Breast Cancer: What To Expect
Why is my bone health important after being treated for breast cancer?
With regards to what to expect from breast cancer, and to why bone health after treatment for breast cancer is important, there are a number of different reasons. One reason is that if a woman is premenopausal before receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer, chemotherapy can sometimes induce menopause, and basically shut the ovaries down. When this happens, there's a dramatic decrease in circulating estrogens, and estrogens are the main hormones that increase bone density. So, when the estrogen levels decrease, the bone density can rapidly decrease as well, and women can develop premature osteoporosis. This process is the thinning of the bones which can put them at increased risk for fracture. Also, breast cancer is a hormonally sensitive cancer, and for women with hormone receptive positive breast cancers, they may require hormonal medications. These medications may also block estrogen and weaken the bones too. Therefore it's important for a woman who has been diagnosed with breast cancer to make sure that her physician is checking her bones, her bone density and that she is getting both adequate Vitamin D and calcium in her diet.
Who do I need on my breast cancer treatment team?
With regards to who you need in your breast cancer team, it's important to have a number of different physicians from different disciplines on your healthcare team when getting your breast cancer treated. You need a medical oncologist, a surgical oncologist or a breast surgeon, and you need a radiation oncologist to talk with you about the pluses and minuses of radiation. It's also helpful to have a social worker who can talk with you about what different assistance programs are available should you not be able to work during your treatment, or should you have any other problems at home. It's important to have family and friends who can be there for you as well. When you're diagnosed with cancer you are not the only person who's affected by it, and it's important to let your family and friends to be there for you because they can often feel helpless, not knowing what they can do. Sometimes, they can give you tangible things like taking you to your treatments and driving you back, and where they can pick up groceries. They can do physical tangible things that make a difference and help to make your life with breast cancer treatment easier.
