You Just Got Diagnosed With Breast Cancer and You Need Answers and Guidance Now... If you're a tightrope walker, you never look down. Where your eyes go, so goes your body. If you race cars, it's the same thing. You only look where you want to go. If you look at the wall, that's where you will end up. In Dr. Annette Richard's book, Breast Cancer - There's Something I Need to Get Off My Chest, she shows you have to put the blinders on when first receiving a breast cancer diagnosis by looking forward at some fabulous imagined future for yourself. Instead of imagining the worst, Dr. Richards explains how you should put being done with your treatment in your imagination instead. Relaxing with family and loved ones and saying "Wow. I'm amazing. I did this. I'm empowered. I advocated. I am a survivor."
In this book, Dr. Richards explains how many women, after surviving breast cancer, want to give back; they want to help other women. They feel stronger than when they were first diagnosed, and they want to help others feel the same way. That is where you really want to imagine yourself. Not all the little side steps along the way, but whatever that picture is for you. Come up with an imagined future where this is over and you are stronger than when you first started and keep that the focus of your journey. The author's greatest wish for you is for you to become your own self-advocate and become empowered during your breast cancer journey.
About the Author:
Annette Richard is a General Practitioner in London, Ontario with a particular interest in breast cancer. Through her FACE IT program, Dr. Richard supports, educates, and coaches patients and their families through this formidable journey.
A devastating multi-car crash in the south of France changed the direction of Dr. Richard's life - she vowed that never again would she be a helpless, useless bystander.
On a teenage backpacking pilgrimage, she was one of the first people to assist a driver, unmoving and lying in a pool of leaking gas next to his vehicle. He asked about his wife...and Annette could see she was clearly dead. All she could do was pat his arm and put her coat over him - and change the direction of her life's mission. At 17, her journey into medicine began.
With no money, Dr. Richard worked full time while attaining her degree and applied to medical school at 32. As a youngster, she was told she talked too much. And although the comment devastated her, she became a great listener - this skill has served her well.
In 2000, to help a friend through her breast cancer diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments, Dr. Richard kept her spirits up with talks of their own dragon boat team. What started as a motivational exercise, soon morphed into Rowbust, a team of breast cancer survivors promoting awareness and celebrating life...and they're still growing strong today. Their dragon boat is aptly named, "Annette's Hope."
But it wasn't until 2007, while undergoing palliative training at the Cancer Centre that Dr. Richard learned that mastectomy surgery in London was done as day surgery. She was horrified. She researched every aspect of breast cancer - from diagnosis through treatment - and started the FACE IT program.
