For most patients, the words "you have breast cancer" are some of the most stressful that they have ever heard. In addition to being stressful for the person with the diagnosis, this can also be a challenging time for their family members, close friends, and loved ones. The diagnosis of one person can have a wide and lasting effect on many people. Most care providers know that it is impossible for anyone to face a breast cancer diagnosis and not have major stress added to their life and the lives of everyone who loves them. In fact, many patients state that cancer is the most difficult challenge they have ever faced. In addition to the added stress of the diagnosis, the standard cancer therapies and treatments can also be difficult and require great inner strength, perseverance, and resolve. Because of this, a strong support group of friends and family can provide great relief and can become a life-line. This handbook was written to empower those of you struggling with breast cancer, and your loved ones, with stress management tools to support you during your difficult journey from diagnosis through treatment and beyond. It was written by Tess Taft, an oncology family therapist and stress management specialist, who has many years of experience counseling patients and families who are navigating their way through the dark night of breast cancer treatment. Although each person's background and situation is different, we trust these tools can provide assistance to you and your loved ones during this life changing time.
About the Author: Tess Taft is an oncology stress management specialist and family therapist who has served cancer patients and their loved ones in hospitals, cancer clinics, homes, nursing homes, hospices and private practice settings for 34 years. She received a Masters Degree in Social Work from The University of Washington in 1979 and completed a Marriage and Family Therapy training program in 1981. In 1990 she became a certified specialist in Interactive Guided Imagery for Medical Clinicians in order to teach clients this unique and powerful tool to help with symptom and stress management, and to explore and deepen hope and faith. She has taught a Palliative Care certification program for graduate social work students at Eastern Washington University since 2007. Tess has provided training and clinical supervision for many therapists over the years. She is committed to serving people whose diagnosis has propelled them on a journey to find emotional and spiritual healing and peace. Kathy Beach chose to get a degree in nursing after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She received her RN degree in 1993, and spent sixteen years in hospital nursing where she worked on a range of units from Medical Oncology to Outpatient Surgery. For the past 4 years, she has focused on oncology and radiation oncology with Cancer Care Northwest in Spokane, WA. She loves her work and finds the patients she cares for and their families to be inspiring. Christopher M. Lee is a practicing Radiation Oncologist and is the Director of Research for Cancer Care Northwest and The Gamma Knife of Spokane (Spokane, WA). Dr. Lee graduated cum laude in Biochemistry from Brigham Young University in 1997 which included a summer research fellowship at Harvard University and Brigham and Women's Hospital. He subsequently attended Saint Louis University School of Medicine where he received his M.D. with Distinction in Research degree. He completed four additional years of specialty training in Radiation Oncology at the Huntsman Cancer Hospital and University of Utah Medical Center during which he was given multiple national awards. Dr. Lee actively pursues both basic science and clinical research. He continues to be a proliferative author of scientific papers and regularly gives presentations on radiotherapy technique and the use of targeted radiation in the care of patients with head and neck (throat), brain, breast, gynecologic, and prostate malignancies.