By Laura Carfang Waiting for medical test results can feel like living in suspended animation. Time stretches. Thoughts spiral. You check your phone more than you realize. You refresh the patient portal even though you know nothing has changed. Your body stays tense, as if something is about to happen. For many people impacted by cancer, the waiting can be just as distressing as the diagnosis itself. And sometimes, something unexpected happens. You prepare yourself for the worst. Let’s talk about why. Preparing for the Worst as a Coping Strategy There is a psychological concept called defensive pessimism . It describes what happens when someone anticipates a high-stakes outcome — like cancer test results — and mentally assumes the worst on purpose . This is not because people want bad news. But because certainty, even painful certainty, can feel safer than hope. By imagining the worst-case scenario, the mind is trying to: Reduce the shock if bad news arrives Regain a sense of control Emotionally “pre-grieve” what might come For those diagnosed with cancer waiting on test results, and frantically refreshing the screen to your medical portal, this strategy is incredibly common. The challenge? When the results are good, your mind has already rehearsed catastrophe — and relief doesn’t land. When Your Body Thinks Waiting = Danger If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, your brain has already learned something powerful: Waiting for results once changed everything. That memory doesn’t live only in our thoughts — it lives in our nervous system. Psychologists call this anticipatory anxiety  or medical PTSD . It means your stress response activates before  danger is confirmed. When this happens: Your body stays in fight-or-flight mode You scan for threats, even after reassurance Good news feels unreal, fragile, or temporary You might think: “They must have missed something.” “This can’t be right.” “I’ll believe it when more time passes.” This isn’t disbelief; it’s your brain prioritizing safety over celebration. The Whiplash of Good News There’s also something called cognitive dissonance  at play. If you’ve spent days or weeks organizing your life around the assumption that something is seriously wrong, your mind has already adapted. Then suddenly, you’re told: “Everything looks okay.” Your brain needs time to undo what it prepared for. Disbelief is often not denial — it’s lag time between threat and safety. Hypervigilance Is Not Pessimism — It’s Protection Many people feel guilty for not feeling relieved right away. They wonder: “Why can’t I just be happy?” “What’s wrong with me?” “Other people would be grateful — why am I still scared?” Here’s the truth: Hypervigilance is a form of self-protection. Believing good news can feel like lowering your guard — and after a cancer diagnosis, that can feel dangerous. Your mind may be saying: “If I don’t fully trust this, I won’t be crushed if it changes.” How Relief Actually Arrives (Hint: It’s Not All at Once) For many cancer survivors, relief doesn’t come as a wave of joy. It comes quietly: Sleeping a little better Taking a deeper breath without realizing it Thinking about the future for a few seconds longer Relief often arrives in increments, not declarations. You don’t have to force yourself to believe good news fully. You can let it be true for today. Here is a mantra to stay grounded in the present moment: “The results are good right now, and that’s enough.” If you’re struggling to trust good medical news: You are not broken You are not pessimistic You are not doing survivorship  “wrong” Your body remembers how real the danger once was. And it is slowly — at its own pace — learning that this moment is different. You don’t have to rush relief. You don’t have to perform gratitude. You don’t have to explain yourself. If this resonates with you, please know: you are not alone in this experience. At SurvivingBreastCancer.org , we believe survivorship includes the emotional aftermath of waiting, fear, and uncertainty. Healing isn’t just about test results; it’s about giving yourself permission to feel  exactly where you are. Read More: Permission to Feel: 10 Tips for Navigating Cancer and Treatments with Honesty and Humor No Pink Here: What October Really Feels Like for Breast Cancer Survivors The Transformative Power of Art Therapy in Cancer Survivorship On the Podcast: Breast Cancer Conversations Understanding and Coping with Medical PTSD in Cancer Care with Emily Parks Share your story, poetry, or art: https://www.survivingbreastcancer.org/submit-breast-cancer-story SurvivingBreastCancer.org Resources & Support: Podcast Weekly Meetup s Free Events

