Shrink the Whale

by Dr. Marisa Weiss

Years ago, a patient and dear friend of mine named Barbara told me that living with the continual fear of breast cancer was like having a whale move into your living room. The whale grows or shrinks, depending on what's going on at a particular moment, but it never goes away. "Maybe, sometimes, it gets down to the size of a magazine rack," she said, "and once in a while you bump into it. Sometimes, it swells up in your face again, like when you have a mammogram and they call you back for extra views."

Over the years, I have shared this story with thousands of patients and colleagues. It is in my book, "Living Beyond Breast Cancer," and I've talked about it at conferences all over the country. The response is always immediate and electric—everyone "gets it" in a moment, and it feels so true!

What makes your whale big? What makes it small and keeps it small? At breastcancer.org, we are dedicated to helping you shrink the whale and keep it small.