What is a Cancer Coach and Why Do You Need One?

I found this wonderful explanation of a Breast Cancer Coach that I reprinted from the Dallas News, dated Monday, February 18, 2008:

“The advice made my head spin: Have the lump removed. No, let them take the whole breast. Chemo? Radiation? Everyone seemed to have an opinion.

‘I just shut everyone down around me,’ said Bernie Brann, a newly diagnosed cancer patient from upstate New York.  ‘You’re just so overwhelmed with information.’

Bad advice, or just too much of it, can compound the trauma and damage done by the disease itself, cancer patients often find. Friends and relatives are important for support, but when these untrained people act as cancer coaches, they can sway people to make poor decisions about their care. This includes survivors, whose opinions are highly valued by patients suddenly facing the scary diagnosis. They may know a lot about cancer, but can do harm if they project their own experiences onto someone else, who may have a different form of the disease that needs different treatment. Survivors also may be out of touch with changes in the field, where genetic discoveries are rapidly reshaping notions of who needs chemotherapy and what kind.

What’s the solution?  Many advocacy groups and hospitals are using ‘professional’ coaches – trained … workers who can objectively help new patients navigate the maze of information and options.”

Recovering from cancer, as I have done two times, is so much more than the treatment. It is about your emotional, physical and psychological states of mind. You feel overwhelmed and out of balance.  You want to get back to “normal” and feel that you never will.  Some of the questions you ask yourself are: Why Me; Why Now; How do I tell my children; What if I lose my job; Where do I get financial assistance and the questions are endless.

You know that my partner, Theresa, and I started Pink Ribbon Associates (http://www.pinkribbongift.com/).  After we had the site launched I decided to go back to school to get my Certification as a Professional Coach. I went to IPEC (Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching) and received the following Certifications:  Certified Professional Coach, Certified Empowerment Coach and Energy Leadership Index-Master Practitioner. And, although I coach many individuals and families, my niche is as a cancer coach because I feel it is such a necessity to have someone travel the cancer journey with the cancer patient/survivor.  My coaching website is:  www.helpyouhealcoaching.com.

STAY TUNED:  Our next Blog will be about Neuropathy after Chemotherapy.