It Takes a Village to Navigate Breast Cancer

What do you need when you hear the words “you have breast cancer”?

A treatment plan, of course. Doctors who can answer your questions. But also perhaps someone to call when you are scared, someone who knows what it feels like to go through treatment, something that makes your body a little more comfortable, and practical help when even the simplest parts of everyday life suddenly feel harder.

That support often comes from family or friends. Sometimes, it comes from a nurse, a social worker, a survivor who understands what you’re going through, or a community of people who have been through something similar. It can also be having access to a bra designed for people recovering from the same type of surgery, a skincare product for treatment-related irritation, or a care package that makes one difficult day a little easier. In other words, it takes a village.

As we recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October, we also want to recognize the communal effort that goes into supporting people affected by breast cancer. Learning about the disease, catching it early, getting through treatment, recovering, and adjusting to life afterwards can all come with their own challenges, and there are people and organizations helping along the way. Because it takes a village.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month began in the United States in October 1985 as a week-long campaign focused on raising awareness about mammography and breast cancer screening. Over the decades, the campaign grew into a month-long global observance. Early detection remains an important part of breast cancer awareness. Knowing the signs, understanding screening recommendations, and having access to appropriate medical care can all play a role in finding breast cancer earlier.

The journey after diagnosis is one that does not always fit neatly into a doctor's appointment. How do you explain your diagnosis to your children? Who can you talk to when you are scared? Where can you find practical resources after surgery? What happens when treatment affects your skin, your body, your finances, your relationships, or your sense of identity?

The National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) works across this early part of the journey, providing education, patient navigation, and access to mammography and diagnostic services through partner facilities. Its programs also include support groups, HOPE Kits, and financial assistance. Since its founding in 1991, NBCF has provided hundreds of thousands of free screening services to women in need and sent over 100,000 HOPE Kits to patients across the country.

For someone who has just received a diagnosis, having somewhere to turn can make figuring out the next step feel easier. Information is absolutely crucial after a diagnosis. There is also comfort in being able to talk to someone who has been through it themselves, without having to explain every part of what you are feeling.

ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis provides free, individualized peer support to people impacted by breast cancer, including patients, family members, and friends. ABCD connects people with trained mentors who have their own relevant breast cancer experience. The organization was created in 1999 by Melodie Wilson Oldenburg (1950-2009), an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist who announced her breast cancer diagnosis on live TV in 1992, breaking silence around a disease rarely discussed. The response she received revealed both the power of connection and the urgent need for access to one-to-one support from someone who truly understands. Melodie founded ABCD with the simple yet powerful vision that, "No one should go through breast cancer alone."

Research on cancer survivorship has increasingly highlighted the importance of support beyond medical treatment. Emotional and social support can help people cope with the stress of diagnosis and treatment, maintain connections with others, and improve quality of life. For someone going through breast cancer, having a person they can speak to openly, without having to explain every part of what they are going through, can be an important part of that support.

This creates a different kind of support: a conversation with someone who can understand which parts of the experience feel like from personal experience, rather than simply explaining them from the outside. Given how emotionally difficult a diagnosis and treatment can be, that human connection and sense of community can be an extremely important part of the journey.

Cancer treatment can affect the body in many different ways that make your needs become more specific. Radiation therapy, for example, can cause skin changes and irritation in the area being treated, a common side effect known as radiation dermatitis, which affects up to 95% of patients receiving radiation.

BeeCure focuses on this particular part of the treatment experience. Its skincare product is specifically designed to calm, soothe and hydrate skin affected by radiation and laser treatments while strengthening the skin barrier, with natural ingredients including buckwheat honey, calendula, and bisabolol. Clinical research on medical-grade buckwheat honey has shown that its high antioxidant properties play a significant role in calming skin inflammation and supporting recovery during radiation regimens.

Sometimes, support is having something that helps you manage one uncomfortable side effect of treatment, or having access to products specifically designed for what your body is going through. Those more specific needs become a big part of someone's day-to-day experience during and after treatment.

For many people, breast cancer treatment can involve surgery, and with surgery come a lot of practical things to figure out. What am I going to wear now? Where can I find something that fits and feels comfortable? And can I even afford it?

BRCAStrong supports men and women affected by breast and gynecological cancers, including people at high genetic risk, those currently living with cancer, and survivors. Founder Tracy Milgram created the organization after learning she carried the BRCA gene mutation, which increases a woman's lifetime risk of developing breast cancer up to 87%%, and undergoing a preventive double mastectomy. Her own experience led her to create BRCAStrong with a mission to help alleviate some of the emotional and financial burdens faced by women dealing with breast and/or ovarian cancer. The organization provides pre-mastectomy care packages, post-mastectomy garments, and gynecological care packages, alongside education, advocacy, and emotional support. As Tracy puts it, “It’s so important to find comfort, support and information from a group of women who share such a strong experiential bond.”

The Impact One Breast Cancer Foundation also focuses on the practical side of treatment and recovery. Its HOPE Boxes can include mastectomy bras, breast prostheses, post-surgical garments, wigs, and other essentials. Founded by survivor Elizabeth Cluff, Impact One has delivered thousands of HOPE Boxes to help ensure that cost does not become a barrier to comfort during recovery. The organization also provides breast-health education, screening assistance, and free mammograms. But the support goes beyond what is inside the box. The founders say, “The most important thing we want to give you is our friendship.” That combination of practical help and personal connection captures what support can look like during breast cancer treatment.

And finally, there is the need for community. We all know that feeling of needing to laugh with someone who gets the absurdity of a situation, to complain without having to reassure anyone, to talk to someone who knows what it is like to hear the words, "You have cancer."

The Breasties is a nonprofit community for people affected by breast and gynecologic cancers, including survivors, previvors, people living with stage 4 cancer, and caregivers. Led by Allie Brumel,, Paige More, Bri Majsiak, and Trish Michelle, the organization grew out of a desire to create a space where people affected by cancer could feel less isolated and connected to others who understood what they were going through. The Breasties aims to create an inclusive and empowering community for people of all ages, diagnoses, and prognoses. Through peer-to-peer support, events, educational resources, and advocacy, the organization gives people opportunities to find others who understand different parts of the cancer experience, whether they are newly diagnosed, in treatment, navigating survivorship, or supporting someone they love.

That community matters at any stage. Someone newly diagnosed may want to meet someone who remembers those first few weeks. Someone in treatment may want a community that understands what their everyday life currently looks like. Someone who has finished treatment may discover that the transition into survivorship comes with its own questions and emotions. Someone living with metastatic cancer may want to connect with others who understand ongoing treatment, uncertainty, and what it means to build a life alongside cancer. And a caregiver may need someone who understands that they, too, have been changed by the experience.

When we talk about Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we talk about early detection, screening, research, treatment, and awareness. But we should also talk about the people who help make the journey a little easier once awareness becomes someone's reality: the healthcare professional answering questions, the friend driving someone to an appointment, the family member learning how to help, the survivor sharing their experience, the organization sending a care package, the mentor picking up the phone, the community that makes someone feel a little less alone.

Support does not come in just one form, and it does not come from just one place. It is built through all of these acts of care, practical resources, shared experiences, and people showing up when someone needs them.

That is the village.