Supporter Tips

As we all know having support as a cancer patient (during & after treatment) is vital. The progress is very overwhelming and challenging. There are good days and bad days. Days where things will seem as normal as they can be and days when things will seem like a horrible nightmare. With that, please be patient with the patient. Try your best to allow them to be as open or not as open as they choose to be. Don't pressure them to give you their current medical status. Respect their privacy. Asking multiple questions at one time can become frustrating. This is a very fragile time for the patient. Be mindful of the things that you say and do. Sometimes without consciously knowing some comments, questions, and/or actions can be insensitive and offensive, which hurts more than helps the patient.

**try to refrain from asking, doing, or making comments such as these**

I know exactly how you feel (when you have never been a cancer patient)
are you going to die from breast cancer
now that you have cancer get ready, all your hair is going to fall out
it's just hair, it's not that big of a deal
they'll probably cut your breasts off and you're going to look funny without them
you look so bad with all that weight lost
can I see your breast, your surgery scar
I'll just raise your shirt/clothing to see what I want to see (without permission)
why do your breasts look so weird
why has your skin around your breasts gotten darker
you don't have to always tell us you don't feel good, you have breast cancer, we know
why are you always tired and sluggish
you've been through this before, you should be handling it better than this
why didn't you tell me when you first got diagnosed
you probably got cancer because of this or that
why didn't you feel like talking or doing anything today
almost everyone is getting nowadays, so you'll be ok