Victoria Hunt Irwin

22 ways to help a friend with breast cancer

• "One of the most important ways a friend supported me was by listening to me as I decided what to do," says Orinda, Calif. writer Victoria Irwin, 57, who had a lumpectomy and radiation earlier this year. "When I was in decision-making mode, it's all I could think about or talk about. My friend listeneed. Survivor Anne Steele, 51, Hermosa Beach, California, who had chemo, a lumpectomy, and radiation, for example, liked having companions with her during chemo while Victoria Irwin, who spent her chemo time in solitary pursuits like reading, preferred to save friends' graciousness for another time.A friend of Victoria Irwin's bought her tickets to a concert series. "That was her gift to methe gift of distraction from treatment. Otherwise my days would have revolved around radiation in the morning," Irwin says. "The little distractions help you feel normal."
• Date: Oct 12, 2013
• Category: Health
• Source: Google