It’s Good To Know… Daily Insider Tips

A little insider knowledge goes a long way. Visit here regularly – in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we’ll share a new breast cancer “insider secret” with you every day.

•Feeling fatigued from treatment? Try to take a walk, no matter how short. You’re not experiencing the kind of fatigue that’s helped by constant rest/inactivity. Get your blood circulating and your muscles moving!

•It can get cold in that radiation room! If you have an old turtleneck, cut the sleeves off it and wear those sleeves while you’re getting zapped; at least your arms will stay warm.

•Avoid spicy foods during chemo. You may feel like eating them, but they’re likely to irritate both your stomach and your mouth.

•If you’ve worn a wig through chemo, consider getting it trimmed, little by little, till it’s fairly short. That way, when you finally remove it, it’ll just look like you got a haircut (that is, if your hair isn’t an entirely different color!)

•Ask your hospital or cancer center if they have a survivorship clinic. These new-wave facilities are invaluable as you transition from active treatment into your life as a survivor.

•Is the lump you feel in your breast anchored in place (i.e., not moveable); relatively firm, and doesn’t come and go with your period? Best to get it checked out sooner rather than later.

•If you’re getting chemo and have any issues with small or collapsing blood vessels, consider getting a port; it’ll save you a lot of pain and soreness in the long run.

•Anytime you’re hurting during treatment, don’t tough it out – a stiff upper lip never cured anything! Tell your providers what’s up so they can try to make you feel better.

•Collect email addresses for as many of your health care providers as you can. Email is more direct than a receptionist or the hospital switchboard, and you’ll find out that some of your providers respond more readily to email than to a phone call.

•Is that lump you feel in your breast soft, squishy, and moveable? It’s almost certainly a cyst, not cancer; but get it checked anyway.

•Find out about patient freebies at your hospital or cancer center. Many places offer free massage, Reiki, special parking spots, and other benefits to cancer patients.

•If you’re going to lose your hair from chemo, get a short, stylish cut before you start to lose it; it helps ease the transition emotionally.

•Sports bras or soft camisoles are more comfortable than regular bras when you’re healing from breast surgery.

•Worried about fluid leaking from your nipples? It’s probably not a breast cancer symptom, and almost certainly isn’t if it’s coming from both breasts, and it’s not bloody.

•During chemo, don’t eat your favorite foods; just by association with the chemo experience, you run the risk of them never being your favorite foods again!