By Katherine Ortiz The timing is the exact same — December again, full circle in time, cancer returning in winter’s hush, just like December 27, 2010 — history repeating its rhyme. Surgery, then chemo, (which I may still say no), learning to navigate a journey I never asked to know. Just when life was opening wide, the red carpet rolled beneath my feet — but I did not fall into despair, I landed gracefully, steady, complete. I landed on angel wings, not broken ground, because God never leaves His children in shock — He cushions the fall, restores the sound, and turns the blow into bedrock. My voice was once silenced, now it is strong, no better timing than now to arise — I’ve been faithful to heal what lived deep inside, so I meet this battle with open eyes. Cancer, I don’t live by what if, I live by not me. I learned to speak up, to stand up, to fiercely advocate for me. I am not bowed down. I am not torn down. I am not destroyed by this storm. I am clay in the hands of a master, pressed, not crushed, being reborn. And just as December once marked the battle, this December will mark the close — what began in winter years ago will end with a warrior’s rose. I will not circle this mountain forever. I was not brought back here to stay. I returned to claim final victory and send this chapter on its way. I am not broken — I am being rebuilt, into something more radiant than before. I am beautiful. I am strong. I am confident to my core. I will beat you, cancer. I will rise. I will survive — and soar. Destiny being completed. Not repeated. Full circle healing. Share your poetry: https://www.survivingbreastcancer.org/submit-breast-cancer-story SurvivingBreastCancer.org Resources & Support: Podcast Weekly Meetup s Free Events

By William Laferriere (Dedicated to Gloria and Veronica) The kite’s string frays in my hand the waxy slick hospital vinyl grabs at my slippered feet My IV pole a tall crooked mast, Metrical beeping in counterpoint to the weather report no one turns off. They say hurricane, category something, as if fear had concise little numbers like stages, like tumor size, like OncoScores, like odds printed on a chart that I refuse to flip over. Outside the window the sky is a bruising Off gray, then turns suddenly furious—angry clouds muscle in, heavy with words unsaid and I remember the three fold brochure words: “journey,” “fight,” “brave.” But it doesn’t feel like a fight, it feels like standing on the edge of a big city parking garage with a kite made of my own skin. I tape my hair to the kite tail it’s coming out anyway, tiny surrender flags on a thin plastic spiral Nurse says don’t worry, Doctor claims good margins, Friends say you’ve got this, and the wind answers with a dull roar Emptying all those syllables in the stairwell. Let it fly I tell myself. Fly what? This diagnosis, this stitched‑up chest, this new geography of scars and statistics, this half‑recalled body, with new contours, It used to be simply mine and is now a crime scene with clean white tape and port I step into the parking lot, gown flapping open like a warning sign, That port in my chest a red‑eyed button. The storm wall comes I can taste metal in the air, that before‑the‑impact flavor I also taste at 3 a.m. when the words “what if” won’t stop pacing. This kite is ridiculous— pink and loud and hopeful, and sad its paper thin as skin over my sternum. I shouldn’t run, they said, I shouldn’t lift but nobody said anything about flying kites in impossible weather. So I run. Every chemo session, I run in place, in my head, down a beach That I visit once the drip starts. The hurricane (aka the infusion), then the scans, the scans and the scans, the follow‑ups pile up like dark clouds And the yearly calendar pages rip The line cuts into my palm— this is how you know you’re still here: pain on the edges. The wind tries to yank my kite away, hurling it into someone else’s tragedy, tangling it in somebody else’s power line. I imagine the storm has a certain deleterious face: And looks like every doctor who has ever shrugged, every statistic that didn’t ask my name, every well‑meaning stranger who says at least they caught it early as if that word—early— were a soft pillow instead of a lightning bolt Gusts hit Kite dives, jerks, spirals— I think this is it, this is recurrence, this is the other shoe, this is the scan that calls back at midnight. But