Nalie Agustin

While a diagnosis of cancer can be overwhelming and fear-inducing, stage four metastatic breast cancer thriver Nalie Agustin has some advice for patients who want to maintain an active role in their treatment: be your own advocate.

 recently spoke with Agustin, who is also an author, speaker and wellness advocate, at the 37th Annual Miami Breast Cancer Conference® in March, where she shared some questions that newly diagnosed patients should ask of their care teams in order to empower themselves through what can be a scary time.

I think it’s important to ask, for one [thing], if certain oncologists have patients who are doing well, and if so, what treatments are they on. And outside of medications, [ask] what else can you do as a patient to participate in your wellness, rather than just support the illness?

Maybe it’s not even the oncologists who will be able to give you the answers, but often the hospitals have certain nurses or even support groups or workshops that patients can get far more information when it comes to their health. Whether it’s psychological or even physical or exercise, there’s just so much you can do.

Often you think we’re the victim, but there’s a lot that you can do to be your own advocate and participate in your healing.

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“Often you think we’re the victim, but there’s a lot that you can do to be your own advocate and participate in your healing,” says stage four metastatic breast cancer thriver Nalie Agustin.
 

Advice for the Newly Diagnosed: How to Play an Active Role in Your Treatment

Being diagnosed with cancer at any stage can be heartbreaking and terrifying, especially when a patient hears the words “stage four”. But this doesn’t mean your life is over, and it’s important to remember to “take a breather”, according to stage four metastatic breast cancer thriver Nalie Agustin.

Agustin, author, speaker and wellness advocate, was the keynote speaker for the 37

 Miami Breast Cancer Conference and also took part in the 2020 

 Educated Patient Breast Cancer Summit held in tandem with the conference. Agustin had the chance to sit down with 

 and discuss the advice she wish she could have given herself at the time of her diagnosis.

This is advice I wish I could turn back the time on and give myself, but that would be to take a breather. Often, we think that once we're diagnosed, especially with stage four, we think our life ends right there and then we think that we immediately jump to death. So, we work under pressure, we make decisions out of fear, and I think it's important to take the time to take a deep breath.

Then do some research, and that is contact people who are diagnosed with the same thing and who are doing well. People who are NED or in remission, find out what it is that they did, what do they recommend? And get a second, third, fourth, fifth opinion if you need to, because sometimes the first prescription or the first diagnosis isn't always the best one. So, even just getting several opinions really helps.

If patients take a deep breath and concentrate on the journey ahead after receiving a diagnosis, they can find a path forward, says one metastatic breast cancer thriver.
 

Nalie Agustin

Advice for the Newly Diagnosed: How to Play an Active Role in Your Treatment

What to Do After You Hear the Words 'You Have Cancer'

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