Karen, 66 | Phoenix, AZ
Schedule your annual mammogram. It saved my life.
Caregiver, 41
Tell a breast cancer survivor you're happy they beat cancer!
Suzy | Houston, TX
Take time to relax. Once or twice a year I go to a yoga retreat, sit quietly and contemplate life.
Danelle H.
Mouth care is so essential! Get your teeth cleaned prior to starting chemo. It’s important to have a healthy mouth before you start treatment because chemo will make little issues worse. And I used an Orajel soft rubber finger for cleaning my teeth and gums. My regular tooth brush brought on a gagging sensation. When you’re throwing up all the time you don’t feel like brushing your teeth so the little rubber finger did the trick for me.
Steroid Crazy in Iowa, 32
With all the steroids I was taking I was constantly tense—my muscles ached, my head was spinning, I was going CRAZY! My doctor recommended getting regular massages to help my body relax. The first massage wasn’t great but by massage #3 my muscles started to relax and with that my mind followed suit.
No more cold feet, 43 | Madison
During treatment, my feet were as cold as ice cubes. My loving husband gave me a pair of UGG boots, which was way out of our budget, but my feet finally warmed up.
Jan, 61 | Arlington, TX
I admit I was 'babying' my arm after the lymph nodes were removed and I was diagnosed with lympodema and was wearing the arm bandage. My arm was stiff and I couldn't raise it very high. I still didn't have much energy, but I started doing 'bowling' on the WII, sitting down, and my arm muscle started loosing up and it is much better now. So, even though you don't want do, do arm motion exercises or play a game like I did.
lalitha | New jersey
I srarted doing massages once a momth went part time
On work and took one day at a time.I still feel rundown.I also do yoga and go for retreats.
Carolyn, 48 | NYC
To Pam in FL: Congratulations on surviving cancer multiple times!! There’s a number of resources and support groups available during treatment. But after treatment is when I struggled because I still had questions but wasn't in the support group any longer. So I’ve found counseling sessions with my oncology social worker to be very helpful. Maybe there’s someone like that in your area that you can reach out to as a resource.
Ann, 60
To "Feeling Unsure" - I was having the same issues but attributed it to the Herceptin I was still being treated with. My doctor sent me to an "ear nose and throat" doctor. Turns out, it was an inner ear issue which was being made worse by treatments. The ENT doctor prescribed some exercises for me to do. They have worked remarkably well.