How Has Breast Cancer Impacted Your Role as a Mom?

Breast Cancer Impacted Your Role as a Mom
HEALTHJOURNEYS

How has breast cancer affected your role as a mom?

It has honestly made me respect my 16 year old daughter so much.  She is my rock!

Did your children express fears, confusion? How did they support you?

Of course there were a few concerns, but if there was any fear my daughter never showed it.  I partly believe that the confidence and positivity in which I handled my diagnosis, surgery and treatment had a lot to do with her reaction.  She was a tremendous help while I was recovering and I didn't hide much of what was happening from her.  She wanted to be a part of my recovery and I was not afraid to ask her for help if I thought it was something she could assist me with. She needed that too and so did I.

How did you juggle family life with your treatments?

I did not have to have chemotherapy or radiation so after my recovery from surgery, our daily life came back to normal.   But after my bilateral mastectomy I tried to rest as much as I could while my daughter was a school. I wanted our life as a family when we were all home to be as normal as possible.  I also made sure that rides to and from events were always planned so that she did not feel the effects of the juggling and planning it took to get her to her activities.