CaringWays® Recognizes Breast Cancer Awareness Month
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Leadership Spotlights
Medical Fundraising
More than likely, you’ve experienced what it’s like to hear that a friend, family, member, or co-worker has been diagnosed with breast cancer. As one of the most common cancers among women in the United States, about 287,850 women will receive a breast cancer diagnosis this year. That means that hundreds of thousands of women experience difficult emotions, upheaval, and new challenges related to understanding their diagnosis and making choices about their treatment. Making sense of all of this can be overwhelming, to say the least.
Thankfully, there has been a powerful push to increase awareness about breast cancer and the various ways we can come together to fight it. Whether it’s the NFL’s Crucial Catch initiative or the various events and campaigns hosted by nonprofits, October has become a month to raise awareness of this complex disease and fund research into its causes and treatment.
At CaringWays®, we know firsthand the impact that breast cancer can have on patients and their families. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we want to highlight ways that loved ones can support women and families after a breast cancer diagnosis.
Whenever a woman is first diagnosed with breast cancer, she recognizes that it will change her life, even if she doesn’t know how. Every diagnosis comes with treatments, medicines, and surgeries that can be physically, mentally, and emotionally draining. Here are some unique challenges that women face when diagnosed with breast cancer:
Regardless of their treatment, most breast cancer patients have to navigate physical changes in their appearance. Women undergoing chemotherapy often lose their hair and may experience weight changes. Lumpectomy patients are forced to deal with a loss of symmetry which can cause an increased fear of recurrence and a greater risk for depression. Mastectomy and reconstruction are also major physical changes that require long surgeries and recovery periods.
Breast cancer treatments often result in side effects. Whether a patient is undergoing radiation, chemotherapy, lumpectomy, or mastectomy, these procedures create radical changes in physical strength, emotional well-being, employment, and even a patient’s tastebuds or sense of smell. Young women diagnosed with breast cancer also face questions related to fertility and breastfeeding, which may require them to make difficult decisions during a time when they are already dealing with so much.
Many women find that their roles and relationships change during treatment. They may need to take a leave of absence from work, cut down on household responsibilities, and alter their daily routine. Patients may need extensive emotional, physical, and financial support following a breast cancer diagnosis.
Breast cancer can change the lives of those affected and those around them. What can you do to help after such a difficult diagnosis? How can you make things better for your friend, family member, or co-worker?
Becoming a CareChampion can be one of the best ways to help a loved one in the wake of a cancer diagnosis.
Here are a few specific ways that CareFunding can provide hope and healing for women and their families after a breast cancer diagnosis:
Breast cancer treatment can cause immense financial stress for patients. The cost of medicine, chemotherapy, surgeries, and radiation can drastically change an individual’s financial security. In addition to the cost of treatment itself, people may also incur travel expenses, the cost of coordinating childcare during treatment, or coping with a reduced income from needing to take a leave of absence at work.
According to data from the American Association for Cancer Research, many women younger than 40 who are diagnosed with breast cancer experience financial distress after a diagnosis, even if they have stable jobs with health insurance benefits.
CareFunding helps eliminate the financial stress of breast cancer by helping patients pay for medical bills and cover other health-related expenses.
Many breast cancer patients live full and busy lives, and some of these activities don’t cease in the wake of a diagnosis. House and lawn care, meal preparation, transporting family, and work and home responsibilities can be overwhelming when battling an illness. CareFunding can be a way to help your loved one cover the everyday costs and burdens of a cancer diagnosis. CaringWays® is a platform that is specifically designed to help you raise money that patients can use for meals, transportation, and home care services in a way that honors donor intent through the use of a CareCard.
One of the challenges of breast cancer is that its impact doesn’t end after treatment. Breast cancer survivors face new challenges, including decisions about physical reconstruction and the possibility of a recurrence. Patients have to adapt to the physical and emotional trauma of treatment, and many individuals still experience unpleasant symptoms long after treatment ends.
CareFunding is a way to show patients you are with them for the long haul. The money raised from a CaringWays® campaign can also give the patients the financial respite they need to navigate this new way of life.
At CaringWays®, we’re honored to partner with cancer patients and their families to raise support for their medical expenses and daily needs. Here’s a powerful example of the difference it makes when someone decides to start a medical fundraising campaign for a breast cancer patient:
Ellen Hollis became a CareChampion for her best friend Kelly Modena after Kelly was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022. Shortly after Kelly’s diagnosis, her friend Ellen started a CaringWays® campaign with a goal of $10,000. The page has far surpassed the initial goal, and donations continue to pour in. This campaign has been an incredible blessing to Kelly and her family during treatment.
If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with breast cancer and is looking to use CareFunding to cover medical expenses, CaringWays® is the best platform to provide tangible help during their time of need. Learn more about becoming their CareChampion.
