A sisterhood of support while battling breast cancer

WAKING up post-surgery after a lumpectomy or mastectomy can not only be disorienting, but bleak for many women with breast cancer.

Despite the moral support of partners and family members, there are organisations that can help you in your recovery and support your journey as a cancer fighter.

Breast Cancer Welfare Association Malaysia is one such organisation. Made up of volunteers, their mission rests on the philosophy that a breast cancer survivor can use her experience to help other women.

I warmly recall the day after my own lumpectomy when an upbeat volunteer visited me in my hospital room. She was bright and cheerful and brought me a ‘comfort kit’ of things I could use in my recovery.

It included support information and rehabilitation materials such as post-surgery bralettes, a stress ball and an arm exercise booklet.

We spoke at length about the surgery and what I could expect in the coming months of recovery and ongoing treatment – physically, mentally, emotionally, and even financially.

She very gamely demonstrated stretches and exercises to encourage blood flow and flexibility to the affected area (chest and arms). She also encouraged me to join in the various activities the group regularly hosts for survivors to come together.

They offer support and networking with each other through group sharing, indoor and outdoor sports, recreational and social activities to encourage getting out there and leading active lives. 

Trained breast cancer survivors are on hand to provide individual psychosocial or emotional support to help women cope with life during and after diagnosis and treatment. Healthcare providers can also refer their patients to BCWA. 

The material support that BCWA offers includes free temporary prostheses, wigs on loan for those experiencing temporary hair loss from chemotherapy, and post-mastectomy bras at much-reduced prices.

This goes a long way to lighten the financial burden that survivors may experience at what can be the most trying time in their lives.

For the public, exhibitions, talks and workshops are conducted to promote awareness of annual mammograms, breast self-familiarisation, early detection of abnormal changes in the breast and living with breast cancer.

It was actually through these types of public campaigns years ago that I began to regularly make a habit of self-checking – and how I discovered an abnormal lump in my breast at an early stage. 

The activities and operations of BCWA are funded through a nominal membership subscription and public donations. The work they do to educate and support those living with breast cancer is priceless.

They are always accompanied with empathy, enthusiasm and a generous spirit of sisterhood. 

In honour of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Michelangelo’s Pavilion KL has concocted a three-course Pink Series menu.

It includes a creamy potato soup with a hint of beetroot and herbs, homemade fresh fettuccine with beetroot-infused cream sauce topped with marinated oven-baked halibut fillet.

The dessert offering is a strawberry and vanilla pannacotta with edible flowers and hot pink rose latte to complete your meal.

This time-limited set is RM98++ and 10% of the sales proceeds of the Pink Menu will be donated to BCWA, in recognition of their efforts in promoting breast cancer awareness in Malaysia. – The Vibes, October 15, 2022

If you would like to contribute to BCWA, donations can be made via cash, cheques (payable to Breast Cancer Welfare Association Malaysia), or bank in at Public Bank Berhad Account No. 3166 384 321. Tax-exempt receipts will be issued for donations. 

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/breastcancerwelfareassociation