"As soon as questions of will or decision or reason or choice of action arise, human science is at a loss."
(Noam Chomsky)

Organisations & Help Centres

Breast Cancer Care
The best and most comprehensive website that I have found on the Net, packed with information about treatments, press release, support groups and even online advice. Make this your starting point to understanding your illness and making informed choices about your treatment.

Maggies Cancer Centre
Official website of the Maggie Centres, offering practical and emotional support to people with cancer and their relatives, all over the UK.

Diagrams, Pictures & Downloadable Items

Questionnaire for download
This is something I found somewhere on the Net, which enabled me to apply what I had learned about the illness and the treatments available, to my own particular case. It contains a series of multiple choice questions for your surgeon/doctor to fill in, regarding the size of your tumour, its grade, whether your lymph nodes or other parts of your body were affected, whether it is oestrogen-receptive etc. Hand it in to your doctor after your operation, when the pathology results have come back. Having had so many different lumps, I would confuse myself without these questionnaires. Contains explanatory notes at the end.

History of Breast Cancer Treatment for download
Extract from an interesting webpage summarising the history of breast cancer treatment from 3000BC to present times.

Breast Diagram for download
Something else I found on the Net, singularly lacking from most breast cancer sites, and yet very useful in understanding your body and the different types of tumours.

Breast Cancer Staging Diagram
A page which will help you understand the different stages of breast cancer, whether non-invasive or metastatic. The rest of this website (www.breastcancer-answers.com) contains other useful information.

Self-examination and other diagrams
A page leading to diagrams of how to perform self-examination; diagrams of breast anatomy, types of breast cancers and diagnosis.

CancerBacUp: Reconstruction Techniques
An excellent and intelligible website by UK charity CancerBacUp packed with information not only on breast reconstruction and breast cancer in general, but all other types of cancers too. Also contains regional listings of local organisations.

Picture of Diseased Breast
This is not for the faint-hearted! A specimen showing a cross-section of a female breast infiltrated with breast cancer. Contains interactive hotspots which explain what you are seeing. From the "Museum of Human Disease".

Symptoms Assessment and Guidelines for Referral
Slightly technical but still comprehensible extract from the book by J M Dixon (my surgeon!) and R E Mansel, "ABC of Breast Diseases", which will give you a good idea of what to expect when you are referred to a breast clinic after discovery of a lump. Also contains some explanatory drawings and pictures.

Breast Cancer Glossary of Medical Terms
Don't know your metastatic from your carcinoma in situ? Think that Scarff-Bloom Richardson grading system is an interior decorator's tool? Don't worry, help is at hand with this very comprehensive and no-nonsense page to guide you through the maze of medical jargon.

Alternative/Natural Therapies

Feel Good Therapies
Helping you to cope with the stress and strains of life. Aromatherapy Treatments, Reiki Healing and Training, Relaxation Techniques, Gifts and Vouchers. For further information, please contact Lorraine on 0131 552 0265 or info@ilovefgt.com .

Rene Caisse, Canada's Cancer Nurse
Read the story of this early twentieth century nurse who significantly improved the lives of cancer patients by administering to them a decoction from an old Ojibway Indian recipe, made of burdock root, slippery elm, sheep sorrel and Indian rhubarb root: "Essiac".

Iscador, Mistletoe Extract
I used to think that mistletoe was mainly for kissing under at Christmas time, but a German friend of mine recently brought to light a completely different side of this once sacred plant. Mistletoe extract is apparently commonly used as complementary therapy for cancer in Germany and Switzerland. This interesting site explains how it works, discussing the benefits of "anthroposophical" medicine. The main drawback is that this treatment is administered by injection and under medical supervision. Well worth a read though.

Alpro Soya Website
Producers of a wide range of soya products, including recipes, advice on how to incorporate soya into your diet, an "ask the experts" section and everything else you need to know about soya and its benefits.

Baldwin
A tried and tested reliable online herbalist, selling numerous herbs, spices, aromatherapy oils, quality natural toiletries and much more.

Pharmanord
Manufacturers of quality supplements including "bio-antioxidant" and "Q10", which I have been taking for years on the advice of my homeopath. If you write to them with details of your condition, they will send you stacks of helpful literature. If you live in the UK, you can order by simply phoning them and paying with a credit card, and your items will be despatched free of postal charge the very next day. Outstanding service.