My Nonprofit Reviews

When I was first diagnosed with MBC. (De novo in 5/2018), I was scared, confused, and needed to discuss it with someone who wasn’t a doctor who could give me real life knowledge of what I was going through. I couldn’t stop crying and people around me all were questioning why I wasn’t having a mastectomy right away, and frankly I questioned this also.

I went online and looked up Metastatic Breast cancer hotlines where I could call and hopefully they could calm me down while explaining to me exactly what metastatic breast cancer was, as opposed to early stage.

The first website to pop out was Support Connection. I was very scared to call and it took several times of picking up the phone and half dialing only to hang up before I got the courage to let the call go through.

This Support Connection Helpline (“helpline” rather than “hotline” which i learned was what it was named) was answered by Andrea. At first all I could do was cry. Andrea understood and told me to cry all I wanted. She too had been diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago and although she wasn’t metastatic, she had the knowledge to answer my questions. She stayed on the phone with me for almost an hour as I cried, got angry, and asked her a million questions, particularly about why this was happening to me.

Andrea was patient, allowed me to feel my emotions, gave me some tips on how to breathe and other tips for when the panic set in. She also was able to explain what it meant to have Stage 4 cancer versus early stage. We talked about my bone Mets and why they were now the focus of treatment and it was the spreading that the doctors were mostly concerned about. She explained that the biopsy would show the hormonal status of the breast cancer and this would allow them to choose a treatment for me. She also taught me to be my own advocate, and feel free to ask as many questions of the doctor as I needed to.

I called Andrea back several times and she was always available and helpful. I credit her with keeping me sane during those first few weeks of MBC, and I will never forget how she helped me. I continue to call in to the Support Connection monthly telephone support group and also know I can call the helpline back at any time if I need to talk one on one.

Support Connection is a wonderful organization that has helped me as well as thousands of others. They will always hold a place in my heart for being the one who helped me understand, and I am forever grateful to them.