Columbia Nursing Dean on Life-Saving Wellness Choices After Breast Cancer

Navigating a Breast Cancer Diagnosis

• 📌 Lorraine Frazier, Dean of Columbia University School of Nursing, shares her journey after being diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2022.
• 💔 The diagnosis came shortly after grieving the loss of her adult daughter, leading her to a "numb place" as she began treatment.
• 🎗️ Frazier underwent a double mastectomy, chemotherapy, oral chemo, and radiation, with an ongoing two-year estrogen blocker treatment.

Immediate Post-Diagnosis Wellness Changes

• 🍽️ She immediately changed her diet, cutting out alcohol entirely, even abstaining from wine on a cruise.
• 🚶‍♀️ A significant part of her recovery involves daily walking, maintaining a routine of five miles each day.
• ⚖️ These lifestyle changes resulted in both Lorraine and her husband losing 30 pounds each, a fact her husband's cardiologist appreciated.

Prioritizing Self-Care and Stress Management

• ❤️ Maintaining awareness of her heart and glucose levels is a key focus.
• 🧘‍♀️ She actively trains her body to be less reactive to stress.
• ⏳ Frazier emphasizes the importance of not hurrying, stating, "You will rarely see me hurry ever," as a way of putting herself first.

Message to Survivors

• ✨ Frazier hopes that breast cancer survivors realize that life-saving choices are achievable step by step.
• 💡 Her lifelong career in wellness informs her approach to recovery and self-care.