Breast Cancer: Need some help/advice

Being that for the most part this is a bunch of guys, most of you aren't necessarily the best bunch to help out on this, but I figured it's worth asking anyway, as many of you are married, have girlfriends, and mothers.

We just found yesterday that my 30 year old sister-in-law has breast cancer. This is obviously a tough thing for the entire family, and as we personally have not gone through this before, we're looking for whatever information anyone can provide on doctors they've used in the Washington, DC area. (The good and the bad!) Right now, she is going to be treated at Georgetown, which is supposedly the premier breast cancer center in this area.

Any information anyone can provide is greatly appreciated, though I don't necessarily expect any. In addition, any other general advice on how to cope with the situation (for her and her family members) is also appreciated. We're not the first to have to go through this, and unfortunately, won't be the last. But we all want to stay strong through this, cope with it properly, and make this as easy on her as we possibly can.

Please keep her in your prayers: Her name is Sharon.

Thanks, Warpath. (The community, not the member... Not that I don't appreciate anything you can offer either, Warpath (the member, not the community.)) Wow... that can get confusing.

I don't have any information, but she'll definitely be in our thoughts and prayers.

I work for Temple University Health System in Philadelphia, in the finance office. Part of my job involves working with the Bone Marrow Transplant, Radiation Oncology, and Chemotherapy departments. Just from being around the administrators from those departments, I've come to know the cancer treatment business rather well.

I can tell you all about Philadelphia area treatment options, but from what I know, the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown is indeed the best in the DC area. They've got oodles of oncologists specializing in all kinds of cancers. Here are their docs who treat breast cancer:

Minetta C Liu MD - College: Princeton, MD from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia which is the top Medical School in our area, even above the Ivy League's University of Pennsylvania, she's a national leader in breast cancer research.

Robert Warren MD - specializes entirely in breast cancer diagnosis, and is the Co-Director of the Betty Lou Ourisman Breast Health Center. He's a medical oncologist, meaning he wouldn't perform any surgery but would be a great doc to take the patient through the entire process, and for surgical needs would refer to one of Lombardi's very good surgeons.

Jefferson E C Moulds MD MD is from Medical College of Virginia in Richmond VA, he specializes in Radiation Therapy for malignancies, he would be a good doc to see if radiation therapy is determined to be required.

What you'd do though, is just go to the Lombardi center just as you've got planned. They'll assign the appropriate physician to your sis-in-law's care. They'll determine which docs at Lombardi will be best to treat her. I just wanted to show you that Georgetown has some fantastic oncology docs, and that no matter what, she's in great hands there.

If you feel like getting in the car and heading up to Baltimore for treatment, you can't go wrong at Johns Hopkins. But I doubt that makes any sense with such a good place right there at Georgetown.

I'll be thinking about you and her, hope she gets better.

My prayers are with you my friend.

I don't know about the docs and whatnot, but I can tell you that I have known two people to get breast cancer and they both beat it. Don't lose hope, and stay positive!

Sorry to hear that. Cancer is always a bad thing, let us know if we can help in any way.

Not that this helps your particular situation, but I have known 6 woman that had breast cancer. Only one passed away from it (but she refused treatment at the age of 73), and one needed a mastectomy. The other 4 beat it. Those are great odds. There is 10 times more knowledge today then there was 10 years ago.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, Big Red. Keep your hopes and spirits up, and keep yourself as up to date and informed as possible. Remember, doctors aren't always the best communicators, so BE SURE to ask if you don't understand something, or if they are not being clear.

Stay strong.

keep the faith, and you and yours are in my prayers