Women helping women cope with breast cancer news
As the lead nurse practitioner at the Cuda Women's Health Center in Hyannis, Elizabeth Leach, MSN, RN, FNP-C, knows how frightening a diagnosis of breast cancer is for patients. Part of her job running the Center’s breast cancer support group is to help patients process their feelings.
“When the only context for the word cancer is ‘I’m going to die,’ we need to spread the word about the opposite – that actually there are way more survivors,” she said. “The majority of women do not die from their breast cancer. They just don’t in this day and age, thank goodness.”
Inspired by all of the women who attended last year’s annual Cancer Survivors Day Celebration, Leach decided to create another way for women to share their experiences, with a project called Words of Hope. The initiative is an invitation for women who have experienced breast cancer to share their stories or words of hope and encouragement with women who are newly diagnosed.
Any woman who has had breast cancer in the past is invited to share what they wish someone had said to them when they were just hearing news of their diagnosis. Survivors write their thoughts down on a card and place the card in a collection box at the Cuda Center.
The cards become almost like a written support group. Even though Leach knows support groups can be a big help, she also knows that many women don’t want to come to a support group. It’s not their thing and she gets that. This is a way for women to have some of the same benefits without having to come to a support group.
“Women love doing it,” she said. “They love writing their stories and letting them know that other women are getting these little words of hope – literally.”
Sentiments Vary
What women say on these cards varies, according to Leach. “Some of them are very religious in nature. Many of them have scripture written, which is very powerful for many women. Many of them talk about their journey. They are very personal – almost like it was a way for a woman to just journal. Then other ones are filled with humor and many of them are just genuinely ‘you’re going to get through this.’”
A few sample cards perfectly illustrate the wisdom these women share with others who are going through breast cancer. A recent one says, “The beginning is very hard. It is overwhelming but you will get through this.”
Another says, “You can do this. Even when it feels impossible, life will go on. It’s going to be different but in some ways it will be better. Believe in yourself and reach out to other survivors. Much love during this difficult journey.”
One that Leach felt compelled to share with her colleagues says, “Think of your radiation oncologist like angels. That’s what they are with their little beams of light.”
Women Can Feel What They Feel
Leach said that she sometimes finds herself saying some of the things that are written on the cards when she talks to a newly diagnosed patient. She reassures them that breast cancer is completely survivable, but she doesn’t discount the fact that the news they are hearing from her can be traumatic.
“Women are still allowed to go through all of the feels that they need for cancer regardless if it’s metastatic or a stage 0 ductal carcinoma in situ,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what kind of cancer they have. They still have to hear that they have cancer and go through treatment.”
In part, the cards help illustrate the fact that breast cancer is survivable by showing women who these survivors are. This not only helps the newly diagnosed, but it also helps the person who writes the card because it offers them a way to help others, which can be very powerful.
“I’ve really found that one of the best ways women move through this whole process is by being able to help other women,” Leach said. “This helps women to give back what they needed or they should have had when they were diagnosed.”
