Your life can change in a moment. In the “before” time, you could merely be coming in for your annual breast exam and just be sitting in the exam room, waiting to hear the results. Then a nurse appears to escort you to a different room.
“We’ve found something that looks suspicious in your left breast. To be more certain about it, we’ll need to do a biopsy.”
Just hearing the word “biopsy” starts you on an anxious journey of uncertainty and fear. And when you finally hear the words, “You have breast cancer,” you are fully aware that life will never be the same.
Thus begins your new life with cancer. In very short order, you’ll be introduced to a confusing medical vocabulary, multiple care providers, and asked to make challenging decisions about your health very quickly.
And because you are blind or have low vision, you’ll be navigating additional challenges. These could include inaccessible paperwork and patient portals and uninformed care providers, who know little or nothing about blindness.
At times like these, you may be able to rely on the support of family members, good friends and willing coworkers. In addition, a local cancer support group may be available to you. And yet, as a woman who is blind or has low vision, you are still undergoing a very unique experience.
You are invited to join a very special breast cancer support group, sponsored by the ACB Women’s Committee. Since December of 2008, our group has welcomed women who are blind or have low vision, at every stage of their breast cancer journey.
We meet for 90 minutes on the evening of the first Tuesday of each month. Since the beginning, the conversations have been led by the same two social work professionals, who, along with the participants, create a safe and confidential space for sharing your concerns and questions about cancer as well as life beyond cancer treatment.
And now, after 15 years, the group members have chosen to welcome blind women who have been diagnosed with any other gynecological cancers, including uterine, cervical and ovarian cancer, to join us. We want to share the support we have given and received with our sisters in this expanded community.
So, if you, or someone you know and love, has one of these diagnoses, please reach out to the group leaders for more details. They are:
- Linda Porelle, [email protected]
- Lori Scharff, [email protected]