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Patients often describe living with advanced, or metastatic, breast cancer (ABC) as a ‘rollercoaster’, for the way symptoms can impact their physical and emotional functioning.
Coping with fear
Patients with ABC note the uncertainty of their situation is difficult to manage. Talking about how they are feeling, and employing different strategies can help them to feel more in control.
This includes:
- Having a solid understanding of their diagnosis and treatment so they have an idea of what to expect.
- Setting priorities around what is important to them.
- Focusing on what they can control.
- Connecting with others (via an ABC patient support group).
- Recognising that uncertainty is normal and accepting they won’t have all the answers.
Sexuality and intimacy
Patients may experience difficulties being intimate after a diagnosis of ABC. This may be due to:
- reduced sexual and body confidence
- fatigue
- lowered libido
- side effects of treatment (i.e. menopausal symptoms from endocrine therapy)
- grief, mourning or anxiety caused by the diagnosis
- self-esteem or body image issues due to the loss of one or both breasts.
Physical barriers to intimacy, such as pain, can be treated and medications can also be used to alleviate menopausal symptoms (e.g. vaginal dryness or irritation). Clinicians should also discuss the benefit of talking to a counsellor about intimacy issues.
Advance care planning
An advance care plan allows patients to think about what is important to them and their whānau, including the medical treatments they would include or omit if they are not able to decide for themselves. An advance care plan involves input from the patient and their medical team, and it can be altered or changed at any time. The Ministry of Health has a guide to advance care planning for health care workers and the Health Quality and Safety Commission New Zealand has further information on advance care plans.
Find out about palliative care planning.
