Breast Cancer Survivorship Resources
- Cancer Care—Coping with Cancer: Tools to Help You Live
- National Cancer Institute - Facing Forward: Life After Cancer Treatment
- Cancer.Net
- Breast Cancer Survivors: Life After the Treatments End
- Susan G. Komen for the Cure
- Sisters Network Inc: National African American Breast Cancer Survivorship Organization
- National Breast Cancer Coalition
- American Cancer Society - Look Good Feel Better is a free, non-medical, brand-neutral, national public service program to help women offset appearance-related changes from cancer treatment.
- Breast Friends is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for breast cancer patients and their friends and family.
Reading Suggestions
- BREAST CANCER HUSBAND: How to Help Your Wife (and Yourself) Through Diagnosis, Treatment, and Beyond
By Marc Silver - Intimacy After Cancer - A Woman's Guide
By Sally Kydd, M.D. and Dana Rowett - Living Beyond Breast Cancer: A Survivor's Guide for When Treatment Ends and the Rest of Your Life Begins
By Marissa Weiss, M.D. and Ellen Weiss - Spinning Straw Into Gold: Your Emotional Recovery From Breast Cancer
By Ronnie Kaye - The Breast Cancer Survivor's Fitness Plan (Harvard Medical School Guides)
By Carolyn M. Kaelin, M.D., Francesca Coltrera, Josie Gardiner and Joy Prouty - To Be Alive: A Woman's Guide to a Full Life After Cancer
By Carolyn Runowicz and Donna Haupt - Advanced Breast Cancer: A Guide to Living with Metastatic Disease
By Musa Mayer
Caregiver Support Resources
Possible Physical Side Effects of Treatment
Fatigue - can be an issue for weeks or up to months after treatment. It is known that exercise at a moderate level, 4 to 5 times a week for up to an hour a day can improve and slowly decrease fatigue.
Peripheral Neuropathy - numbness and tingling sensation in fingers and toes which can take months to repair.
Sexual Dysfunction - can be anything from decreased libido, to decreased flexibility of tissue and lubrication.
Nutrition - healthy eating and physical activity after treatment are important as you recover from treatment and begin your life beyond breast cancer.
- Healthy Eating After Treatment
- Breast Cancer Survivors: Nutrition and Fitness Tips
- Pilates for Cancer Survivors
Fertility Issues - for both women and men can occur due to surgical effects especially for those undergoing Rectal cancer.
- Livestrong Fertility
- Resolve: The National Infertility Association
- OHSU Infertility Program
- American Society for Reproductive Medicine
Lymphedema - is the swelling in hands, feet, ankles, legs, and arms that doesn't resolve for months to years after treatment.
Hot Flashes - chemotherapy and estrogen suppression can dramatically lower your estrogen levels causing hot flashes.
Chemo Brain - over the past few years, a lesser-known side effect of cancer treatment-- the cognitive dysfunction commonly called "chemo-brain" has been recognized.
Bone Health - read about the basics of bone health, bone health tests, breast cancer treatments that affect bones, and ways to keep your bones strong.