Coping with breast cancer

Whether or not to discuss breast cancer with employers and co-workers is a tricky subject. In February, I wrote about the issue after the New York Times published an article on revealing or concealing illness in the workplace.

One of the most common side effects of breast cancer and its treatment is fatigue. During treatment, the body harbors its resources in order to battle the disease, draining the normal flow of energy and resulting in a pervasive feeling of exhaustion, weakness and inertia. Fatigue can accompany all stages of the treatment process and can even last past the end of treatment and into the recovery period when you most want to resume your normal, pre-cancer life.

Parents diagnosed with cancer are often faced with the dilemma of how to tell their kids about their disease, especially if they are very young. For many children, cancer is not even a word in their vocabularies and if it is, it is often in the context of an older relative or family friend who might have passed away from the disease. Not only do parents have to explain their diagnosis in terms that are not overwhelming but provide some sort of comfort to the children as well so that the diagnosis does not become debilitating.

In an ideal world, all doctors would always be able to give us definite answers and successful solutions to what ails us. The reality is that medical problems are not always black or white — they often live in shades of gray. And doctors are not superhuman and infallible heroes, they are human behind those white lab coats –which means they unfortunately can"™t always give patients the answers they're looking for.

Doctors are a key part of our journeys through cancer. Ideally, we trust their judgment and ability to guide us through the best possible course of screening and treatment. They get to know us for the individuals we are-with our unique medical histories and personalities. They care for us and want us to get better.