Breast Cancer Expert Phyllis Johnson shares Breast Cancer management news and commentary at MyBreastCancerNetwork.com. The HealthCentral Network, Inc. (www.HealthCentral.com) is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692 http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692 http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/95290/understanding Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:59:00 -0500 Phyllis Johnson   One of the first things I did once the shock of my breast cancer diagnosis wore off was start to worry about what my diagnosis meant for my two sisters and my daughter.   My doctor told me that their risk had increased by 50%.   How could I tell them that they had a 50% chance of getting cancer?  With three first degree relatives to worry about and a fifty-fifty chance for breast cancer, it seemed inevitable that we... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/95290/understanding http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/93971/emotional Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:32:57 -0500 Phyllis Johnson   Once upon a time no one studied breast cancer survivors' emotional health.  Not enough survived; both doctors and patients assumed survivors should be grateful and move on with their lives.    Now that 89% of breast cancer patients live at least five years, researchers are starting to look at survival issues.  In an Australian study researchers looked at the emotional health of women two years after their... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/93971/emotional http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/93070/stages-cancer Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:15:41 -0500 Phyllis Johnson   Once the shock wears off, cancer patients may experience a huge range of emotions:  denial, anger, bargaining, guilt, and depression.  Most people eventually reach acceptance of the changes cancer has brought to their life, but it may take a while to get there.  What makes this emotional stew even more complicated is dealing with family members and friends who are working through these emotions as well, and often in a... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/93070/stages-cancer http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/92511/caregiver Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:28:00 -0400 Phyllis Johnson It wouldn't be right to let Breast Cancer Awareness Month slip away without a tribute to our caregivers. I know how important my husband's constant support was to me. I still count on him to get me through my bad moments with scares about recurrence and to listen to me whine about my side effects.   Richard Smith deserves special kudos because he is an important support for the hundreds of women in the Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC)... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/92511/caregiver http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/91813/foundation Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:52:54 -0400 Phyllis Johnson October 16, 2009 the IBC Research Foundation in cooperation with the Milburn Foundation awarded a grant to Diane Palmieri, Ph.D. to study how inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) can metastasize to the brain.  Dr. Palmieri, who is a National Cancer Institute staff scientist, is working with mouse models to understand how IBC progresses.  Her work is part of a Department of Defense Center for Excellence project devoted... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/91813/foundation http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/90375/stages-cancer Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:11:52 -0400 Phyllis Johnson You were shopping, sitting on the examining table, waiting in the doctor's office, or maybe getting ready to leave for work when you got the news.  The doctor or the nurse said, "The results are back.  You have cancer."   And then your mind went blank.  You didn't hear another word.  Although that moment is vividly seared into your mind, it's also wrapped in a kind of haze.  The first time my doctor mentioned... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/90375/stages-cancer http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/89223/advocate Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:41:44 -0400 Phyllis Johnson   Ginny Mason was only forty years old when sharp, shooting pains started in her breast.  She thought the pains must be part of premenopausal changes.  Then she noticed her bra didn't fit right.  No it couldn't be swelling; maybe her bra was just old and stretched out.  "You try to justify things because you don't want to be a hypochondriac," she told me in a recent interview.   Then her husband told her, "Your... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/89223/advocate http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/88379/creativity Sun, 27 Sep 2009 08:01:33 -0400 Phyllis Johnson Remember those stereotyped groups from high school?  Among them you found the creative types starring in the spring musical and the science types solving equations.  Thank goodness most of us figured out pretty quickly after high school that we were much more than the label pasted on us by our peers. One group I've developed an appreciation for over the years is the science lab bunch.  Those folks have the real... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/88379/creativity http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/87813/ibc-community Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:45:00 -0400 Phyllis Johnson "My friend died of breast cancer.  She wouldn't get any treatment.  It was that kind that black women get."   I had just met Bea, and in the course of our getting-to-know-each-other chat, she had mentioned that her husband was a one-year survivor of an aggressive cancer.  So I shared my story about being an eleven-year survivor of Stage IIIB breast cancer.    When Bea, who is African-American, said that her... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/87813/ibc-community http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/85322/s-not-nothing Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:11:54 -0400 Phyllis Johnson   Over the years, I've been fortunate in my doctors.  They've always been competent, and they've mostly been personable.  As I've grown older and more assertive, I've learned how to interact with doctors to get the kinds of explanations and follow-up care I need.   One phrase doctors use, however, really irritates me, and I know it's not just my doctors who use it because I read it all the time in questions on this website... http://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/c/9692/85322/s-not-nothing