Breast cancer survivor starts mental health support group in West Houston

• Emilia Yonge, 47, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and went into remission in 2017. She is pictured here on Nov. 7, 2016 preparing for a mastectomy. In September 2018, Yonge began a mental health group for women undergoing treatment for breast cancer. The group is called Breast Friends Forever.

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  Emilia Yonge, 47, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and went into remission in 2017. She is pictured here on Nov. 7, 2016 preparing for a mastectomy. In September 2018, Yonge began a mental health group

  … more

  
  Photo: Courtesy Emilia Yonge
  

• Emilia Yonge, 47, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and went into remission in 2017. She is pictured here on September 23, 2016 during her chemotherapy treatments. In September 2018, Yonge began a mental health group for women undergoing treatment for breast cancer. The group is called Breast Friends Forever.

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  Emilia Yonge, 47, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and went into remission in 2017. She is pictured here on September 23, 2016 during her chemotherapy treatments. In September 2018, Yonge began a mental

  … more

  
  Photo: Courtesy Emilia Yonge
  

• Emilia Yonge, 47, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and went into remission in 2017. She is pictured here during her her first day of chemotherapy treatment June 21, 2016. In September 2018, Yonge began a mental health group for women undergoing treatment for breast cancer. The group is called Breast Friends Forever.

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  Emilia Yonge, 47, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and went into remission in 2017. She is pictured here during her her first day of chemotherapy treatment June 21, 2016. In September 2018, Yonge began

  … more

  
  Photo: Courtesy Emilia Yonge
  

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Emilia Yonge, 47, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and went into remission in 2017. She is pictured here on Nov. 7, 2016 preparing for a mastectomy. In September 2018, Yonge began a mental health group for women undergoing treatment for breast cancer. The group is called Breast Friends Forever.

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Emilia Yonge, 47, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 and went into remission in 2017. She is pictured here on Nov. 7, 2016 preparing for a mastectomy. In September 2018, Yonge began a mental health group

… more

Photo: Courtesy Emilia Yonge

Emilia Yonge, a 47-year-old breast cancer survivor, wants others like her to have a supportive, nurturing place to retreat to when they feel the need to recharge and mentally refocus.

It’s why she created a support group in September called ‘Breast Friends Forever,’ which meets every first Friday at Texas Oncology at Memorial Hermann in Memorial City and every second Friday at the Spring Valley Medical Center in West Houston.

It’s her way of paying it forward, said the Katy mother of two, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in May of 2016 and underwent a bilateral mastectomy shortly thereafter.

Yonge had chemotherapy at Memorial Hermann Cancer Center — Memorial City and lymph biopsy and subsequent mastectomy at Memorial Hermann, as well, said a Memorial Hermann spokeswoman.

“To me, mental health care and awareness for survivors is the most important thing because having a good attitude is the key to getting the best experience out of the whole thing,” Yonge said.

Since the beginning of her cancer journey, Yonge had a positive outlook. But occasionally, she had bouts of depression from time to time, especially after each treatment. It made her understand the importance of mental health.

“The breast cancer process treatment journey is a long process and has many different stages,” Yonge said. “During each stage, you feel all this love and support from the nurses and the doctors. And it’s all focused on you, so you feel really loved.”

She describes each stage of treatment — chemotherapy, radiation, reconstruction surgery — as if she were part of a community or a family.

“And then at the end of whatever treatment state it is, there’s a depression, because suddenly you’re not having your ‘social life,’” Yonge said. “I got really depressed and I know other survivors who went through the same thing. It was so intense because you saw these people every day and became buddies. Even though it was six weeks, it felt like I had gone through four years of college with them.”

According to a study by Breast Cancer Care, a nonprofit in the U.K., 1 in 4 women diagnosed with breast cancer believe that ending their treatment was harder than having the cancer removed or going through the treatment. About 800 women were surveyed and more than half said they had anxiety at the end of the treatment and about a third struggled with depression.

Yonge hopes her support group, Breast Friends Forever, can be a community much like those she was a part of when she going through the treatments stages.

She truly believes that having a positive attitude is a factor in achieving a good prognosis.

“That is an important factor of breast cancer treatment on par with surgery, chemo, radiation and all that, because if you don’t have that attitude, then it’s going to be a hard journey,” Yonge said. “ That’s why I started doing the support group at Texas Oncology and at Dr. Boutros’ practice as well.”

“I didn’t realize that not everybody has this kind of attitude going through this journey until I was done with treatment, then I realized, you know this is unusual,” Yonge said. “That’s why I decided that I’ve got to help people through this.”

For more information on how you can get involved, visit the Breast Friends Forever Facebook group online or call 713-467-1722.

michelle.iracheta@chron.com

Article source: https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/katy/news/article/Breast-cancer-survivor-starts-mental-health-13308403.php