Get Strong Again After Breast Cancer
Dr. Julie Silver was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 38. As an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, she has a perspective unlike most patients and wrote the book "After Cancer Treatment: Heal Faster, Better, Stronger."
Silver said that oncologists focus on trying to save their patients' lives, and sometimes the toll treatment takes on body is overlooked.
"At the end, you feel much worse than you did at the beginning of treatment," Silver told The Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler. "I think that the medical community needs to do more to help women to recover fully after treatment."
Mental and emotional recovery is just as important as physical recovery, Silver said.
"When you think women would feel terrific, there is actually a spike in depression, so the physical and emotional go hand in hand," she said. "As we help women physically heal their emotions go right along with it. They feel so much better emotionally."
Silver had tips for people who are recovering from breast cancer:
"I tell my patients to get a pedometer and track how many steps they are taking," she said. "The first goal is just to get to 5,000 steps a day. The second goal is 10,000 steps a day. It's a fun way to track what you are doing and set goals for your self and pay attention to how active you are."
"During sleep there are so many chemical reactions that have to do with healing that go on," Sliver said. When women have been through breast cancer treatment they are often awakened with hot flashes or pain and be anxious or have insomnia. It's important to treat sleep."
"I recommend eat regularly throughout the day," she said. "Three small to medium meals, high in protein and low in fat and high in fruits and vegetables and two good snacks. Fatigue is one of the biggest complaints women have after treatment, and keeping their energy level up rather than having spikes in blood sugar."
For much more about Dr. Silver's book, click here.