Treating The Whole Woman ... Not Just Breast Cancer

Treating The Whole Woman……… Breast Cancer

Who ever thinks they are going to be diagnosed with Breast Cancer?  Not me that was for sure…but here it was taking up residence in my breast pending a possible early release of my life.  I remember feeling ashamed that I was diagnosed, embarrassed and disappointed that my body had let me down.  A certain paranoia takes over right after my diagnosis as the surgeon says to me now I have to figure out if it’s anywhere else in your body.  Did he just say that?  Up to this point there was never any talk of cancer being anywhere else in my body, now I have to go home with this information and pretend I am alright?  Well I am not alright, and to be honest this sucks and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be a part of this.    The waiting game now begins, test after test, appointment after appointment and the thought of losing my breasts, way too much for one person to handle.    I was hoping to wake up from this dream but no go,  now comes what I call the big waiting game… a good couple of weeks when you have very few answers.  Great, I have a doctor for my diagnosis, a doctor to put me asleep for my surgeries,  a doctor to take out the tumor, a doctor to put in the expanders and a doctor for the nasty ugly thing called chemo!  Now here comes the point of this blog, if you have a doctor for each aspect of your Breast Cancer why is there not a doctor to help your brain process all of this?   Why didn’t anyone prescribe something to calm my nerves down so I could clear my head and get some sleep?  Oh I see the hospital I chose will take care of every body part from my neck down but my brain, that is my problem.  Epic medical fail!  Are you listening doctors and hospitals? I don’t care how proficient you think your staff is or how state of the art your facility is, if you are not treating the whole woman then you are not treating all of the Breast Cancer.  This can lead to many future problems for the woman diagnosed that extends far beyond her breasts.  I bring attention to this because I felt is was the biggest disconnect of my Breast Cancer journey.  I suggest you arm yourself if you are newly diagnosed  with as much information as possible and demand treatment of the whole woman, not just the breasts and if you happen to have a team of doctors that is not listening… then run like hell and find a different hospital and yes, you do have a choice!