The Toolkit
Lists and questions you’ll actually use.
Organized by where you are right now. Everything here is free, and nothing asks you to sign up.
Interactive works on the page. Checklist lets you tick things off. Printable prints cleanly or emails to you. Guide is a plain-English article.
Just diagnosed? Start with these.
- Printable
Questions to ask after a diagnosis
Lists for your first appointments, from finding the right doctor to understanding your risk.
Print the questions - Guide
The Babette Dictionary
The words on your pathology report and in your appointments, translated into plain English.
Look up a word - Guide
Building your care team
Who else to bring onto your team, and the records to bring to a second opinion.
Read the guide - Guide
How long can you wait before surgery?
What a national study found about the time between a diagnosis and surgery.
Read the guide - Guide
Journal prompts for the newly diagnosed
Fifteen prompts for getting what’s in your head onto paper.
Read the prompts - Interactive
Myth or Truth
Seventeen things people swear are true about breast cancer, answered by the research.
Play Myth or Truth
Have surgery coming up? Get ready here.
- InteractiveChecklistPrintable
The Surgery Recovery Checklist
What to pack and have at home. Tap to check things off on your phone, then print or share it.
Open the checklist - Printable
Questions for your surgeon
Lists for lumpectomy, mastectomy, drains and recovery, ready to print or email to yourself.
Print the questions - Guide
How do I get ready for a mastectomy?
A plain-language timeline for the weeks before and after.
Read the guide - Guide
What happens during a mastectomy?
What happens in the operating room, and what the first weeks are like.
Read the guide - Guide
What happens during a lumpectomy?
What happens on the day, and what clear margins mean.
Read the guide - Guide
How do I take care of my drain?
How to empty and measure a drain, and when to call your care team.
Read the guide
In treatment? Keep these close.
- Printable
Questions about treatment and trials
What to ask about hormone therapy and clinical trials.
Print the questions - Printable
Questions about side effects
What to ask about fatigue, brain fog, lymphedema and more.
Print the questions - Guide
Is This Normal?
The questions people type at 2 a.m., answered in plain English.
Read the answers - Guide
Sharing a home during chemo
What to know about flushing, laundry and closeness in the days after treatment.
Read the guide - GuideChecklist
A plan for a power outage
What to write down and pack before the lights go out, with a tap-to-check list for your go-bag.
Read the guide
Finished treatment? Here’s what comes next.
- Printable
Questions for after treatment
What to ask about follow-up care and feeling like yourself again.
Print the questions - Guide
What is a survivorship care plan?
What’s in one, and how to get one if nobody has offered.
Read the guide - Guide
Going back to work
What to tell your boss, and what your rights are.
Read the guide - Guide
Why don’t I feel better?
Why the end of treatment isn’t the end of recovery, and what helps.
Read the guide - Guide
Will I ever stop being afraid it’s back?
Why the fear happens, and what actually helps.
Read the guide
What’s changed in your body since treatment?
- Printable
Questions about sex and menopause
What to ask about dryness, pain, desire and hormones.
Print the questions - Guide
Did treatment put you into menopause overnight?
Why treatment can bring on sudden menopause, and what to ask.
Read the guide - Guide
Is vaginal estrogen safe after breast cancer?
What guidelines and a 2024 study say about low-dose vaginal estrogen.
Read the guide - Guide
Why does sex hurt after breast cancer?
Why it can hurt, and what helps.
Read the guide - Guide
How do you talk about sex after breast cancer?
Starting the conversation with a partner or your care team.
Read the guide
Is your care getting complicated?
- Guide
How do I find the right doctor for a complicated cancer?
What to look for in an oncologist when your cancer is rare or has come back.
Read the guide - Guide
What if the trial I need hasn’t opened yet?
What families have done when standard treatment would rule them out of a trial.
Read the guide - Guide
How do I ask for an experimental drug?
How compassionate use works, and how to ask a drug company well.
Read the guide - Guide
Should I save my tumor tissue?
What happens to your tissue by default, and what to ask before biopsy or surgery.
Read the guide
Can’t find what you need?
Search every Babette guide, or tell us which list you wish existed. We read every note.
Babette provides education, not personalized medical advice. Your care team can help you understand what applies to your diagnosis and treatment.