How to manage body image concerns after breast cancer surgery
Losing a breast due to cancer treatment can mean different things to different people. It all depends on where you are in your life and how you perceive the removal of your breast.
Sometimes, it can trigger feelings of being “less than” — or anxiety about how its loss might affect intimate relationships. For others, it may trigger feelings of grief or sadness.
So, how do you navigate these and other body image issues that...
Mastectomy recovery: What to expect after breast removal surgery
Mastectomy is the scientific term for the surgical removal of the breast. It is frequently used to treat and prevent breast cancer. It can...
How to relieve nerve pain after a mastectomy
Between 25% and 60% of people who have surgery as part of their breast cancer treatment will also experience a side effect known as post-mastectomy...
Husband and wife face dual breast cancer diagnoses
Teresa and Billy Mayo have shared almost everything during their 46-year marriage. But the couple recently shared something they never anticipated: breast cancer.
Teresa was diagnosed in 2018, and Billy in 2020.
“We thought we were done with breast cancer when Teresa finished treatment,” Billy says. “It never occurred to me that I could get breast cancer, too.”
Mammogram signals the first signs of trouble
The...
What is a mastectomy?
Last updated Sept. 5, 2024
A mastectomy is a breast cancer surgery in which the surgeon removes the tumor and the entire breast.
Why I’m glad I chose MD Anderson for breast cancer treatment
With cancer treatment — as with life — you can only make decisions based on what you know at any given moment. But new information becomes...
5 things I learned after my double mastectomy
As a former nurse in MD Anderson’s Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU), I felt pretty familiar with breast cancer surgery. So, I thought I knew...
Breast cancer survivor grateful for personalized mastectomy and reconstruction decisions
Frances Arnoult had a double mastectomy, but she never had to see what she would have looked like without breasts. That’s because her MD Anderson...
Breast cancer treatment revealed courage I never knew I had
Before I started breast cancer treatment at age 35, I had all sorts of ideas about how difficult my life was about to get. In a way, I was...
Why I waited 10 years to have breast reconstruction
Maybe I’m a late bloomer. After being diagnosed with triple-negative inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) in August 2007, I had a double mastectomy...