Carly Simon's Breast Cancer Journey
- Singer-songwriter Carly Simon, 81, who previously battled breast cancer, is enjoying the little things in life, like singing one of her old songs to an adorable donkey.
- Simon was diagnosed with breast cancer in the late ‘90s. She underwent a double mastectomy (removal of both breasts), reconstructive surgery (reconstruction of the breast after mastectomy), and chemotherapy for treatment.
- A double mastectomy typically takes surgeons about two hours to remove both breasts and eliminate the cancer. If a woman opts to have reconstructive surgery after the mastectomy, surgeons either use an implant or take tissue from elsewhere on the body.
- Simon said the first set of doctors preferred to monitor her cancer for treatment, but after getting a second medical opinion, she underwent a more aggressive treatment.
- It’s important to remember that life doesn’t slow down during or after a cancer battle, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, our experts say that prioritizing your overall wellbeing and continuing to do the things you love, like spending time with animals, can be very beneficial.
The 81-year-old music icon and mom of two wrote alongside a video clip posted on Instagram this month, “Some songs are best sung to the ones who’ve always listened.
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Fans praised Simon for sharing such a heartwarming video clip, with one writing, “Our Carly girl always ready to bring Joy to us. Thank you. We love you all. You are amazing.”
A second wrote, “Thank you for posting these great songs. I’m one of your biggest fans!”
“Animals are the test to sing to. And they love and appreciate it!” commented a third.
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A fourth fan chimed in, “I love your sweet donkeys and your beautiful music! Thank you for this happy post….much needed these days.”
We’re delighted to see Simon bringing joy to her fans through her social media posts and doing what she loves as she ages, especially after battling breast cancer nearly 30 years ago.
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Carly Simon’s Breast Cancer Journey
Carly was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 1997 after discovering a lump in her left breast. She told The New York Daily News, “It takes some time to get used to the fear of having it. But, I’ve always thought of myself as being a warrior,” Deseret News reports.
The singer chose to share her diagnosis publicly to avoid tabloids at the time from exaggerating her condition, the Hartford Courant reports.
Carly, a mother of two, was initially confronted with the option of “monitoring the lump,” which existed “for years,” according to Sportskeeda. However, the “Nobody Does It Better” singer chose to get a second medical opinion, which had a different approach to treating her cancer.
Another person who strongly advocates a second medical opinion is Dr. Steven Rosenberg, chief of surgery at the National Cancer Institute and one of America’s most renowned cancer doctors.
“If I had any advice for you following a cancer diagnosis, it would be, first, to seek out multiple opinions as to the best care because finding a doctor who is up to the latest information is important,” Rosenberg previously told SurvivorNet. “And it’s always important to get other opinions so that you can make the best decisions for yourself in consultation with your care providers,” Dr. Rosenberg told SurvivorNet.
Simon was advised to have the tumor removed via a double mastectomy followed by reconstructive surgery.
A double mastectomy is a procedure that involves having both breasts removed to get rid of cancer.
“A double mastectomy typically takes about two hours for the cancer part of the operation, the removing of the tissue,” Dr. Elisa Port, Chief of Breast Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System, toldSurvivorNet in an earlier interview.
“The real length, the total length of the surgery, can often depend on what type of reconstruction [a patient] has.” To reconstruct the breast, surgeons can either use an implant or transplant tissue from elsewhere in the body.
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“Breast reconstruction is a restoration of a woman’s form and her sense of self,” Dr. Andrea Pusic, Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, also told SurvivorNet.
Many different options and techniques are available for reconstruction, from implants to using a woman’s tissue and choices about when to get the reconstruction, meaning immediate (at the time of mastectomy) or delayed (which could be months or even years later).
All these different techniques are “getting close to that goal of letting a woman be herself again” and putting the cancer behind her, says Dr. Pusic.
Following her breast cancer surgery, Simon underwent chemotherapy treatments.
“I was in the hospital for one night. Because they got everything during the procedure and the prognosis was good, my doctor gave me the option of whether to have chemo. I decided to play it safe,” Simon said at the time, according to CNN.
In the wake of her breast cancer journey, Simon returned to writing music and used her experience with cancer as a source of inspiration.
