Keeping track of all the latest research, your family history, and lifestyle factors like alcohol use, smoking, weight gain, and exercise is enough to make some women leave their future to fate. Fortunately there's an app that can help. While Dr. Thompson still recommends seeing your doctor to discuss your risk, the Breast Cancer Risk Calculator app can help you track everything and determine your real risk.
Technology has improved more than just cancer detection and treatment—it's doing amazing things for patient care and support. My Breast Cancer Team is a new social networking site for women dealing with breast cancer. "We interviewed lots of people and asked them, 'What did you do after the diagnosis?'," says Eric Peacock, co-founder and CEO at MyHealthTeams. Their answer: "I went home and Googled it like never before." Next, they all had the same instinct—to find and connect with others dealing with the same disease, Peacock says.
Sites like this allow women to ask and answer questions, post photos, share emotional ups and downs, and offer "hugs," in addition to providing a forum to discuss and rate health care providers.
