Overwhelming and positive feedback
Thanks so much for all the support you have provided for our research project! We have received such overwhelming and positive feedback thus far. Thank you to all the folks that have participated, those that have forwarded, retweeted and liked our project posting and for the exceptionally kind notes we have received from breast cancer survivors, from physical therapists, occupational therapists, exercise physiologists, nurses, physicians and surgeons from all over the world (UK, US and Australia to name a few)! It truly makes us feel connected to all of you out there working on your own recovery or helping others to recover from breast cancer! It helps reinforce the value of our small, little project as at least a beginning towards a better understanding of how body image and a sense of self are affected by breast cancer treatment.
How we got started – changes in feelings, meaning, and even betrayal
Prior to starting this study, we had heard from multiple women after breast cancer treatments that the chest, breast, sometimes arm and hand, was no longer felt as a part of one’s self and took on an altered meaning in those women’s lives. Some women mentioned this was partly due to changes in sensation associated with surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation. However, many also expressed other reasons, such as changes in the meaning of that part of their body after their diagnosis and sometimes even expressed a sense of betrayal from that part of their body. These types of comments sparked multiple fascinating discussions, explorations of the literature and eventually led to this area of novel research. We are hoping that this study will be the beginning towards a better understanding of how we can help women fully recover after breast cancer treatment.
A heartening response
The support so far has been wonderfully heartening – in less than a month we have had over 125 people participate; including 45 women with a history of breast cancer. And we still want more! Because the more people who participate, the better we can understand this phenomenon.
How can you help?
Consider participating…we are looking for both breast cancer survivors and women without any history of breast cancer to participate as part of the comparison group – click here to be taken to the study.
Pass along the news about this study by liking, posting, retweeting and sharing our study… friends, family, patients or clients may be interested if this happens to cross their view.
Thanks again for your consideration!
Sincerely,
–Ben Boyd on behalf of Betty, Bob, Guy, David and Tim
Related ‘jams
Breast Cancer Laterality Study – help us reach our 2017 goal
Benjamin Boyd (PT, DPTSc, OCS) is currently an Associate Professor at Samuel Merritt University in 
Oakland, California, where he primarily teaches in the Musculoskeletal Patient/Client Management and Capstone course series. He has been teaching courses on peripheral nervous system anatomy, biomechanics, clinical evaluation and intervention since 2004 and he joined the NOI US teaching faculty in 2013. ben@noigroup.com
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