Coping with breast cancer

From the moment you receive a diagnosis of cancer, life changes. At that moment, it is like a bolt from the blue. There are many states of mind that are lived, from fear to impotence, from anger to despair. Every woman, however, has a great vital force within herself that she brings out more than ever in critical moments and which helps her to overcome even such a hard and complex path. In this period of continuous checks, treatments and surgical procedures, women often find themselves having to make decisions, to make choices, exactly when they have to concentrate all their strength and thoughts on themselves. This book is based both on personal and professional experiences, which I had as a psychologist in the medical oncology, breast surgery and imaging breast diagnostic units. It has been conceived as a helping support for women who must undergo breast surgery or have already undergone it, to obtain some practical and psychological suggestions for dealing better with the surgical-medical path. Reading this text will be useful also to relatives and friends, who often do not know how to react and who feel much more powerless than the woman herself does. The covered topics concern: Packing the bag for the hospitalization, with the specific tricks foreseen for the breast surgical intervention. An overview on the main therapies and some useful precautions to reduce the symptoms of the therapies (chemo, radiotherapy, hormone therapy) or to better live with them (pieces of information about wigs and turbans, etc.; the targeted use of makeup). Psychological suggestion regarding the relationship with one's children, relatives and friends. Suggestions to relatives and friends on how to behave with a breast-operated woman. The basic rules to find psychological wellness. Effective communication techniques. Stress management. A mention of civil and work rights for cancer patients.