Survivors share how to combat insensitive comments made by loved ones and strangers.
BY KATIE KOSKO
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 26, 2020
When Martha Carlson received a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis in January 2015, she felt immediate despair about the effect it would have on her family. She had just turned 50 and had three younger children — the youngest, 12 — and a husband at home.
Scared and heartbroken, Carlson felt a deep loss after learning her disease was terminal, with an average survival rate of 30-39 months, depending on the patient’s age. Unlike some other patients with the disease, Carlson responded well to therapy and remains on Herceptin (trastuzumab) and Perjeta (pertuzumab), which are used to treat HER2-positive cancer.
“I had to learn to balance my own normal going through life — raising my kids, having hopes and dreams, and not shutting off that part of myself because I have this diagnosis,” says Carlson, who lives in Brookfield, Illinois.
Scared and heartbroken, Carlson felt a deep loss after learning her disease was terminal, with an average survival rate of 30-39 months, depending on the patient’s age. Unlike some other patients with the disease, Carlson responded well to therapy and remains on Herceptin (trastuzumab) and Perjeta (pertuzumab), which are used to treat HER2-positive cancer.
“I had to learn to balance my own normal going through life — raising my kids, having hopes and dreams, and not shutting off that part of myself because I have this diagnosis,” says Carlson, who lives in Brookfield, Illinois.
No comments:
Post a Comment