then, absurdly, it climbs again Someplace between panic and surrender the string beats a crazy finger rhythm in my hands, a give and take I didn’t know I let out a little line when the wind screams. Pull it in, gently, as it forgets its rage. Breathe in with the storm instead of against it. Breathe out… I remember the word “remission” and how it sounds like a pause button Not a compromise, Now the doctors won’t say cured as if the tongue tied triggers fate. The kite hangs up there, a stubborn punctuation mark scribbled in black weather: I dare not pause, I say, I am the whole sentence. Rain starts, fat and cold, like the first shock of seeing yourself naked after surgery. You grieve the loss, yes, but you also stare at that which remains: a body still stubbornly orbiting the sun, patched and stitched and outrageously alive. Lightning sketches the dark open sky for a moment the kite is all that there is, bright against the bruising ridiculous & unwavering. This is not victory, I think not No not yet, maybe never in the way movies promise, but it is something: I drop the string. My arm is tired. My chest aches where tissue used to be. The wind keeps changing soft, then savage, like scan results, like phone calls, like the way people either lean in too close or back away too far. Still, I hold the line. Not because I believe the storm owes me not because I’m sure I’ll walk out of this with anniversaries to count, but because in the middle of the howl there is the small, precise fact As the kite flies on, like a bird leaves the wire And now In the eye of it— A brief, eerie calm between one terror and the next— I feel the wet string, I see my breath in the crooked dark air, I hear my heart as it knocks my ribs like it’s asking permission to stay. Okay, I tell it. Okay. I’ll stand here…alone and fly this fragile, foolish thing as long as the storm allows, as long as I have fingers, as long as there is any sky at all And throw color against it And if the hurricane wins— if it snaps the line, steals my kite, scatters every lonely pink scrap across a city that may never know my name— remember this: For a while, in the worst of it, I still chose to run into the wind with my whole broken body, refusing to let go of a string that was never designed to be held in a hurricane. Share your poetry: https://www.survivingbreastcancer.org/submit-breast-cancer-story SurvivingBreastCancer.org Resources & Support: Podcast Weekly Meetup s Free Events

Meet the Team Medical Advisory Board Laura Carfang, M.A., Ed.D. William Laferriere, MBA Meghann Sweeney, J.D. Tony Carfang, MBA Board of Directors Laura Carfang, M.A., Ed.D. Chief Executive Officer, Founder, Board Member Laura@survivingbreastcancer.org William Laferriere, MBA Chief Visionary Officer & VP Business Development Founder, Board Member William@survivingbreastcancer.org Nancy Gaulin Psy.D. Board Member Tony Carfang, MBA Board Member Brad Carver Board Member SurvivingBreastCancer.org . Dr. Amy Commander, MD Medical Director, Mass General Cancer Center-Waltham Director, Breast Oncology Program at Newton-Wellesley Hospital Director, Lifestyle Medicine Dr. Rachel Jimenez, MD Dr. Rachel Jimenz,, MD Associate Program Director, Harvard Radiation Oncology Residency Program Dr. Jandie Posner Jandie Posner, DO FACS. board-certified surgeon Jefferson Health Our Incredible Administration The hands on the ground making the dream work! Laura Carfang, is a founder, strategist, and cancer survivor with a Doctorate in Education. Her work bridges leadership, systems design, and patient-centered care, grounded in the belief that meaningful work is built through honesty, intention, and collective action Laura Carfang M.A.,E.d.D Chief Executive Officer, Founder, Board Member Laura@survivingbreastcancer.org Meghan serves as Executive Assistant and oversees publications at SurvivingBreastCancer.org, including our weekly community newsletter and blog. She is a survivor of triple negative breast cancer and is passionate about supporting the breast cancer community with creativity and compassion. Meghan holds a master's degree in French to English translation. In addition to her work at SBC, she works as a freelance translator and writer. Meghan McCallum Excecutive Assistant meghan@survivingbreastcancer.org Elisa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Human Resources. She is bilingual in Spanish and English and plays a key role at SurvivingBreastCancer.org, where she offers Expressive Arts classes and oversees more than 400 programs each