Breast Connect is an advocacy program created for newly-diagnosed women with breast cancer who can meet up with women who have been through that journey.
“It can be scary,” said Nina Howell, Breast Connect creator. “It’s overwhelming, and there’s a lot to have to deal with.”
The Sisterhood Program matches women based on their diagnosis to a sister, so they have a friend.
Barbara Tanner and Elise Myers are two that met through the Breast Connect FB and became fast friends.
“I had seen a post she put on FB on our Breast Connect Facebook page asking about a doctor, and it was the Doctor I was going to use,” described Myers.
Tanner was about 8 weeks ahead of Myers in her journey.
“I connected with her through FB messenger, she just called me and we talked for probably and hour and a half the first call and then I met her for the first time face-to-face the day after she got home from her surgery,” said Myers.
Breast Connect provides a community that is relatable and understanding on a different level.
“I consider it as, when you find out you have cancer, you are just inundated with information from the medical side,” described Tanner. “I felt like I was dumped into a foreign land, forced to learn the language and make life altering decisions.”
“Having the FB page and Breast Connect to go back to, you can actually see people who have gone throw it and their opinion: the good, bad and ugly.”