Breast Cancer Hotlines
- Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Helpline — 1-877-465-6636
Free helpline offering personalized support, breast health information, and referrals to local resources, staffed by trained specialists Monday–Friday. - Breast Cancer Now Helpline (UK) — 0808 800 6000
Free helpline staffed by experienced breast care nurses, available Monday–Friday 9am–4pm and Saturday 9am–1pm; telephone interpreting available in over 240 languages. - CancerCare Breast Cancer Support — 1-800-813-4673
Free professional support from oncology social workers including individual counseling, support groups, financial assistance, and educational workshops for people affected by breast cancer. - Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization Hotline — 1-800-221-2141 (English) | 1-800-986-9505 (Spanish)
The only 24/7 breast cancer hotline staffed entirely by trained peer counselors who are breast cancer survivors; calls interpreted in over 150 languages.
Advocacy in Action
Monitors federal breast cancer related legislation and regulations, and works with patient advocacy groups to impact breast cancer policy as it develops. Read more
A Day for You and Friends of Ann & Mimi
Made possible through a gift from the Avon Foundation. A Day for You participants attend all-day seminars and learn about earlier detection methods, are taught breast self-examination (BSE) and receive clinical breast exams. Onsite mammograms also are available, if appropriate. Friends of Ann & Mimi are specially trained volunteers with knowledge of the healthcare system who accompany women to follow-up appointments, when necessary, so they may arrive informed and confident. Since the Friend speaks the same language as the woman she accompanies, cultural and language barriers are minimized. The Friend also addresses transportation and insurance concerns.
Education
Y-ME provides culturally sensitive breast cancer services and resources for who would like to know more about breast cancer. Publications are also available. Checkout few of our publications-
- Every Woman’s Guide to Breast Cancer (PDF)
A comprehensive guide covering the emotional and practical journey of breast cancer — from diagnosis and treatment through recovery, intimacy, pregnancy, and life as a survivor. - Breast Self-Examination: Your Key to Better Breast Health (PDF)
A step-by-step illustrated guide to performing monthly breast self-examination, including what to look and feel for and how to correctly examine all areas of breast tissue. - I Still Buy Green Bananas: Living with Hope, Living with Advanced Breast Cancer (PDF)
A compassionate guide for women living with metastatic or locally advanced breast cancer, sharing real experiences from survivors on coping with fear, treatment decisions, pain, support systems, and finding hope. - Understanding Your Breast Cancer Pathology Report (PDF)
A plain-language guide to help patients read and understand their pathology report, including key terms such as tumor grade, hormone receptor status, and HER2 results. - About Your Screening Mammogram (PDF)
A detailed patient guide explaining how screening mammography works, what radiologists look for, what results mean, and questions to ask your doctor and imaging facility. - Just for Teens: A Teen Guide to Breast Care (PDF)
A friendly, age-appropriate introduction for teenagers on breast self-examination, breast health basics, and what to know about mammograms, implants, and birth control as they grow older. - A Woman’s Guide to Breast Care (PDF)
A concise overview of the three-point early detection program — breast self-exam, clinical breast exam, and mammography — along with guidance on breast health, risk factors, and what to do if you find a lump.
Publications
- Lifeline — Fall 2006 (Volume 107) (PDF)
This issue focuses on breast cancer in diverse communities, featuring stories on Native American and immigrant women’s access to care, breast cancer in young women, the lesbian community and breast health barriers, male breast cancer, and Y-ME’s multilingual hotline and outreach programs. - Lifeline — Winter 2005 (Volume 99) (PDF)
This issue explores sexuality, intimacy, and fertility after breast cancer, with additional coverage of male breast cancer, supporting a loved one through the disease, the Y-ME Partners Match Program, depression management, soy and breast cancer risk, and Department of Defense breast cancer research funding advocacy.
Latina News
Bilingual, quarterly newsletter distributed nationwide to address breast cancer issues specific to the Spanish-speaking community.
- Una Guía para Vigilar la Salud de los Senos (PDF)
Guía ilustrada paso a paso sobre el autoexamen mensual de los senos — qué cambios buscar, cómo palpar correctamente el tejido mamario, y qué hacer si encuentra algo inusual. - Una Guía Sobre el Cáncer de Mama Para Toda Mujer (PDF)
Guía completa en español que acompaña a la mujer desde el diagnóstico y tratamiento hasta la recuperación, la reconstrucción, la intimidad, el embarazo y la vida como sobreviviente — con testimonios reales de mujeres que han vivido esta experiencia. - Ensayos Clínicos: Descubra Sus Opciones (PDF)
Guía en español sobre los ensayos clínicos de cáncer de mama — qué son, cómo funcionan, sus beneficios y riesgos, cobertura de seguro, y las preguntas clave que debe hacerle a su médico antes de participar.
Men\’s/Partner\’s Match Program
Through the Y-ME Hotline, this program provides support and education for people who are supporting a wife, mother, daughter or friend through breast cancer.
Web Site (www.y-me.org)
Offers breast cancer information, resources and support for patients, survivors, families, friends, caregivers and medical professionals. Guests can submit questions concerning breast health and/or breast cancer, which are answered by breast cancer survivors within 48 hours. The site is available in English and Spanish.
Wig & Prosthesis Bank
Provides products free-of-charge to women with limited resources.
Y-ME is always in need of wigs and prostheses–if you’d like to donate a new or gently used product, please get in touch. We ask that your donation is in at least good condition and has been washed.
YourShoes Breast Cancer Support Center
At the heart of Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization™ is the YourShoes® Breast Cancer Support Center, the only place in the world where someone can call – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year – and talk to a breast cancer survivor and be understood in 150 languages.
“You have cancer” are the most frightening words a patient can hear a doctor say. For newly diagnosed individuals, support is crucial and it helps to talk to someone who’s been through the same experience, a “peer.”
Peer support is the cornerstone of Y-ME. We are survivors who have been in “YourShoes” and are here day and night. We cry with you; we laugh with you; we help you figure out what questions to ask your doctor; we can give you a wig or prosthesis. We provide breast cancer support today.
Call 1-800-221-2141 to reach the YourShoes® 24/7 Breast Cancer Support Center.
Despite advances in breast cancer research and treatment, there is still no substitute for talking to someone who’s been in ‘your shoes’ after a doctor tells you that you have cancer.
YourShoes® peer counselors are trained and certified peer counselors who are breast cancer survivors. We don’t give medical advice – we are not medical professionals – but we are trained to handle all types of questions and concerns related to breast cancer and provide emotional support.
We replace fear with facts and can match callers and caregivers with someone who has faced a similar experience with breast cancer.
Our mission to ensure no one faces breast cancer alone remains unique, and the need for breast cancer support today is as critical as it was when the organization was founded 32 years ago.
When our co-founders Ann Marcou and Mimi Kaplan met, they bonded as they discovered they had asked themselves the exact same thing when they each heard their diagnoses: Why me? What started with two women at a kitchen table in the south suburbs of Chicago grew to be a national organization of survivors helping fulfill the needs of hundreds of thousands of people seeking information and emotional support over the years.
“Even though my family is a great support system, I needed to talk to someone who had been in my shoes.”
–Actual quote from a YourShoes® caller
YourShoes® peer counselors can be e-mailed or contacted at 1-800-221-2141, with real-time interpreters available in more than 150 languages.
