This is Mel Majoros, I am the cancer warrior and this is how depression factored into my
breast cancer journey.
I did not expect it to happen.
You know, people think, well, you know, it is cancer and you will get through it but
seeing yourself go from someone who is like physically strong to just kind of not necessarily,
I didn't like wilt away or anything but you just kind of look different and you feel different
and it does not matter like if you live in a small town or a big city, you kind of feel
a sense of isolation and like I said before, you feel like, well, I don't want to talk
to my fiance about it because he will just say, it will be alright honey and you know,
what else is he going to say like no, it is not going to be alright, you know which he
would never say, you know, or calling your friends like they are going to, she is going
to talk about cancer again and there is just the last thing I want to talk about is her
hair falling out or not being able to eat.
So, you kind of feel in your own mind that there is nobody to talk to you, so that tends
to get you really depressed and you know, people always say, oh, you know, call me whenever,
well you never get depressed during nine to five I can tell you that much right now.
So, it is a hard thing to deal with knowing that you are a strong person and that it is,
once that it is not something that you can control, like your, you know, not being able
to eat, you can control that, not having any hair, it will grow back, being depressed,
it is a mental issue that is basically a synapsis in your brain.
Once you realize that it is something like it is a disease such as cancer and you know,
I talked to my doctor and I was just like, you know, there is, I am just feeling kind
of lost and hopeless and I don't know what to do.
She prescribed medication for me which you know, also a bonus because it helps with the
tamoxifen side effects, so having that, knowing that I could actually talk to somebody about
it and also talked to other survivors realizing that I was not the only one going through
this was also a godsend because you just feel like, why I tell other people that I am feeling
depressed because, you know, I know this sounds kind of what's the word I'm looking for, conceited,
it's like well, I give all these other people advice.
It is like, they don't want to hear that I am sad and depressed and you know, that is
not cool what are they going to think of me.
It is like, well, you just like everybody else as far as being depressed and getting
through this.
Some people don't get depressed.
I did and it was hard to realize that you know, you take medication, it is a problem
in your brain, it is nothing that you can change, just be like, oh, just be happy and
it will be fine.
It does not work that way, you know, you take medication which I do, you can talk to a psychiatrist
or a therapist, talk to your doctor, find somebody who will help you and you can go
from there.
Hi, I am Dr. Jay Harness and I want to share with you important information that I believe
that every newly diagnosed patient with breast cancer needs to know.
Susan Denver: I am a breast cancer survivor.
Katherine Stockton: I am a breast cancer survivor.
Coree: I am a breast cancer survivor.
Susan Denver: And I want every woman to know...
Katherine Stockton: ...about personalized breast cancer treatment...
Susan Denver: ...and the Genomic Test.
Coree: A test that helps guide a woman and her doctor...
Katherine Stockton: ...to the best treatment options for her.
Susan Denver: Pass it on!