-screening appointment, I’m having them now.

Q&E Sessions: A Medical Oncologist Answers Your Questions about Care and Considerations for Older Patients

In today’s post, we provide the questions that were sent in and asked during the live session of our Questions and Experts session held on September 19, 2023. In this session, Dr. Tina Hsu, MD, FRCPC answers all your questions about navigating a breast cancer diagnosis at an older age. In the parentheses, you’ll find the timestamp of where to find the question in the on-demand video.

Navigating Emotions, Identities, and Finding Hope

Colleen Packer of Calgary felt a wide range of emotions when she was diagnosed with metastatic lobular breast cancer in 2019: “Shock. Frustration. Fear. Grief. I sobbed. Initially in that first year, it had a really huge impact. Now it has become more routine. Now I feel a lot more in control. It’s a strange mix of feelings to have. It’s both/and. It’s possible to feel happy and sad, angry, grateful, afraid, and confident all at the same time. All those feelings are valid, and you need to provide space for all those feelings because they’re all very much a part of the experience.

Introducing the HAVEN Patient Support Program

Haven is a patient support program by Sentrex that specializes in oncology; this means our all our staff have oncology expertise. In fact, all Haven’s staff have joined Sentrex from hospital cancer centres. Haven offers certain patient support such as insurance reimbursement assistance and pharmacy services.

Paid Breast Cancer Screening: It Can be Worth the Price

Because I’m a born and raised Canadian, I just assumed I would have access to all sorts of free testing and screening when I found the hard, pea-sized lump in my right armpit. Not so much. Here’s how my breast cancer-screening steps went.

Questions & Experts: A General Practitioner in Oncology Answers Your Questions About Post-treatment & Survivorship Care

In today’s post, we provide the questions that were sent in and asked during the live session of our Questions and Experts session held on September 12, 2023. In this session, General Practitioner in Oncology Dr. Anna Wilkinson, FP, GPO answers your questions about post-treatment and survivorship care. In the parentheses, you’ll find the timestamp of where to find the question in the on-demand video.