The Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition offers a peer mentor support program to those with a recent diagnosis.
The program pairs a breast cancer survivor – whether they are metastatic or cancer-free – with someone recently diagnosed.
DBCC’s survivorship director Connie Holdridge has been diagnosed three times herself.
She said it’s a scary experience where people feel they can’t turn to spouses or family because they’re hurting just as much as the person with the diagnosis.
“I'm just trying to give them someone to talk to – they can help,” Holdridge said. “We have support groups, and we have activities, and we have ways to calm yourself and ways to relieve anxiety.”
Mentors go through a training led by a DBCC presentation and are taught their role is primarily to listen, not speak.
“I think it's a very necessary part of anybody's journey is to have somebody that they can bounce ideas off of, somebody that can say, ‘Yes, I went to radiation and I'm okay,’ or ‘Yes, I did chemo and my hair did grow back.’ You don't know what you don't know, and that's hard.”
Holdridge said most people are comfortable with others that are of like mind and often request mentors who are similar to them.
She added the program's purpose is to try and calm people down, and bringing them a mentor they can relate to is a good start.
More information on DBCC and its peer mentor support program can be found at their website.
