Silvia Davis

Breast cancer survivors highlighted guidance and encouragement they received when first diagnosed, offering reassurance for those who are newly diagnosed.

Breast Cancer Survivors Share Advice for Newly Diagnosed Patients 

This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we spoke with two breast cancer survivors about the guidance and encouragement they wish they had received when first diagnosed. Their insights offer practical wisdom and reassurance for anyone facing a new breast cancer diagnosis.

Survivors Maureen Green and Silvia Davis also shared their experiences with side effect management, self-advocacy, and fertility preservation. Read their full interview with CURE here.

What advice or encouragement would you give to someone newly diagnosed with breast cancer that you wish you had heard earlier?

: This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we spoke with two survivors about the advice or encouragement they wish they had received when first diagnosed. Here’s what they had to share.

: I'm sure I got lots of good advice. It's hard to listen when you're in such a tough spot, but if someone were willing to listen to advice, I would say to accept help when it's offered, and also ask for help when you need it, and just to take things one step at a time. It can be very overwhelming to think about everything that you'll have to go through. And, you know, it takes a long time to beat cancer, but it's worth it, obviously, in the end. You just have to get through one thing at a time and just stay the course.

: This was actually advice I was given that I think was probably the best advice I was given, as a friend of mine had something similar going on in their lives. And she said, “You find a doctor you trust, and you hand over the keys. You're not going to become an oncologist overnight.”

There's so much information on the internet that you need to totally stay away from, and the human connection of doctors is really what can get you through this. All the information is almost detrimental in the sense where people become Google doctors, and that's just not helpful, right? You don't want to use the worst case or the best-case scenario. You really need a trained professional who does this work every day, and you have to connect with them as a human. I feel like that was the most important advice I was given.

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Silvia Davis

Breast Cancer Survivors Share Advice for Newly Diagnosed Patients

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