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This article is from the WebMD Feature Archive
The Guy's Guide to Breast Cancer
Men looking for ways to support a wife, sister, mother, or other woman with breast cancer may want to learn from experts and other men who have been in the same position. In August 2001, Jackie Thomas was diagnosed with breast cancer and quickly had surgery and started chemotherapy. Her husband, Michael, a Lutheran minister with a background as a chaplain at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha found that his experience counseling others through illness hadn't prepared him for this. "It's a very difficult position to be in. You're used to being in control and you're not in control. You want to come up with a solution and there is no solution."
When a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, it can blindside the men who love her - husbands, boyfriends, fathers, sons. It's not just a "woman's issue," say the men who've been affected. But many of them know little about the disease itself and find themselves at a loss as to how to help the women they love cope emotionally (much less cope themselves).
What's Happening to Her?
"Breast cancer is one of those diseases where there isn't a simple formula for treatment," says Judy Perotti, director of patient services for Y-ME, a national breast cancer organization. "Treatment is very individualized based on the woman's age, the size of the tumor, whether it's in the lymph nodes, and whether it's estrogen-receptor positive. Those are pieces of information that are critical to know and understand."
Y-ME offers a brochure called Understanding Your Breast Cancer Pathology Report that can help decipher the "medicalese" behind your wife's or mother's hospital chart. "People should know that they have to be active in the treatment decisions, because there isn't a formula," Perotti says.
Still, there are some things you can expect. "Most younger women with invasive breast cancer get chemotherapy. That takes at least three months, sometimes more," says Anne O'Connor, RN, MSN, clinical nurse coordinator at the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University.
"Every three weeks, she'll get chemo for an hour to four hours. For the next several days, she'll be taking a lot of medication and not feeling well. After that, she'll probably be feeling more like herself, but she'll still be fatigued, and the effects are cumulative."
There will be other changes. "If she has radiation therapy, just going for it is fatiguing, since the treatment is usually Monday through Friday for six weeks. There can be skin changes and sensitivity," O'Connor says. "There will be changes to the breast. And there will be emotional changes."
What Can I Do?
For many men, the biggest challenge is dealing with the fact that they can't "fix" this. "They feel helpless. It's a horrible feeling," Perotti says. "It's very difficult to stand by and watch as the person who's dearest to you in the whole world is diagnosed with a life-threatening disease and goes through treatments that may be very difficult. A lot of men want to fix things, and they're very frustrated when it becomes evident very quickly that they can't."
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Breast Cancer Guide
VIVELLE-DOT (estradiol transdermal system) IS AVAILABLE BY PRESCRPTION ONLY.
INDICATION
Vivelle-Dot is used after menopause to: reduce moderate to severe hot flashes; treat moderate to severe dryness, itching and burning in or around the vagina; help reduce your chances of getting osteoporosis (thin weak bones); and treat certain conditions in which a young woman's ovaries do not produce enough estrogens naturally. Vivelle-Dot 0.025 mg/day is only used to prevent osteoporosis from menopause. If you use Vivelle-Dot only to treat your dryness, itching, and burning in and around your vagina or if you use Vivelle-Dot only to prevent osteoporosis from menopause, talk with your healthcare professional about whether a different treatment or medicine without estrogens might be better for you.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
Estrogens increase the chances of getting cancer of the uterus (womb). Report any unusual vaginal bleeding right away while you are taking estrogens. Vaginal bleeding after menopause may be a warning sign of cancer of the uterus (womb).
Do not use estrogens with or without progestins to prevent heart disease, heart attacks, or strokes. Using estrogens with or without progestins may increase your chances of getting heart attacks, strokes, breast cancer, and blood clots. Using estrogens with progestins may increase your risk of dementia (decline in memory and thinking skills).
Vivelle-Dot should not be used if you have unusual vaginal bleeding; currently have or have had certain cancers, including cancer of the breast or uterus; had a stroke or heart attack in the recent past (for example, in the past year); currently have or have had blood clots; currently have or have had liver problems; or think you may be, or know that you are, pregnant.
The most common side effects that may occur with Vivelle-Dot are headache, breast tenderness, and back pain.
You and your healthcare professional should talk regularly about whether you still need treatment with Vivelle-Dot.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
Please see Full Prescribing Information for Vivelle-Dot.
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and a new study reveals why a high number of women with the disease still prefer to have the entire breast surgically removed instead of just the tumor. It's not always because doctors recommend it.
