This is Real Talk, a podcast conversation where we’re digging deep into breast cancer and the realities patients and survivors face every day. We’re talking openly and honestly about just how difficult breast cancer can be, from being diagnosed to selecting the right treatment plan, to living day to day with metastatic breast cancer, and life after treatment ends.

In today’s episode, we’re talking about advice. Naturally, we want to help and support our friends and family when difficult situations arise, but sometimes our advice can have the opposite effect of what we intended. Without knowing, we can create doubt or confusion by telling someone going through breast cancer what WE would do if WE were diagnosed.

Valerie Engel is French-American and was treated for breast cancer in the United States. She heard from some in France that surgery wasn’t safe, and she wasn’t making the right choice. Valerie felt she had made the right decision with the input and guidance from her care team, but the opinions of others didn’t make an already difficult time any easier for her.

Dr. Miggins is a medical provider who works with her patients every day to make the best decisions for their treatment. She wants her patients to feel confident in the choice they make, knowing the options they have based on their personal breast cancer diagnosis.