year. Her work focuses on creating supportive, inclusive spaces that foster connection, emotional expression, and meaningful engagement for the cancer community. Elisa Herrera Director of Programs and Events Director of Hispanic Outreach in Latin America elisa@survivingbreastcancer.org Itzel is a graphic design student with a strong passion for creativity and visual storytelling. She oversees social media and creates event graphics at SurvivingBreastCancer.org, bringing programs to life through thoughtful, engaging design. With a natural eye for aesthetics and a love for creative expression, she plays an essential role in shaping the organization’s visual presence and community connection. Itzel Herrera Social Media Coordinator @survivingbreastcancer.org Carl began working with SBC in August 2025 focusing mainly on search engine optimization. Since then, his scope of work has expanded to include outbound marketing operations and website development. Carl graduated from San Jose State University in 2023 with a B.S. in Marketing. He and his wife are now based in Sacramento, CA, working out of their home office alongside their clingy Welsh Springer Spaniel. Carl Roth Marketing, Communications & Growth Associate carl@survivingbreastcancer.org Brenda is an Industrial Engineer specializing in Supply Chain Management. She is bilingual in Spanish and English and serves as one of the leads for SBC’s Spanish-language programs through Después de un Diagnóstico. In this role, she is passionate about supporting and empowering Spanish-speaking communities by increasing access to education, resources, and culturally relevant support. Brenda Coronado Despues de un Diagnóstico brenda@survivingbreastcancer.org Lourdes D. Heras holds dual bachelor’s degrees in Community Health and Healthcare Administration and a Master of Public Health. She serves as a lead facilitator of Spanish-language programs through Después De Un Diagnóstico, expanding access to culturally responsive education and vital resources for underserved communities. Guided by the belief that education transforms fear into strength and isolation into connection, she creates inclusive spaces where individuals feel seen, empowered, and equipped to navigate their health journeys with confidence and dignity. Lourdes Heras Despues de un Diagnóstico lourdes@survivingbreastcancer.org Our Instructors The hands and hearts creating space for healing. Our Early Stage volunteer Leadership Team Pooja Jain Julie Cottril l Meghan Staskal-Bradt Carol Collins Denise Whittaker Meghan Aycock Our MBC Volunteer Leadership Team Amy Russell-Parliman Kathleen Friel Sheila Godreau Jo Lynn Collins

Meditation for Breast Cancer (On Demand) Visit our official YouTube meditation playlist! Live Classes: Multiple Dates Meditation Reflection The 8 Steps of Buddhism - A Path to Healing Feb 16, 2026, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EST Online Event Each month, join us for a guided meditation exploring one of the Eightfold Path principles. Together, we’ll cultivate mindfulness, compassion, and resilience, one step at a time. Free and open to all. RSVP On Demand: Multiple Dates Meditation Reflection The 8 Steps of Buddhism - A Path to Healing Mon, Feb 16 Online Event More info RSVP Multiple Dates SBC Well-Being Club: Finding Peace on the Buddha’s Eightfold Path Tue, Feb 17 Online Event More info RSVP Multiple Dates SBC Well-Being Club: Finding Peace on the Buddha’s Eightfold Path Tue, Feb 24 Online Event More info RSVP Reiki Circle of Care Tue, Feb 24 Online Event More info RSVP Multiple Dates Meditation Tuesday for Self-Care Tue, Mar 03 Online Event More info RSVP Multiple Dates Guided Hypnosis for Breast Cancer Thrivers & Caregivers Wed, Mar 04 Online Event More info RSVP Multiple Dates Forest Bathing: Mindful Nature Connection & Healing Wed, Mar 18 Virtual Event More info RSVP Multiple Dates Meditation Reflection The 8 Steps of Buddhism - A Path to Healing Mon, Oct 19 Online Event More info RSVP Looking for more ways to support your healing journey? View Programs REIKI Reiki is a gentle energy healing technique that reduces stress, eases pain, and supports emotional well-being—perfect for those on a healing journey. Watch Now Experience Healing Anytime 💫 We invite you to explore our prerecorded Reiki sessions—designed to promote relaxation, reduce stress, and support your healing journey. Whether you're managing breast cancer or simply need a moment of peace, these gentle energy practices are here for you, anytime, anywhere.

