There are dozens of things that occur nearly simultaneously when a woman learns she has breast cancer. Some have to do with physical aspects of the disease: surgery, chemotherapy and the resulting illness, radiation, reconstruction, and recovery.
Others have to do with mental aspects: fear or anger about the diagnosis, anxiety about the future, hope and joy at remission and survival.
And all the while, if there's a partner with her on the journey, that partner is dealing with their own issues about all of the above. The fight against a cancer is such an all-inclusive battle that it leaves some couples stronger while splitting others apart.
CNN examined the other half of the breast cancer story, that of relationships that survive such a challenge and those that can't:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/10/28/breast.cancer.relationsh...