Special Feature Edition: Pathways to
Resilience: Embracing our Vulnerability, Celebrating our Resilience
Are
You Ready to Start Talking About Secondary Breast Cancer?
Today, October 13th, is Secondary Breast Cancer Awareness Day, one solitary day out of a month-long Pinktober - it’s the not-so-pink lining which we women with primary breast cancer can hardly bear to face.
Here in the UK around 12,000 women die as a result of secondary breast cancer every year. These women are mothers, sisters, daughters, friends and partners.
Around 30% of women with primary breast cancer go on to develop secondary breast cancer - breast cancer which has spread to other parts of the body through the lymphatic or blood system. You might hear it described as ‘advanced breast cancer’, ‘metastatic’, or stage 4 breast cancer. You might also hear about so-and-so who had breast cancer and then developed liver cancer. This is inaccurate - breast cancer that has spread to the liver is not the same as liver cancer.
At the Research Centre for Building Psychological Resilience, we hear from our friends living with secondary breast cancer about how isolating and marginalised they feel in the breast cancer community and over the next few days, we'll be sharing some of their experiences highlighting the way in which they continue living rich and meaningful lives.
We desperately need to know why it is that some women find out that their cancer has returned, despite extensive treatment, despite having been told they were ‘all clear. If we can be brave, and stop hiding from our fears, we can start talking. If we can start talking, not only can we support one another, we can advocate, and we can press for better and more effective treatments.
We will not be featuring any one person today for our #pathways2resilience project, instead we wish to share a blog by our deputies, Tamsin and Vicky, published earlier this year on HuffPost UK. We dedicate this post to those who have died from secondary breast cancer and the thousands who continue to live with the worry and uncertainty of their condition every single day. #DontIgnoreStageIV
Today, October 13th, is Secondary Breast Cancer Awareness Day, one solitary day out of a month-long Pinktober - it’s the not-so-pink lining which we women with primary breast cancer can hardly bear to face.
Here in the UK around 12,000 women die as a result of secondary breast cancer every year. These women are mothers, sisters, daughters, friends and partners.
Around 30% of women with primary breast cancer go on to develop secondary breast cancer - breast cancer which has spread to other parts of the body through the lymphatic or blood system. You might hear it described as ‘advanced breast cancer’, ‘metastatic’, or stage 4 breast cancer. You might also hear about so-and-so who had breast cancer and then developed liver cancer. This is inaccurate - breast cancer that has spread to the liver is not the same as liver cancer.
At the Research Centre for Building Psychological Resilience, we hear from our friends living with secondary breast cancer about how isolating and marginalised they feel in the breast cancer community and over the next few days, we'll be sharing some of their experiences highlighting the way in which they continue living rich and meaningful lives.
We desperately need to know why it is that some women find out that their cancer has returned, despite extensive treatment, despite having been told they were ‘all clear. If we can be brave, and stop hiding from our fears, we can start talking. If we can start talking, not only can we support one another, we can advocate, and we can press for better and more effective treatments.
We will not be featuring any one person today for our #pathways2resilience project, instead we wish to share a blog by our deputies, Tamsin and Vicky, published earlier this year on HuffPost UK. We dedicate this post to those who have died from secondary breast cancer and the thousands who continue to live with the worry and uncertainty of their condition every single day. #DontIgnoreStageIV
Please
read the blog ‘We Need to Talk about Secondary Breast Cancer’ here: http://m.huffpost.com/uk/entry/10247000?utm_hp_ref=uk-women
You can also find further information and support below.
Secondary Breast Cancer Charities:
http://www.secondhope.co.uk/
Breast
Cancer Care:
#NotSecondRate
campaign
#panningforgold
#pathways2resilience
#bcresiliencecentre
#breastcancerawareness
#SBCAD
#DontIgnoreStageIV
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