Diagnosed with breast cancer - support group?

M

my2leftfeet

Registered User
Messages
288
My best friend has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Neither of us know much about it. Just wondering if there is a website / support group [Irish] that she could log on to to learn a bit more and discuss her situation with people going through the same thing.
 
Sorry to hear that but the good news is that early detection of this and many other cancers often leads to a positive prognosis. Have you tried the Irish Cancer Society [broken link removed] site? The ICS operate a helpline which might be worth contacting.
 
BreastCheck might also be worth contacting but I imagine that they'd refer somebody with a positive diagnosis to the ICS. Hope your friend is coping OK. It helps if she has the support of family and friends like yourself and can be kept as unstressed as possible. I presume that she has seen her GP and/or been referred for a specialist consultation or treatment?
 
Yes. GP and specialist. I don't want to post too much here in case any of her family post here and upsetting them - but I do have concerns/questions about the speed of this whole process [soooo fast]. If anyone has been through this or works in the area - please PM me so I can ask a couple of things.
 
If they are going public and there is a waiting list then opting to go semi-private/private might speed things up.
 
[broken link removed] is also a great resource and may help to alleviate some of your friend's fears....

Reach to Recovery is a supportive programme for women who have had, or are about to have treatment for breast cancer. The programme operates by encouraging and fostering personal contact between the patient and a Reach to Recovery volunteer. Reach to Recovery has over 70 volunteers countrywide. All volunteers are women, who themselves have been successfully treated for breast cancer. They have been carefully trained to provide advice and reassurance.
Specifically Reach to Recovery’s aims are to:
  • Help women come to terms with their diagnosis of breast cancer.
  • Discuss the feelings and anxieties that may be experienced by women who are told they have to have surgery or chemotherapy / radiotherapy for their breast cancer.
  • Provide support and advice to women following their treatment.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi my2leftfeet,

Sorry to hear about your friend's illness. It can be extremely stressful for family/friends also.

You may find this information from the helpful.

Hope the treatment goes well and that she makes a full recovery. Try to maintain a positive frame of mind as this in itself can go a long way towards helping everyone affected.
 
Hi my2leftfeet, been there over ten years ago now but at the time there were no support groups in our area so we (those of us affected by cancer mainly breast) set up our own support group and its still going strong. sligocancersupportcentre.ie, bray cancer support centre is another with lots of info. If your friend is attending hospital she could ask the hospital if they know of any support groups in the area where she lives. Some people just need the support for a short time and others stay with it for a long time possibly because of the friendships which have developed from them and to give encouragement to those newly diagnosed with cancer. Best of luck and always remember there are lots of people out there who have been through what shes going through now.
 
Your friend should have been assigned a liason nurse at this stage.

She will give your friend all the information she requires.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top