WILLIAM GRADISHAR, MD: The woman needs to identify a medical oncologist that she feels comfortable with, who's going to provide her with the information in a way that she can understand to help her guide her decision making. She may or may not elect to get a second opinion. If she does do that, that's perfectly acceptable; she should try and do it as quickly as possible because I think the biggest issue with women in this situation is there is a fear and anxiety about starting a therapy and the fear is usually exaggerated because once they start the therapy usually the level of anxiety diminishes dramatically.
ANNOUNCER: A diagnosis of breast cancer is not only frightening; it's confusing. Singer Soraya, a breast cancer survivor, remembers good advice her doctor gave when she learned of her illness.
SORAYA: He said, "We re not talking anymore. You're grabbing a pad of paper, and you're grabbing a pen and you re going to write everything down -- everything that I tell you." And I did it. And the reason why is because at that point you stop. Your brain shuts down and you don't register a thing. All I could do was just sort of copy what he was saying. It wasn't even registering. I went home that night -- couldn't look at the piece of paper. The next day I started reading it and I went, "Wow. OK, this is what I have. This is what he thinks I should do."
AMAN BUZDAR, MD: Half of the time patients are so concerned that they forget half of the things that they should be asking the physician.
ANNOUNCER: One of the most important things a woman needs to learn early on is the stage of her cancer.
