I really don’t mean to be judgmental or overly sarcastic but since this is my breast cancer blog, I believe I can openly state my take on this; as I was searching for literature on the topic of breast cancer and its effect on relatives of those who have been diagnosed (I purposely don’t use the word “victims” here, since in my opinion, it’s an unfortunate but blatant misnomer and I therefore don’t understand why it is commonly used within discussions, articles and literature… but anyway….).

There are actually a few books out there addressing – or rather attempt to address - the topic. I personally found them rather shallow and lacking of substance. But I guess that’s arguable  - anyway, what really surprised me was, that the ‘practical’ advice given therein, was so helplessly profound that at first I wasn’t even sure whether the author was serious by any means.

For instance, it was strongly recommended to husbands, to come home and leave work (if possible!) after they received the call from their frightened wife and learned that the pathology report came back positive. A statement like: “Too bad Honey, but I cannot push my three o’clock meeting this afternoon so we have to talk later, alright” might not necessarily resonate too well with your loved one who just learned about her breast-cancer.

And I’m soooo glad that the author pointed that out to me (sigh!).

And what about this: “Darling, you know that I can’t make it Tuesday – I’m on with the boys over at Jim’s house watching the game. But let me know what the Oncologist said, okay?”

Wow, what great advice, thank you so much – how come that never occurred to me?

Anyway, I’m not trying to tell you what you need to do, but my dear fellow husbands, please take it from me: it might be a really good idea, to move your behinders from the office (or wherever you may be) and get home pronto to your wife after she broke you the news about her breast cancer diagnosis. Additionally, you may also consider accompanying her to her doctor appointments whenever your schedule allows you to. And by ‘schedule’, I don’t mean watching the ball-game or the ‘set in stone happy-hour’ with the colleagues, just in case.

Just my two cents.