Tips for friends who are feeling unsure what to say and do.....
(20) If you have a friend or loved one who has been diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer and you lack confidence on how best to help, I've attempted to put together some ideas, based on my own experience and on articles I've read. One article I read was written by a woman who has breast cancer but at an earlier stage. She understood that there's a world of difference between having breast cancer at an early stage and breast cancer at an advanced stage. You could almost say they are two different diseases. This is what she wrote but I've taken some liberties and have changed some parts of it to reflect the Australian situation: "Lacking a map of how best to help friends with late stage disease, I've decided to simply ask. So, recently I've spent a lot of time talking to women with MBC, asking how I -- an early stager -- can support & advocate for women in the breast cancer community who have been diagnosed Stage IV. The women I talked to wer...