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Living With Breast Cancer

  • Sex and Cancer

    Posted 5/13/2013 by hhill
      I have written many times before about sexuality and cancer. The bottom line is that cancer is never a sexual aide, that a diagnosis and treatment impacts intimacy for everyone, and that it is not talked about as much as it should be. For most people with a new diagnosis, worries about sex are not at the top of the worry list; there are exceptions, but most of us are more distressed about possibly dying, the impact on our children, worrying about chemo and hair loss and nausea, professional issues, etc. It is also usually not at the top of our doctors' lists as there are so many things to discuss in the relatively brief appointment times. And, of course, are doctors are human and not all are so comfortable talking about sex. In our practice, I know that one of the common reasons for a referral to me is sexual concerns--expressed to the oncologist and quickly referred. Read more... Comments (0)

  • Same Issues in England

    Posted 5/3/2013 by hhill

      It is always comforting to me to realize that others share our concerns. There is nothing surprising in this article from the BBC about survivorship issues in England and the need for physicians to expand the conversation beyond the specific medical concerns. People completing cancer treatment the world over must share the same worries about returning to work, families, sexuality, energy, etc. The health care system is somewhat different in Britain, and GPs (general practitioners, similar to our PCPs) seem to do more of the oncology follow up than is generally true in the US. Studies here have suggested that women who are followed by their PCPs after breast cancer treatment do just as well as those who continue to see their medical oncologists, but that is generally not the system. I suspect, in the era of more attention to costs, that may become increasingly true here, too. It is less expensive to see the PCP than to see a specialist.

    Read more... Comments (0)

  • What is a Survivor

    Posted 4/21/2013 by hhill
      What or who is a survivor? Is it the definition first proposed by Fitzhugh Mullen for the National Coalition of Cancer Survivors--that you are a survivor from the moment of diagnosis? Is it someone who has lived in good health for X number of years (and what might that X be?) post diagnosis? Is it, as is suggested sometimes in the darkest of black humors, someone who has not had a cancer recurrence but can only be called a "cancer survivor" as she is dropping dead from some other cause? Read more... Comments (0)

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About the Blogger

Hester Hill Schnipper, LICSW, OSW-C is the Manager of Oncology Social Work at BIDMC. For more than thirty years, her daily work at BIDMC has been primarily focused on supporting women with breast cancer. A nationally known writer and speaker, she was the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation's first Hatcher Survivorship Professor. In 1993, and again in 2005, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and went through the standard treatments of surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and hormonal therapy. These experiences have given her great credibility with her patients and transformed her life's work to her life. Ms. Schnipper lives gratefully with her husband in an ancient farmhouse outside of Boston and spends as much time as possible in a water front cottage on Mt Desert Island. Between them, they have five adult children and seven grandchildren; she claims biological responsibility for two and three of them.

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