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Living With Breast Cancer

  • Conquer Fear

    Posted 6/14/2013 by hhill
      Just a few days ago, I wrote about the new study from Lancet that suggests many women and couples experience persistent anxiety about recurrence for a very long time after cancer. This came as no surprise to most of us, but it surely raises the question about what might help. Since none of us are going to get  a promise from our doctors that we are cured, we have to find a way to live with the uncertainty and, sometimes, sharp fear. How long does it take before a backache is a sore muscle and not a possible sign of cancer spread? How long does it take before we head for an annual mammogram without a seething stomach? Read more... Comments (0)

  • Anxiety But Not Depression Persists

    Posted 6/8/2013 by hhill
      It is so very satisfying when a study comes along and says what I (and you) have known all along. In this case, this study from Lancet compared results from a number of studies to find that, compared to adults who had not had cancer, cancer survivors had a similar level of depression but were 27% more likely to harbor anxiety two years after diagnosis and 50% more likely to have those feelings ten years later. Read more... Comments (0)

  • Cancer Experience Registry

    Posted 5/21/2013 by hhill
      It is such a pleasure to write this morning about the Cancer Experience Registry, a program of the Cancer Support Community. The Cancer Support Community (www.cancersupportcommunity.org) is the name of the merged Wellness Community and Gilda's Club, and provides a multitude of support and educational services to cancer patients and their families at their many affiliates around the country. The Registry has been developed by their Research and Training Institute to identify and advance the understanding of the emotional and social needs of people who have been diagnosed with all kinds of cancer. 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)

  • Understanding Risk of DCIS

    Posted 5/1/2013 by hhill
      Whatever the specifics of a breast cancer diagnosis, women worry. Of course we may worry a little more or a litte less depending on the statistics we hear or some of the details of the pathology, but we generally understand that no one gets a guarantee and that we are each an "n" of one. It has always interested me that this is equally true for women who are diagnosed with DCIS (or LCIS) which is generally described as "Stage 0". In fact, some doctors say that DCIS is not cancer, that it is something that might become cancer in the future if not treated. And the real kicker there is that many DCISs (is that the plural?) would never become invasive, but that we don't know how to tell those sleeper ones from the potentially dangerous ones. 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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