30 Blog Posts from Breast Cancer Survivors

Facing a breast cancer diagnosis can very easily be one of the most terrifying and stressful situations of your lifetime. It’s easy to feel isolated and alone in your struggle, especially if no one you know has endured a similar battle. Thankfully, the global village created by the blogosphere has an entire community that acts as a breast cancer support system through the blog entries of actual breast cancer survivors. From the earliest days of your diagnosis to the victory of remission, and everything that happens in between, these 30 blogs offer support, information and real-life advice to help you every step of the way.

Dealing with the Diagnosis

Immediately after receiving the news of your breast cancer diagnosis, you will probably run the gamut of emotions, experiencing everything from fear to outrage. There’s no “right” or “wrong” reaction, as these five bloggers explain in their own diagnosis stories and advice offerings.

• Dealing with Diagnosis
• Breast Cancer: Diagnosis
• It Started With a Delayed Diagnosis
• What to Expect After a Breast Cancer Diagnosis
• Breast Cancer Diagnosis: Where Can You Turn?

Chemotherapy

You’ll naturally want to learn as much as possible about one of the most common forms of cancer treatment, but scientific journals can be difficult for a layperson to decode. These five bloggers explain chemotherapy and share their own stories or the fruits of their research in plain language that’s relatively easy to understand.

• Does Chemotherapy Deserve Its Bad Rap?
• Tummy Troubles Linked to Chemotherapy
• Chemotherapy and Exercise
• For Those About to A/C…
• Experimental Biology Blogging: Cancer Chemotherapy and Cognitive Deficits

Managing Hair Loss

One of the most dreaded aspects of cancer treatment is the possibility of hair loss as a result of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, many women are hesitant to discuss the matter when they’re facing that anxiety, usually for fear of appearing vain. These five blog posts take on the subject of hair loss resulting from cancer treatment honestly, giving you practical and useful advice for handling this difficult situation.

• Raw October — Day 21 (Hair By Chemotherapy)
• Breast Cancer, Hair Loss, and Dismissive Doctors
• Coping With Hair Loss as a Result of Cancer Treatment
• A Shaved Head is Worth a Thousand Words
• Coping With Hair Loss From Cancer Treatment

Preparing for a Mastectomy

Even if you’re not yet sure whether or not a mastectomy is in your future, it’s wise to begin gathering information and familiarizing yourself with the procedure while learning to manage the resultant emotional fallout as early as possible. These five blogs approach mastectomy candidly and frankly, pulling no punches.

• Preparing for a Mastectomy
• Prepare for Mastectomy
• Top 10 Tips – Pre-Mastectomy
• “Preparing for Mastectomy”, After Mastectomy and Lymph Node Dissection
• Preparing for Your Mastectomy Surgery

Alternative Treatments

While most women that turn to alternative treatments are in the later stages of cancer, there are those that want to pursue holistic or alternative treatment from the moment of their diagnosis. In the interest of making sure that you have the best possible chance of emerging on the other side of this battle as a breast cancer survivor, these five blogs approach the subject of alternative treatment. Keep in mind, however, that most bloggers are not medical professionals, and that their advice is no substitute for that of your oncologist or physician.

• Less Invasive Breast Cancer Treatment
• Alternative Medicine Use and Breast Cancer
• Breast Cancer Treatment Options and Alternatives
• Looking Towards Alternative Breast Cancer Treatment
• An Alternative Therapy for Some Breast Cancer Patients

Remission

The ultimate goal after receiving a breast cancer diagnosis is to reach the Holy Grail of remission. These five blog entries discuss several aspects of remission, both from a personal and scientific perspective.

• Thank You, Remission
• Breast Cancer Survivor ROC – 25 Years in Remission
• Remission
• When Cancer Disappears: The Curious Phenomenon of “Unexpected Remission”
• Living for Years With Late-Stage Cancer

 P.S. This post was  proposed to me for publication by   Hannah Anderson. I'm therefore publishing it by her invitation and under her permission. See also the link below fore more information: 
http://www.fulltimenanny.com/blog/30-blog-posts-from-breast-cancer-survivors/