Resources
When your care gets complicated.
Practical guides for the moments standard care doesn't cover: what to do before surgery, how to build the right team, and what your options are when the usual path runs out. Each one starts with a short answer and ends with questions to bring to your doctor.
Getting ready
What should I have ready for surgery recovery?
A tap-to-check list of what to buy, what to pack and what to ask before you go home. Works best on your phone.
Open the checklist SurgeryWhat actually happens during a mastectomy, and after?
The kinds of mastectomy, what happens on the day, how drains work, the first few weeks and when to call your team.
Read the explainer SurgeryHow do I take care of my drain?
How to empty and measure it, what the fluid should look like, what to do if it's blocked and when to call your team.
Read the guide SurgeryHow do I get ready for a mastectomy?
A timeline from the weeks before to the first weeks home: what to pause, pack, ask and expect.
Read the timelineBefore surgery or a biopsy
Should I save my tumor tissue?
The time to ask is before the procedure. What happens to tissue by default, and what you can arrange instead.
Read the guide Your teamHow do I find the right doctor for a complicated cancer?
What to look for in an oncologist, and the questions that show how they think.
Read the guideBeyond standard treatment
How do I ask a drug company for an experimental drug?
The FDA says yes to almost every single-patient request. Getting the company to agree is the hard part.
Read the guide Clinical trialsWhat if the trial I need hasn't opened yet?
When the next standard treatment would rule you out. The pathways families have used, including Montana's new law.
Read the guideAlso on Babette
Several of these guides are based on work by Future of Cancer Care Today, a program of the Sijbrandij Foundation, and checked against FDA and other primary sources. Each guide lists its sources.