No matter if you know the person intimately or they’re a passing acquaintance, it can be challenging to know how to handle the situation. Even I, a breast cancer survivor, have to pause and consider what to do and what to say to another to convey understanding and support.
But I can tell you this: everyone faced with a cancer diagnosis — and 39.6 percent of Americans will be at some time in their lives — needs some reassurance that the other person understands on some level what they are facing.