Surviving Breast Cancer believes in the healing power of movement. Enjoy free movement classes to help manage the physical and mental effects of breast cancer. Movement Days Creative and expressive movement, in the form of mind, body, and spirit exploration, holds the power to heal. Survivingbreastcancer.org offers free, monthly, online classes in restorative yoga, yoga for breast cancer, and Zumba. Enjoy weekly guided meditation, breathwork, and other mindfulness practices, as well as monthly expressive writing and art therapy workshops. All are welcome, including caregivers and supporters of those diagnosed. Move your body and mind with us every Movement Monday! Attend an Event Multiple Dates Pilates for Breast Cancer Recovery Fri, Feb 13 Online Event More info RSVP Multiple Dates Restorative Yoga: A Monthly Journey Into Calm, Comfort & Inner Healing Mon, Feb 16 Online Event More info RSVP Multiple Dates Yoga Stretching for DIEP Flap Tue, Mar 10 Online Event More info RSVP Multiple Dates Restorative Yoga: A Monthly Journey Into Calm, Comfort & Inner Healing Mon, Mar 16 Online Event More info RSVP Achieving Growth SBC On Demand Classes Have access to our programs anytime, anywhere Heal & Move: Gentle Qigong for Breast Cancer Recovery This supportive class uses gentle movements & breathwork to promote healing, manage side effects, & find inner peace during breast cancer recovery. Suitable for all levels. Breast Cancer Recovery Yoga: Gentle Poses with Chair Support (Improves Flexibility & Reduces Lymphedema) This restorative yoga class is designed specifically for breast cancer patients and survivors. Join certified instructor Kim O´Brien for a gentle sequence of poses using a chair for added comfort and support. Pilates Snack Short on Time? Try an Exercise Snack! In our fast-paced lives, carving out time for fitness can feel overwhelming. But staying active doesn't have to mean hour-long workouts or trips to the gym. With exercise snacks—quick, low-impact movement breaks you can do anytime, anywhere—you can boost your energy, improve circulation, and support your overall wellness. Whether you're managing fatigue from breast cancer treatment or just juggling a busy schedule, these short bursts of movement make it easier to stay consistent with your physical health goals. DIEP flap Yoga Restorative Yoga Pilates Multiple Dates Pilates for Breast Cancer Recovery Fri, Feb 13 Online Event Did you know that Pilates can specifically address post-surgical tightness and lymphatic health? From restoring range of motion after a mastectomy to strengthening the "powerhouse" following flap reconstruction, Pilates offers a low-impact solution to post-treatment side effects. +21 more RSVP Multiple Dates Restorative Yoga: A Monthly Journey Into Calm, Comfort & Inner Healing Mon, Feb 16 Online Event Step into a space of deep relaxation and gentle healing with our Restorative Yoga class, offered year-round by SurvivingBreastCancer.org. Designed for all experience levels, this cozy, nurturing practice invites you to slow down, breathe deeply, and reconnect with your body. +29 more RSVP Multiple Dates Yoga Stretching for DIEP Flap Tue, Mar 10 Online Event Join us for our Online DIEP Flap Yoga Classes, a gentle, supportive, and guided movement series created specifically for individuals preparing for or recovering from DIEP flap breast reconstruction surgery. +1 more RSVP Multiple Dates Restorative Yoga: A Monthly Journey Into Calm, Comfort & Inner Healing Mon, Mar 16 Online Event Step into a space of deep relaxation and gentle healing with our Restorative Yoga class, offered year-round by SurvivingBreastCancer.org. Designed for all experience levels, this cozy, nurturing practice invites you to slow down, breathe deeply, and reconnect with your body. RSVP Articles 1 2 3 4 5 Email info @survivingbreastcancer.org with your background, interests, and class offerings. Interested in Becoming a Movement Instructor?