Support Groups Help Those with Breast Cancer

Full support or light support, breast cancer groups offer up all sizes.

Traditional support groups find participants sitting in a circle, sharing stories, struggles and advice, but breast cancer patients and survivors can find comfort and help in many other ways and in many other places, both in person and online.

Major breast cancer awareness websites have online discussion groups where people may connect, get tips or share advice for coping with treatments and side effects.

Among our favorites:

• Susan G. Komen for the Cure
• Breast Cancer Support
• National Breast Cancer Foundation

Plenty of information, such as “what to do the day of surgery,” is readily available. Some of these major websites also have thousands of discussion boards, many of them splintering into local meet-ups.

“Support groups help validate your experience,” said Selma Schimmel, founder of Vital Options International, a cancer communications and advocacy organization. Schimmel is also a breast cancer survivor and the author of the book Cancer Talk.

Schimmel believes that breast cancer patients who attend support groups have an easier time and survive longer because they get positive energy and up-to-date information during what can be an emotional tidal wave.

Groups are a great place to learn about side effects, clinical trials and trends with treatment, she said.

Specialized support groups are also plentiful. Mothers Supporting Daughters with Breast Cancer was founded in Washington, DC, in 1995 by mom Charmayne Dierker and daughter Lillie Shockney. Their organization, which has local resources, has helped more than 10,000 women.

Men Against Breast Cancer offers online resources to men who want to support women in their lives with breast cancer.

Survivors are the heart of another group, SHARE, which offers support to women in and around New York City who have been diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer.

Tobey Young, of Oceanside, NY, started a support group on Long Island after feeling that she didn’t have the support that she needed after a mastectomy. That group, Previvors and Survivors, offers a forum, shopping and carpooling services, meal delivery, and other services for patients and their families.

“My experience made me want to help others,” Young said.

While many breast cancer resources are just a click away, some patients get support much closer to home from people who aren’t even affiliated with breast cancer groups.

Tammy Wacker of Altamonte Springs, FL, was diagnosed with breast cancer while her two children were in preschool, and Wacker’s Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) group has offered play dates, prayers, notes and time. One mom even went to Wacker’s doctor’s appointments with her to take notes.

“A MOPS mom brought two bags of groceries to my house,” Wacker said, “fun, fancy stuff that I would never buy myself.”

Tammy’s husband, Don Wacker, needed support, too. He was astonished to find out that his young wife had breast cancer, and he embraced anyone he could find who had experience with the disease.

“I will never forget when I asked a friend how long his wife had been bald,” Don said. “He responded, ‘I don’t remember.’

“I realized he didn’t care and it hadn’t affected his relationship. That alleviated one of my major concerns.”

Other members of MOPS gave Tammy a portable DVD player.

“Don and I watched funny movies while I received chemo(therapy),” Tammy said. “It made the time go by so much faster, and we had fun while we were there.”

The Wackers said that they found that people wanted to help them and that they had to figure out how to accept the help.

Tammy’s advice?: “Accept all gifts of love.”