Y-ME Hotline

“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 Y-ME Hotline caller

For more than 30 years Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization™ has been working to assure that no one faces breast cancer alone.  We started the Y-ME Hotline at a time when people didn’t talk about cancer, newspapers didn’t print the words “breast” or “cancer,” and doctors didn’t always tell their patients their diagnosis, much less discuss treatment options.

Times have changed.  Today, we know much more about the biology of breast cancer.  It has become clear how important peer support is in helping patients deal with their diagnoses and make informed treatment decisions.  Patients have changed too – they have access to potentially overwhelming amounts of data, and they expect to be partners in their own treatment.

Y-ME maintains a commitment to our core mission of providing peer support for patients every step of the way – because some things haven’t changed.  There is still no substitute for talking to someone who has been in your shoes after a doctor tells you that you have cancer.  We remain the only place in the world where someone touched by breast cancer can call – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year – and be understood in over 150 languages.

We can also match callers with a peer counselor who has faced a similar breast cancer experience through our Survivor Match program.  And the Hotline is not just for patients – caregivers, partners, and loved ones can also receive information and support through our Partner Match program.

Y-ME Hotline peer counselors can be contacted by phone 1-800-221-2141 or by email, with real-time interpreters available in more than 150 languages.