The Beatable C!
Hearing the term “breast cancer” already sends shivers down our spine — but this shouldn’t be the case, breast-ies! 🤗 There are treatment options that are available which can cure the disease, as well as support options that can help ease the symptoms along the way! Showing how strong patients are, here are some of their punches that beat the C!
🥊 The First Punch: Treatments
There are multiple treatments available to cure breast cancer. Here’s a list of some of them:
1. Surgery
According to Cancer.Net, there are two surgeries that are usually done: Lumpectomy and Mastectomy.
Lumpectomy is the removal of the cancerous tumor that caused the breast cancer, along with a margin of healthy tissues, to ensure that the cancer is mostly or fully removed. This is the type of surgery where much of the breast remains intact.
Mastectomy, on the other hand, is the removal of the entire breast to remove cancer. There are two types of Mastectomies: one is the skin-sparing mastectomy where the skin of the breast remains, and the other is the nipple-sparing mastectomy where the nipples remain.
The surgery that will be done is based on the doctor’s examination. After the surgery, further treatments are also done to ensure that cancer will not grow back nor affect other parts of the body.
2. Radiation therapy
In basic terms, this form of therapy usually involves a high-energy form of X-Ray to clean out the very small lesions that may have not been taken out during surgery.
Radiation therapy is done in multiple sessions, too. Patients follow a certain schedule which lasts for four to six weeks, of daily radiotherapy sessions. The schedule depends on how advanced or aggressive their breast cancer is.
3. Chemotherapy
Another treatment for breast cancer that we often hear a lot especially in movies is Chemotherapy. It can also be done before (“Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy”) or after (“Adjuvant Chemotherapy”) surgery. Chemotherapy has different forms as it can be taken orally (tablets or pills) or infused through the bloodstream.
What Chemotherapy does is essential to shrink and/or prevents the cancer cells from returning. Like Radiation Therapy, patients also follow a certain schedule. This time, it is usually done with longer intervals usually weekly to every three weeks.
Treatments for breast cancer can either be one of these or a combination of all. The treatment that patients undergo will depend on their breast cancer diagnosis.
4. Targeted Treatment
According to Cancer.Net, an emerging treatment for breast cancer is what’s known as “targeted treatment.” Unlike chemotherapy, targeted therapy uses medicines that “enter the bloodstream and reach almost all areas of the body, which makes them useful against cancers that have spread to distant parts of the body. Targeted drugs sometimes work even when chemo drugs do not. Some targeted drugs can help other types of treatment work better.”
🥊 The Second Punch: Support
Support options are available for patients and we, too, can contribute to giving support especially to our friends and relatives who may be suffering from breast cancer. This is where we, as a community, can step in! Here are some options:
1. Psychological Therapy
Having breast cancer is not easy. Other than physical health, breast cancer can also affect the emotional and mental health of a person. Psychological Therapy is readily available for patients and it has even been found to improve the quality of their lives! Patients, too, have said that psychological therapy has helped them in their breast cancer journey as it helped them with their mood and overall feeling.
Both individual and group psychological therapy sessions were found to be beneficial for people with breast cancer. As cliché as it may seem, having your mind over matter really helps even during the hardest of times.
2. Support Groups
One of the proven things that can help people with diseases like breast cancer is to have a support group that they can turn to. Fortunately, there are plenty of available support groups that are made up of medical professionals, patients, survivors, and even the relatives of patients where everyone can freely talk about their journey. This is very helpful for patients as they can learn more about their disease and even know how they can manage it through these support groups.
Check out this list by ICanServe Foundation for the available support groups here in the Philippines!
3. Family and Friends
One of the vital sources of support for people with breast cancer is their friends and families — us! In contrast, to support groups, family and friends have a more personal connection with them. One of the things notable about cancer is that anyone of us can have it and it may not be as apparent. We all can share in helping each other out in pushing for early diagnosis or even in giving emotional support to our loved ones who have illnesses like breast cancer.
We may not be as knowledgeable about breast cancer as doctors, but we can always be there for our loved ones. We can join them in mindfulness activities like meditation and yoga; we can help by donating for their treatments, and we can always offer our presence during this difficult time and make them feel that they’re never alone. That’s what friends (and family) are for!
Having breast cancer is not a walk in the park but the combination of treatment options and support make things easier! Together, let’s knock out breast cancer!
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