The full circle of communicating holistic healing: social support through a breast cancer journey

Title from first page of PDF file (viewed November 24, 2010)Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-135)Individuals with breast cancer face unique psychological, physiological, social, emotional, and spiritual transformations. By viewing health holistically we move to address these multi-layered dimensions of a breast cancer journey. As a breast cancer survivor and activist, I know the relevance of this issues first-hand. With this thesis I uncover how healing through a cancer journey is a multi-layered process with several intertwining dimensions; each of which ultimately serve to connect the mind, body, and spirit. I look at the roles of the self and of others in a healing journey; and further, I examine how a particular nonprofit organization, The Keep A Breast Foundation (KAB) creates a social community that communicates, educates, and supports individuals through healing journeys. Through the revelations of my own breast cancer stories, and through an ethnographic study of KAB, I uncover three multifaceted communicative interactions that construct social support: self expression, authenticity, acceptance and encouragement. I discover that the co-construction of social support facilitates and sustains holistic healing. Additionally, with this thesis, I lay the groundwork for the creation of a nonprofit organization, The Rack Pack, that will address the distinct and important holistic needs of breast cancer survivors and will further support an impending movement towards a full circle of holistic healing