When a loved one has breast cancer, family members and friends are affected as well. Kelli Krcma remembers supporting her sister, Kerry Claas, following Kerry’s diagnosis in 2001. Kerry was just 30 years old when she learned she had inflammatory breast cancer, a rare form of the disease that makes…
While breast cancer brought Shannon Coffey and Dawn Bobo together, it was the shared experience of grief and loss that cemented a special bond between the women. After being diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer in 2023, Shannon reached out to ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis to request a Mentor. ABCD…
When Beth Gramz felt a hard lump in her armpit in the fall of 2018, she chalked it up to the flu shot she’d received days earlier. A month later, the lump was still there, and now she had an adjacent one in her breast after doing a self-exam. “I…
When Nikki Cox moved from the UK to the United States in 2019, she brought her passion for helping women look and feel their best. In England, she built a successful personal styling business called I’ve Got Nothing to Wear, a reflection of her belief that “clothing really makes a…
Since ABCD was founded in 1999, almost 800 people from across the United States have completed ABCD’s Mentor Training Program in order to provide our signature service: delivering customized, one-to-one emotional support to breast cancer patients, caregivers, survivors, and people living with metastatic disease. ABCD’s guiding principle is that everybody…
After learning that her biopsy showed cancer and hearing her surgeon’s recommendation for a lumpectomy followed by radiation, Jan Lindemann was scared. Jan had experienced side effects from radiation in the past, suffering several health problems as a result. Although Jan understood that radiation techniques had improved over the years,…
Mimi Nieves was used to being in control. A single mother with three young children, she worked full-time and always kept her household – and her life – running smoothly. As a member of the Latino community, and the youngest of eleven siblings, Mimi greatly valued her independence and her…
At the age of 26, Chiara Riga made a discovery that would reshape the trajectory of her life. One day as she was lying in bed, Chiara dropped her TV remote and it landed gently on her chest. When she reached down to retrieve it, her fingers brushed against an…
After my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, I couldn’t shake the fear that one day, I would face the disease as well. That day arrived decades later, but still much earlier than I’d expected. It was the fall of 2022, and I had gone in for my annual mammogram.…
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ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis is a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.
ABCD does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations.
ABCD does not provide medical advice, make diagnoses, or offer treatment options.
ABCD staff and volunteer Mentors are not licensed mental health professionals, therapists, social workers, or psychologists. They do not provide medical, therapeutic, or clinical advice. ABCD’s services are intended solely to offer peer-based emotional support and shared understanding through personal experience. If you need immediate mental health services, please reach out to your medical team or the National Hotline For Mental Health Crises And Suicide Prevention by dialing 988 on your phone.