Lunden's Determination
- TV journalist Joan Lunden beat breast cancer and remembers that period in her life with a recent throwback photo in which she’s wearing a cap and says how the love of her family helped power her through that time.
- Lunden was diagnosed with stage 2 triple-negative breast cancer in 2014.
- Having community and loved ones to bolster you through the cancer journey can be helpful.
In a recent throwback photo Lunden posted on Instagram from the period when she was battling her disease, she shares a photo of her wearing a cap and sitting on the floor with her husband and their granddaughter.
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Lunden continues, saying that the strength she found amid her breast cancer battle included, “the loving support from my husband, Jeff, and my children, and precious moments like this one – when my granddaughter, Parker, was just beginning to explore her world.”
Lunden’s Breast Cancer Journey
Lunden was diagnosed with stage 2 triple-negative breast cancer in 2014. In an earlier interview with SurvivorNet, Lunden shares that she knew little about this disease before she was diagnosed with it. "Candidly,” says Lunden, “I never thought I would be one of the women who would get breast cancer.”
Related: When Should I Get a Mammogram?
"The fact that I didn't understand the significance of dense breast tissue kind of just lit a fire in me and sent me on this mission to say, 'Here I am a journalist, and how could I have been so uneducated about something so incredibly important’," she says.
Women aged 45 to 54 with an average risk of breast cancer should screen annually for this disease. People with a family history of breast cancer should begin screening earlier. When getting your mammogram, ask the technician about dense breasts.
Support from Community Through Cancer
Lunden makes a critically important point in her throwback post: Community matters. Having a partner or family or friends to stand at your side with you as you go through the cancer journey is hugely beneficial.
In an earlier interview, ovarian cancer survivor Beverly Reeves echoes Lunden’s sentiments. Her advice for anyone newly diagnosed with cancer is to gather support from your communities. Reeves says, “If I had one piece of advice for someone who had just been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, it would be to get a strong support group together. Get your close friends.”
“If you’re connected to a faith community, get your faith community. Get your family,” she says. “Let them know what’s going on and let them help you. And sometimes that’s the most difficult thing to do, but just know that they are there. If they love you, they’re there to help you.”
'Faith, Family, and Friends' Helped Beverly Reeves Get Through Ovarian Cancer Treatment
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