My friend recently had a breast removed How do I help her through chemo& reconstruction?

She is moving from Arkansas to Seattle area to stay with us during her recovery. She will have DSHS medical, Anybody know a good cancer center here who will accept her coupon? Any advice?

Here are some things that helped me through the process...
Get her out of the house when she feels good enough, it will get her mind offof things even for a little while.

Help her buy a shirt or top that has pockets on both sides so that the side that is removed is less noticable.

Help her to buy a turbin that she can wear when her hair falls out. That is so hard to take as a woman. Tell her that she is beautiful. Tell her that she has beautiful skin and the loss of hair accents her beautiful skin. Believe me it made me feel better when my friend told me that. Even if it wasn't true, I needed to hear it.

Get some ginger ale to have on hand...it really helps with the nausea.

Tell her to stay away from sugar if she can while going through treatment. Cancer LIKES sugar!!

Pray for her and let her know that you are praying for her.

Judy

Listen and be there for her. If she likes, then go with her to her doctors appointments. If she doesn't have a wig then she might like to go shopping for hats, scarfs or wigs with you. As far as surgeries go, my mom asked us to get her some shirts and pajamas that had button up fronts so she wouldn't need to move her arms up and down to get dressed (that hurts after breast surgery). Chemo can be very difficult. My mom had breast cancer as well and she had TAC chemo which is very rough. Chemo can make you very nausous and make you not want to eat - the docs told us to get her whatever it is she is craving while on chemo. Also, watch for signs of infection while on chemo like a fever as she will need to go in to the ER or call the doc with a fever since her immune system won't be able to fight off infection and she will need antibiotics.
Also, reconstruction is a big surgery as well. my mom said it was almost as big a surgery as the mastectomy (her personal opinion) but she was so happy she had it done.

Listen. When she needs to talk listen don't blow her off with "it will be OK" "don't worry". The worst thing you can do is avoid discussions of her problems or condition. Don't pity her.