Breast Cancer How It Affects Mental Health

Breast cancer strikes one in eight women in the world today. There is nothing more traumatic than going in for a routine mamogram and being told that something suspicious has been found and further testing is needed. The patient is administered a sonogram of the breast involved and shown the results and told they will need to come back for a biopsy.

The breast biopsy is scheduled at a later date, but in the mean while the patient goes home and tries their best not to worry about the worst news they can receive. The day of the biopsy comes and the patient goes and has the procedure done and is told they will have the results in a few days. Those few days can seem like a lifetime. The patient tries to be optimistic but it is difficult not to think the worst.

The result comes in patient is diagnosed with breast cancer. More testing is needs to be run to see if the cancer has spread so the patient is scheduled for a MRI. Several days or it can weeks after the MRI the patient is scheduled with a surgeon to receive the results of the MRI and have surgery scheduled.

If the patient goes to a very good surgeon they will have all the answers to all the questions the patient has thought of during their wait. The inital questions that come to mind are "will I have to have my breast removed?" How far has the cancer spread? What are my chances of getting the cancer in the other breast? Am I a candidate for reconstructive surgery? Will I have to have Chemotherapy or radiation? These are just a few of the initial questions that are asked.

This diagnoses most defintly affects the patients health especially their mental health. It is hard enough to cope with day to day life let alone having a diagnosis like this one given to you. If you are optimistic and think good thoughts it does help to get through your daily routine. However, there is always in the back of your mind that nagging question "what if they don't remove all of the cancer?" If the cancer is removed will it come back? Your whole life becomes centered around the what ifs but the patient can't let this take over their life.

Thankfully there are cancer support groups with patients who have or are going through the same thing. It helps tremendously to have someone who has been through the same thing available to talk with. It is important to keep in mind that things will get better however you will never have you life back as you knew it before.