The Next Fight

Be Kind to Yourself
Lindstrom, who will be forty-six next month and is taking Arimidex to prevent a recurrence of her cancer, says the side effects themselves weren’t as difficult as admitting that she couldn’t do everything herself anymore. “The hardest thing for me was to say ‘I need help,’” she says.

The last of her thirty-three radiation treatments took place in February, but the fatigue still lingers, and she is trying to learn to live with the cognitive effects of her chemotherapy. “I have to write everything down—even today,” Lindstrom says. “It’s very frustrating because you go into a room for something and then you think ‘Why am I here?”

But antidepressants have helped alleviate the hot flashes and night sweats, and she tries to view her experiences in a positive light. Above all, though, she says she has learned something very important—something that’s not just applicable to breast cancer survivors: “Be kind to yourself.”