Everything the breast cancer pamphlet left out. Which was most of it.
_(cropped)_(Better_Version).jpg?width=500)
.jpg?width=500)
They’re talking
They said it out loud. Here’s what their diagnosis actually means.
Robin Roberts and Olivia Munn are among the many who went public with breast cancer. We grouped them by the type they shared, from DCIS to stage 4, and explained each one in plain English.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons, shown in black and white: Greg2600 (CC BY-SA 2.0); Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 3.0); Greg Hernandez (CC BY 2.0); Neil Grabowsky / Montclair Film Festival (CC BY 2.0).
Tools
Here’s the useful stuff.
Questions you can print and lists you can tick off, so you walk into your next appointment a little more prepared.
Understand the medical-speak
What does that even mean?
Plain-English definitions of the words on your pathology report and in your appointments.
Explore the Glossary →Get ready for surgery
Here’s the surgery checklist.
What to pack and have at home, on your phone. Tick things off, then print it or share it.
Open the checklist →Know what to ask
Bring better questions.
Printable question lists for every stage, from diagnosis to life after treatment.
Browse the questions →Go deeper
Are the answers getting complicated?
Plain-English guides to clinical trials, experimental drugs, second opinions and saving your tumor tissue.
Explore the guides →All of it lives in The Toolkit. Explore the Toolkit →
The latest
Everything new →Why the fall time change throws off your body clock, and how to reset it
Did your smell change after treatment?
Is it normal to feel this anxious after a breast cancer diagnosis?
What actually happens during a lumpectomy, and after?
Sex + intimacy
Nobody brings it up in the exam room. So we do.
Just diagnosed? Start here.
All guides →
From the editor
What the breast cancer pamphlet should have been.
Jasmine has spent years with women in fitting rooms and hospital rooms after breast surgery. The questions were the same everywhere. Babette puts the answers in one place.
Meet Jasmine and BabetteThe After
The appointment is over. The questions have just begun.
Get the best of Babette once a month, and be the first to know when The After begins.
Subscribe free