Living with breast cancer may change your holidays, but you can still have enjoyable and meaningful celebrations. Although breast cancer may make some holiday traditions challenging, it doesn't mean you can't enjoy connecting with friends and family during the holiday season. By communicating your limitations due to breast cancer, being flexible, and adjusting your expectations, you can help make sure the holidays are happy and memorable.
Let your loved ones know that connecting with them over the holidays is as important as ever to you, but breast cancer is making it hard to plan as usual due to treatment side effects like fatigue and nausea. You need to put your health first or risk worsening your condition.
Instead of saying "no," say "yes" to something else. If a family tradition no longer works for you since you began treatment for breast cancer, it may be time to suggest an update.
If it's just not possible to get together in one place this year, consider using a video chat service such as Skype, Zoom, or FaceTime to have a special holiday call on a smartphone or laptop. During a video chat, you can:
Even without breast cancer, holidays often come with high expectations that lead to disappointment and stress. Letting go of the illusion of a "perfect" holiday can help you keep expectations realistic and focus on what's most important about the holidays. For many people, that means connecting with loved ones, being thankful for what you have, and finding hope for the new year.
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Here are some mindful tips from Johns Hopkins Medicine for adjusting holiday expectations:
During the holidays and year-round, the members of MyBCTeam are here for each other. Joining MyBCTeam means gaining a support group of thousands of others with breast cancer who understand exactly what you're going through.
Here are some conversations from MyBCTeam members about navigating the holiday season with breast cancer:
Have you found ways to celebrate the holidays despite breast cancer? Share in the comments below or post on MyBCTeam.
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It will also go away, and hope all is better everyday.
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