Living with a breast cancer diagnosis: the medical and psychological perspective in one conversation
What changes in a person's life after a diagnosis of breast cancer? How does the illness affect not only the body, but also the mental state, relationships, daily life and the sense of the future? And how can medical and psychological care go hand in hand during treatment?
These questions are the focus of the free webinar "May I just ask?", which brings together medical oncology and clinical psychology in a conversation about living with breast cancer.
Taking part in the discussion are Dr Antoaneta Tomova, Head of the First Internal Medicine Ward at KOC – Plovdiv, and Dr Margarita Tareyn, doctor of clinical psychology in the field of analytical psychosomatics of oncological diseases and a member of the team of the Institute of Medical Psychology, Psycho-Oncology and Psychosomatics.
The conversation explores the various dimensions of living with an oncological disease – from treatment options and access to modern therapy to the psychological experience of the diagnosis and ways of maintaining a good quality of life.
Among the main topics are what changes beyond physical health, how the mental state interacts with the experience of the illness and its treatment, what therapeutic options exist, and how a person can preserve the important parts of their life while undergoing treatment.
Particular attention is given to the psychological side of the disease. A breast cancer diagnosis can affect the sense of security and control, the relationship with one's own body, femininity and sexuality, family and partner relationships, professional life and one's outlook on the future.
This is precisely why modern oncological care is not limited solely to the treatment of the tumour. The person continues to have mental, social and life needs throughout the course of the illness as well.
The webinar is designed as a space in which patients and their loved ones can receive understandable information from specialists with practical experience and raise the questions they do not always manage to ask during the medical consultation.
The initiative "May I just ask?" by Novartis Bulgaria is aimed at people with chronic illnesses and their loved ones, and seeks to create an additional opportunity for direct dialogue with healthcare professionals.
For the Institute, Dr Margarita Tareyn's participation in such initiatives is part of our understanding of integrated care, in which medical treatment and attention to the psychological experience of the illness do not compete with, but complement, one another.