Healthcare Decision-Making & Battling Breast Cancer Together
- Good Morning America‘s Robin Roberts, 62, recently shared with the world that she and her partner of 18 years, Amber, are getting married this year!
- Roberts and Amber both battled breast cancer. Amber treated her breast cancer with radiation after complications from chemotherapy.
- The GMA host also had to have a bone marrow transplant to treat her MDS, which is a rare type of blood cancer.
- Roberts detected her breast cancer when she found a lump during a self-exam at home.
- Current guidelines recommend that women aged 45 to 54 with an average risk of breast cancer should get mammograms annually. Mammograms screen for breast cancer and look for lumps in the breast tissue and other signs of cancer. If you're at a higher risk for breast cancer due to a family history of the disease, you should start screening earlier.
Laign, a trained massage therapist, and Roberts, GMA broadcast journalist, have been together for nearly two decades. Through it, they have seen healthcare challenges, like both facing a breast cancer diagnosis and undergoing treatment for the disease.
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Amber’s & Roberts’ Breast Cancer Battles
Amber was diagnosed with breast cancer in late 2021. She treated her disease with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Due to complications with chemotherapy, Amber switched her treatment plan to focus on radiation therapy.
She completed radiation therapy in July 2022. Roberts regularly spoke about Amber’s breast cancer battle as she was going through it.
Years before Amber battled cancer, Roberts was diagnosed with breast cancer, too. They were two years into their relationship when, in 2007, the anchor and journalist was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she went through her cancer battle publicly, raising awareness about the disease in the process. The GMA host also had to have a bone marrow transplant to treat her MDS, which is a rare type of blood cancer.
Roberts discovered her cancer while at work. She was preparing for a news story about the need for early detection for breast cancer, and she performed a self-check at home. While doing an exam on herself, Roberts discovered a lump. She treated her cancer with surgery. Breast cancer can also be treated with radiation and chemotherapy.
Current guidelines recommend that women aged 45 to 54 with an average risk of breast cancer should get mammograms annually. Mammograms screen for breast cancer and look for lumps in the breast tissue and other signs of cancer. If you're at a higher risk for breast cancer due to a family history of the disease, you should start screening earlier.
While getting a mammogram, ask about desnse breasts, which may obscure cancer. The technician will be able to do determine whether or not you have dense breasts.
When Should I Get a Mammogram?
Healthcare Decision-Making with Your Partner During Cancer & Being a Caregiver
Being married to your partner may make it legally easier to have a say in their healthcare-related decisions. However, a lawyer can prepare documents for you to designate medical power of attorney to a loved one, if you are not partnered.
Having a partner, friend or family member to help care for you and support you through a healthcare battle makes a big difference. When you take on a caregiving role, there's a lot that can fall on your plate. It's important to understand your loved one's diagnosis and help them follow the instructions from the cancer-care team.
"I encourage caregivers to come in to visits with my patients, because in that way, the caregiver is also listening to the recommendations what should be done in between these visits, any changes in treatment plans, any toxicities [side effects] that we need to look out for, changes in dietary habits, exercise, etc.," Dr. Jayanthi Lea, a gynecologic oncologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center, previously told SurvivorNet.
That being said, it's natural that filling this role can bring up a whole host of emotions. Tom Evans, a pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church located in the Carnegie Hill neighborhood of New York City, previously spoke with SurvivorNet about the complexity of caregiving.
"When you find yourself suddenly having to care for somebody, to be the primary lifeline for them, you very well could have mixed emotions," he said. "Maybe it's anger. Maybe this person never cared for you in the past, and now you have to do it for them. And maybe you're gonna feel like you're selfish when you need a break."
How to Be a Better Caregiver for Your Loved One
Supportive Partners Through Cancer
Amber and Roberts’ relationship is clearly a loving one; we love how highly they speak of each other and celebrate each other.
When they celebrated their 15th anniversary in 2020, Amber wrote on social media of their relationship, praising Roberts. She writes, "Having you by my side is a gift as we continue to navigate this thing called life…”
She continues, “You have the kindest heart and most beautiful soul than anyone I know. You have shown me time and time again to stay humble and to always treat others with the utmost respect as you never know what one might be going through Beautiful…..absolutely beautiful. I love you with all my heart."
Having a supportive partner or spouse through a cancer battle can help tremendously. In an earlier interview, actress and melanoma survivor Jill Kargman candidly expresses how she believes that cancer can be a litmus test for the strength of a relationship.
She says, "I think cancer is a great way to find out if you're with the love of your life or a shithead. I think it presses the fast forward button on getting to the bottom of that answer, because a lot of people in middle age are kind of at a crossroads, waiting for their kids to fly the coop."
Kargman continues, "And I think if you're with someone who is not supportive and kind of emotionally checked out or doesn't tell you you're still beautiful with that, this might not be your person."
Jill Kargman on Relationships and Cancer
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