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Breast Cancer Newly Diagnosed

Advice To Women Newly Diagnosed With Breast Cancer

Summary & Participants

Breast cancer is a disease that can turn a woman's world upside down. There seem to be a million questions that need to be answered. But there are ways to help organize not only how you treat the disease, but the way in which you approach getting the right information to make treatment decisions. Discover what doctors and patients say about becoming your own best advocate.

Medically Reviewed On: July 11, 2008

Webcast Transcript

AMAN BUZDAR, MD: The first thing you have to find out is, "What is the extent of the cancer? What is the stage of the disease? Is this tumor hormone receptor positive or negative? What are my chances of saving my breast? What are my chances of needing mastectomy?"

ANNOUNCER: Making an informed decision about treatment is no longer something that's left solely to the medical professionals.

GENEROSA GRANA, MD: The woman needs to weigh in with her wishes and her interests. In the days of old, the physician would tell a woman, "This is what you must do for the treatment of your breast cancer," and we have now evolved from that to an era where are a variety of choices to be made with regards to treatment. They may involve hormonal therapy; they may involve chemotherapy, or both.

SORAYA: The Internet is a great source. You have to be careful. There's a lot of misinformation on the Internet, but there's a lot of fabulous information, and I would walk into my appointments with a list and I wouldn't leave until the list was answered. And I tell that to women all the time, "Don't leave. Don't leave questioning. Leave understanding. If you can understand what they're going to do to you, you're going to help that medicine help you."

HYMAN MUSS, MD: I think the better informed you are, the more you can do for yourself. And actually you can help out the health care providers by being informed.

ANNOUNCER: Checking out where your insurance stands on cancer treatment is important while finding support from friends, family and support groups can be invaluable.

AMELIE RAMIREZ, Dr.P.H.: Talk with other women immediately. What did they do? What worked for them? And get to speak with a counselor and find out exactly what are the alternatives that they have. Go back and discuss that with their family. But at the end, the woman needs to make the final decision. But she needs all the type of information that's necessary for her to make an informed decision.

ANNOUNCER: Whatever course of treatment is chosen, it's important to acknowledge the emotional strain.

SORAYA: She can cry and she can scream and she can punch whatever's next to her. Hopefully it's not human, but if it's a pillow she should. You know we have to embrace all those emotions. It's OK. It's OK to scream. It's OK to say, you know, "Why is this happening?" That's all fine, but give yourself a window of time to do that and then knock it off. Shake it off.

ANNOUNCER: Naturally the most important message that medical professionals give is to not only be proactive but positive.

HYMAN MUSS, MD: Most women today who get breast cancer survive it. So I would try to reassure her that with proper treatment and good care that it's not -- it doesn't mean that life has ended today.

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