Managing My Medical Care
Use knowledge to combat fear. Learn about your diagnosis and work with your care team to decide what treatment is best for you.
Understanding your diagnosis is an important first step in understanding what treatment will be best for you. There are many types of breast cancer, with different treatment options. Young women face a unique set of issues when diagnosed and often are forced to make life changing decisions in a short period of time. Knowing what to ask for may help you feel in control. Learn about what to look for in a cancer team, genetic testing, clinical trials, treatment side effects and anything else “medical” on this page.
Build My Care Team
Trust and confidence in your cancer care team is critical to your physical and mental health. Remember, YOU are the leader of your healthcare team. Take time to talk with your providers and don’t be afraid to ask for a second opinion.
- Hear Me: Communicating With Your Healthcare Team (Let’s Talk About It Video Series for Young Women)
- Equal Hope: Securing a Regular Doctor
- SurviveDAT: You’ve Just Been Diagnosed with Breast Cancer: Now What? Medical Checklist
- Tigerlily Foundation Toolkit: Your Healthcare Provider and You
- Be a Self-Advocate
- Primary Care Provider’s Role in AYA Cancer
Explore Clinical Trials
Learning about clinical trials can help you explore all of the treatment options available to you. A basic understanding of the clinical trial process can help you talk with your doctor and decide what treatment is right for you.
- MBC Clinical Trials : An Introduction (video)
- NIH, National Cancer Institute, Clinical Trials Information
- Young Survival Coalition, Breast Cancer Clinical Trials
- Breast Cancer Trials: Finding a Clinical Trial
- Clinical Trial Matching Service
- Tigerlily Foundation: Understanding Clinical Trials Guidebook
- Metastatic Breast Cancer Trial Search
- “This is some hot stuff going on and I want to be a part of it” – Sheila McGlown on Clinical Trials
- Metastatic Trial Talk: Clinical Trials Primer
- MBC Connect: Clinical Trial Registry
- When We Trial: TOUCH, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance and Breastcancer.org
Understand Family Risk and Genetic Testing
A genetic counselor can help you make sense of your family history, get genetic testing, and understand the results of your test. Learn more about how to talk with your family about your cancer family history and what to expect from genetic counseling and genetic testing.
- Facing Hereditary Cancer Empowered (FORCE): What is Genetic Testing?
- My Family Health Portrait
- Does It Run In The Family
- Let’s Talk: Sharing Info About Your Family Cancer Risk
- American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, Find a Genetic Service
- NIH, National Cancer Institute, NCI Cancer Genetics Services Directory
- Cancer.Net, Genetics
- National Society of Genetic Counselors: Find A Genetic Counselor
Prepare for My Surgery
Mastectomy or lumpectomy? Remove one or both breasts? Reconstruction or Aesthetic Flat Closure? Implants. flap. prosthesis, or go flat? These are some of the first decisions you may face and it can feel overwhelming. Prepare for conversations with your cancer care team with these resources.
Manage My Pain and Symptoms
Cancer treatments can cause pain and discomfort, but there is no need to suffer in silence. Your healthcare team can help. Ask for a referral to a supportive care or palliative care specialist, they are especially trained to manage pain and other symptoms. Check out the resources below!
Preparing for Like After Treatment Ends
Transitioning out of treatment can bring both relief and anxiety. Get answers to your questions and resources to help prepare for these changes.
Working with My Primary Care Provider
Primary care is an important part of cancer treatment. Ongoing care after breast cancer treatment is often provided by primary care physicians. Check out these resources.