I don't know

[*Lilac*]

how to begin this but ........

I just found out a work collegue of mine her husband of 11 years has cancer in the brain and today she just found out she has breast cancer... and I don't know what to do :(

Please help

*Lilac* xxxx

[Nooker]

That is terrible news Lilac. About all you can do is give them your support & if they need help with anything - like getting to doctors or chemo treatments just offer to drive them. Try to be upbeat & focus on positive things not the negative. Of course you will have to see if they want the help - they may not want any. Most importantly tell them you will keep them in your thoughts & prayers (as will I). It does help.

[RussianBat]

Stories of Hope

Three breast cancer survivors share how their minds and hearts helped their bodies heal.

By Sally Farhat Kassab for MSN Health & Fitness


After breaking life-altering news to a breast cancer patient, Dr. Jane Mendez, a breast surgeon at Boston Medical Center, tells her something else.

“I say, ‘I need you to do your part, in your spirit. It all goes hand in hand,’” Mendez says. “Some people only want facts and don’t want to think about how they are feeling. But I find when I treat them as a whole, it’s amazing how they respond. Those who ignore their spirit don’t fare as well.”

While many studies indicate that belief in God or some other higher power, or simply maintaining a positive attitude, helps protect our health and well-being, no one really knows exactly why. But many medical experts like Mendez, and their patients, say faith and spirituality can actually enhance, if not surpass, the healing effects of medicine.

Here, we talk to three survivors about their journeys to health—and how their faiths or their positive thinking were crucial on that path.


Olga Moreno, 59, Hempstead, N.Y.

What she went through: A lumpectomy, chemo, 30 sessions of radiation, then a mastectomy. Lots of complications through it all, including swelling and developing fluid. Now cancer-free for six years.

How she coped: “I did a lot of meditating. I’d put on instrumental music and meditate on my well-being. I’d read the Psalms and Proverbs a lot. I’d repeat the promises: You promise to never leave me, you are the great physician, you give my physicians their talents. There were times I’d say, ‘God, let me die.’ But something would tell me, ‘No, no.’ I wasn’t afraid I was going to die, but the essence of what I heard was that it’s not your time.”

Words of inspiration: “Faith sees you through most of it. Your physician can do everything in his power to make you better, but if you don’t have faith in that person’s power, and that God can heal you, you can’t go through it. Or you go through it a bitter person, not a better person. When my hemoglobin was down to four and I was still walking, God did that for me. When I wanted to drop dead and something kept pushing me up, I knew that was the spirit within.”


Linda Moon, 56, Springfield, Mo.

What she went through: A lumpectomy and 30 rounds of radiation. Incredible fatigue during radiation and the breakup of a long-term live-in relationship. Now cancer-free for a year.

How she coped: “I used the power of positive thinking and mental imagery. For example, I’d think about the radiation chewing up the bad cancer cells and making them go away. The more I did this, the more powerful it became and instead of feeling fatigued, I felt better and better. What you focus on is what you create in your life. I found I’d just wake up happy in the morning. I also like to do goal-setting exercises. If you don’t have a direction to point yourself in, you go in circles. I kept saying to myself, ‘I’m going to live until I’m 100 years old.’ If you truly believe that, there is no room for anything else to be happening.”

Words of inspiration: “There’s a woman on a breast-cancer message board who whines about everything. She’s totally out of control and is unwilling to accept personal responsibility. But we can’t allow ourselves to go into a victim mentality. You have to keep the positive attitude up, whether that’s empowering yourself through reading, or seeing movies that help you move forward like The Secret, or keeping yourself surrounded with people as opposed to sitting and groveling and asking, ‘Why me?’”


Kim Belton, 44, Union Grove, Wis.

What she went through: Had a lumpectomy and 12 lymph nodes removed. Had chemo, then radiation. Suffered a punctured lung. Cancer-free for one year.

How she coped: “From the moment the surgeon told me I had cancer, I just felt this, ‘OK, I’m in God’s hands.’ I won’t say that I never had struggles, or never got depressed, but I didn’t ask ‘why’ for a long time. The surgeon’s nurse told me, ‘I’ve never seen anyone get through this as smoothly as you.’ I prayed a lot, but not necessarily for me. When I couldn’t sleep at night, I realized this is an opportunity most people my age don’t have. I do have the time to spend in God’s word. I went to my Baptist church a lot and had a huge amount of support there. I realized, you can dwell on how horrible you feel, or you can replace those thoughts with, ‘God is taking care of me.’”

Words of inspiration: “My normal response to something this difficult would be to feel very frightened, discouraged and angry. But for the most part, I have been able to submit my life to the path that God has chosen for me. I decided (that) cancer can’t steal one single moment of life that God is giving me. One of the verses I kept reading was Psalms 16:8—‘I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.’ That was my challenge, as well as my commitment.”

Find More on MSN Health & Fitness:

Lifestyle Choices for Breast Cancer Prevention
Inflammatory Breast Cancer
How to Examine Your Breasts
Drugs That Can Reduce Breast Cancer Risk

[sillymoo]

That is terrible news Lilac. About all you can do is give them your support & if they need help with anything - like getting to doctors or chemo treatments just offer to drive them. Try to be upbeat & focus on positive things not the negative. Of course you will have to see if they want the help - they may not want any. Most importantly tell them you will keep them in your thoughts & prayers (as will I). It does help.

I agree totaly, that is what i have been doing to my best friend, she has been diagnosed with breast cancer her sister and nan died of it. i have just been there for when she needs a laugh cry or what ever. as long as they know you are thinkinh of them and will be there for them that will give them hope aswell.
i hope all goes well and if you need anything jus PM me it's hard for friends and family aswell.