Writing music had been challenging for her until after finishing cancer treatment. For example, her song “Scar” was inspired by her cancer journey, but she did not mention cancer explicitly.
“I got breast cancer right at the height of my writer’s block,” Simon said, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Animals and Healing
It is often said that animals improve our quality of life, and that can especially be true for anyone who has fought cancer, like Simon, or those who are currently battling a disease.
What Are the Benefits of Pet Therapy?
We often need to keep going, and there have been studies showing the power of passion of positivity affecting the outcome of your disease. What still brings you joy? It’s important to do things to feed your emotional health just as much as your physical.
It’s important to remember that life doesn’t slow down for a cancer diagnosis, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, our experts say that prioritizing your overall wellbeing and continuing to do the things you love, like spending time with animals, can be very beneficial.
RELATED: Pet Therapy Can Really Help During Cancer Treatment: “It Takes Me Out of My World”
For those without dogs at home, more and more often we are seeing chemotherapy centers and hospitals bringing dogs in to meet with patients and to brighten their day with a wagging tail and a slobbery kiss.
For instance, at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the Caring Canine teams make regularly scheduled bedside and lounge visits, even turning up on holidays, which can be the loneliest times for patients.
Separately, Alison Snow, who works in cancer support services at Mount Sinai, previously told SurvivorNet that there’s research to show that animal visits to hospitals can be extremely beneficial to people battling cancer, as well as other ailments.
“You can hear the excitement in the air when the dog is around and there is research to show that having animal-assisted visits is helpful to patients going through cancer in terms of lowering blood pressure, reducing anxiety, decreasing depression, and overall, helping patients feel less isolated,” said Snow.
The Power of Music
Art therapy such as music, painting, and dancing can really lift up spirits during treatment. It’s not uncommon for those battling cancer to experience emotions such as anger, confusion, and sadness. So, the opportunity to express these emotions through artistic outlets can be extremely helpful music is one of those outlets.
Two-time cancer survivor, Bianca Muniz, turned to music as an outlet during her experience with cancer. Her cancer journey began at just 11 years old when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Then, at 22 years old, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Bianca says that undergoing numerous different treatments did have an impact on her voice, but she never let that get in the way of her love of performing, and cancer actually served as a muse for creating new music.
Related: Glam Rock Chemo: How Air Guitar Got This Survivor Through Cancer Treatment
“This experience has had two different effects on my creativity and my music, so I’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from it,” Bianca told SurvivorNet in a previous interview. “But also the side effects of treatment, of chemo, and surgery have definitely had a little bit of a negative effect on my voice. Then again, I love performing. I always feel happy after I’ve performed.”
Learning About Positive Psychology
It’s certainly clear that Carly Simon is remaining positive as she ages, as she often posts throwback photos or videos of her successes and more recently, the footage of her singing to two sweet donkeys.
For anyone in need of advice when it comes to coping with body image, mental health, and all that comes along with aging, is through positive psychology, an approach to mental well-being that focuses more on a person’s strengths and how they can help themselves rather than just trying to curb individual symptoms and/or diagnose a disorder.
“It is a fundamental sort of different way of thinking about patients, thinking about their experience,” Dr. Samantha Boardman, a New York-based psychiatrist and author, told SurvivorNet.
“It’s not just focusing on what’s the matter. It’s also asking them, what matters to you?”
Dr. Boardman noted that positive psychology is a reimagined approach to dealing with mental struggles. “Making people feel less bad is not the same as making them feel good,” she said, referring to how this new approach encourages people to try to find happiness rather than just try to stop sadness.
This approach can be a major benefit to people who are dealing with an illness like cancer because it focuses on finding those great parts of life.
What is Positive Psychology & How Can it Help?
“Positive emotions have unique benefits above and beyond managing negative emotions,” Dr. Boardman explained. “Sometimes you can treat a patient and get rid of some of their symptoms, and it’s not necessarily then that you find a flourishing patient you might even get an empty patient.
Dr. Boardman continued, “So, really tapping into those resources where do they find positive emotions? What provides a sense of engagement for them? How can you promote positive relationships?”
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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