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Living With Breast Cancer

  • Disparities in Breast Cancer Treatment

    Posted 5/26/2013 by hhill
      Volumes could be written about disparities in breast cancer (or any kind of cancer or health care in general) treatment, but this important topic has been receiving extra attention since Angelina Jolie went public with her decision about prophylactic bilateral mastectomies.  Yes, she she "priviledged" to even have the choice to make, let alone to proceed through the surgeries and recovery with the best care and support that money can buy. That in no way minimizes her personal pain. Choosing to remove two heathy breasts is terrible for any woman. Read more... Comments (0)

  • Mothers with Cancer

    Posted 5/25/2013 by hhill
      Mothers with cancer. Our grief and terror about possibly leaving our children before they are grown. Our grief about leaving our children after they are grown. These are the most tender topics for most all parents with cancer. Given that I have had two breast cancers, twelve years apart, I have had two very different mothering experieces.  The first time I was a single parent of an 11 year old and a 19 year old; the older daughter was away at college where she could likely pretend sometimes that this wasn't happening. I told her over and over to keep her own life going, that her doing so would help me the most. She did, and it did. My younger girl, at home, was forced to witnesss every difficult day, and I worried particularly about her. Without an involved and loving biological father, what would happen to her if I died?  Many painful conversations with my older brother answered this question, and I had some solace knowing that he and his family would welcome and love her. Read more... Comments (0)

  • Targeted Therapies and Breast Cancer

    Posted 5/24/2013 by hhill
      All of us have heard the buzz around "targeted therapies", and most of it is good. The simplistic definition is that these are molecular agents that are designed to attack a particular part of a breast (or other) cancer cell. Rather than trying to kill the whole cell all at once, as does chemotherapy, a targeted therapy uses stealth to depower or kill or otherwise ruin a single tiny part that then makes the whole cell inoperable--or dead. Think of tamoxifen (perhaps the first targeted therapy although it wasn't called that) and ER positive breast cancers or, more recently, herceptin and her2 positive ones. Read more... Comments (0)

  • VIctorias Secret and Mastectomy Bras

    Posted 5/23/2013 by hhill

      First, I need to explain the incorrect punctuation in  the title. I know that "Victoria's Secret" has a hypen in the name, but the system won't accept any punctuation marks. Hence, "Victorias Secret".

      This is a story that received quite broad press a few days ago about a young woman who led an effort to convince Victoria's Secret to offer a line of pretty mastectomy bras. Any of us who are in the market for such lingerie know that even those that try to be attractive...really aren't. As an aside: many normal bras with underwires work just fine without pockets. Try and see if that works for you.

    Read more... Comments (0)

  • Dietary Supplements

    Posted 5/22/2013 by hhill
      This is another controversial and frequently misunderstood topic. Many, if not most, cancer patients at least think about their diets and wonder if there are foods that can be added or subtracted that would make a difference in their cancer progression. As far as I know (and I do try to keep up), there is zero proof that anything we eat or don't eat causes cancer or cures cancer or even has an impact on recurrence risk or progression. Certainly there is a great deal known about healthy eating, and the usual advice is the usual advice: meaning eat lots of fruits and vegetables, minimize the amounts of red meat, white flour, sugar. Today's article takes this all a step further with a careful look by the Clinical Practice Committee of the Society of Integrative Oncology at commonly used nutritional supplements. 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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