Living with breast cancer could make one feel like the end of the world is near and one’s life is over. If you are living with breast cancer and you have these feelings, they are completely justified. It’s hard to acknowledge and live with the fact that your body is fighting against itself. Though it may seem like the end and you’re scared of what your life may become now, it doesn’t have to be. Living with breast cancer doesn’t have to stop your life. In fact, living with breast cancer could show you a whole new world and give you a whole new meaning to what life truly is and how it should be lived: on your terms.
Any type of cancer, including breast cancer, takes a toll on your body physically and mentally. You may be living in pain that can sometimes be severe and chronic. The chemotherapies and other treatments that make you weak and tired afterward are hard.
Additionally, you may have to deal with changes in your mental health, such as questioning why you, what you did wrong, or what you could have done to prevent this.
It’s a lot, and on the inside looking out, it may seem that now life is going to be impossible to live, but that is not the case. Changing your mindset is the first step to living with breast cancer because perspective is everything. Changing how you think will change how you live.
RELATED: 5 Things To Expect After A Breast Cancer Diagnosis
It’s easy to assume the worst when you hear something like triple-negative breast cancer. Your brain may automatically start to think negatively when the words are uttered, especially if you were just diagnosed with it, but assuming the worst without any reassurance will make you feel exactly like that, worse. When learning about triple-negative breast cancer, here are some important facts to know and myths to be aware of:
Fact: You can live a long, fulfilling life while having triple-negative breast cancer; in fact, over 75 percent of women pass the 5-year survival rate.
Fact: Though it tends to come back, triple-negative breast cancer can be treated. It’s usually treated through radiation, chemotherapies and or surgery.
Fact: Anyone can be diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, though certain groups of people are at a higher risk of being diagnosed (young people under the age of 50, Black and Latino women, and people with a BRCA 1 mutation).
To start living, you have to stop thinking, and though that may sound confusing, it’s true. Instead of constantly focusing on the negative, see what thinking positively might do; try it out a few times.
Every time you have a negative thought, think of a positive outcome for that same thought. The first step to being healthy is making sure you have the right skills to take care of yourself mentally. Negative thoughts don’t stop regardless of what you’re experiencing in life or what your diagnosis might be, but there are ways to combat them.
Another way to make sure you stay healthy is to incorporate a better diet. This means eating healthier and more colorful foods every day and removing processed, high sugar, fat and cholesterol foods from your diet.
Also, make sure you stay as active as you can. Simply washing the dishes and cooking is a form of physical activity. Talk to your doctor about what may work well with you, depending on how you are affected physically and mentally by your diagnosis.
RELATED: Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: What Black Women Need To Know
Just because you’re on treatment doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to treat yourself as well. As stated earlier, triple-negative breast cancer doesn’t have to stop your life. Here are some fun things you can do while on treatment:
Your life is your life, and you have the power to make any decision that you want to. TN breast cancer may put up a tough fight, but you’re a warrior. You don’t stop for triple-negative breast cancer; it stops for you.
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