There will be many times in your life when a close girlfriend will need your love and support -- wedding day, first baby, going through a divorce. But perhaps a woman is most in need of a shoulder to lean on after she receives a breast cancer diagnosis. It will be the toughest fight of her life and helping her through it won't be easy. So I asked Stephanie Cegielski, a woman who has been at the side of several friends battling the disease, to share her thoughts on what kind of support you should be ready to give.

Here are the Dos and Dont's of helping a friend who has breast cancer.

I sit in the doctor’s office in a boxy blue paper gown, waiting. My heart is bouncing in my chest. What I find out today will shape my life for months -- years, even. I’m here to learn more about the breast cancer that wormed its way into my body when I wasn’t looking.

"Were my margins clear?" I ask the oncologist when he finally appears and explains that he’ll be sending my tumor cells to a lab in California for a test that will measure the chance of a recurrence.

"We wouldn’t be having this conversation if they weren’t," he says.

My margins were clear! I sigh in relief.

A month ago, I would have seen clear margins as a sign of a feeble mind. As a retired college professor, I still find it impossible to read without a pencil. My book margins are littered with notes.

A month ago, I belonged to the land of the healthy. I was on the giving end of sympathy, a much easier place to be than where I am now. 

What if I were to tell you that going out in the sun without sunscreen could be a good thing? Get this: there's new research out of Australia that says women who live in the south and are exposed to less sunlight are at a higher risk for breast cancer diagnosis. Translation: More sun exposure = lower risk for breast cancer.

Here I was, trying to stay out of the sun and put on gobs and gobs sunscreen to prevent me from getting skin cancer, only to find out that I SHOULD go out in the sun to stave off breast cancer? I'm getting exhausted. I mean -- is it just me, or is there nothing that we can do right to protect our health anymore?

It's not every day a baseball team bands together to help a woman fight for her life. But that's exactly what has been going down in Flushing, Queens where Shannon Forde, who works in the New York Mets media relations office, is battling stage 4 breast cancer that has spread to her spine. Shannon's in the fight of her life, and the Mets have got her back in an amazing way. 

Soon after learning of her cancer, the COO of the team, Jeff Wilpon, reached out to Robert Garrett, the president of Hackensack University Medical Center, using Don and Deirdre Imus as the intermediary. Although she was set to undergo an immediate radical mastectomy -- the "standard response" -- a sophisticated positron emission tomography (PET) scan was able to locate the additional tumors in Shannon’s spine ... If the mastectomy had been performed without this second scan, Shannon's cancer would have spread throughout her body.

This Breast Cancer Awareness month has been filled with the usual pink ribbons, charity walks, and PSAs. But a new way of raising awareness debuted this year, inspired by one of the hottest selling book series. That's right: Fifty Shades of Grey. Obviously! So, how do you tie breast cancer awareness in to the BDSM love story? With Fifty Shades of PINK tees, of course!

The tees showed up this past weekend in Staten Island, where locals -- many of them survivors -- marched to raise awareness and money for breast cancer. The American Cancer Society estimated that more than 6,000 people were on hand for the 5-kilometer Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk. And it was a group of participants from Staten Island University Hospital who were sporting the trendy new tees.

Ever year in October, we celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness month.  All over the globe folks are dressing up pumpkins in pink glitz and glam and accenting their homes with pink to show their commitment to finding a cure. Looking for other ways you can support the cause? We've rounded up ten beautifully pink beauty products that you can rock now and all year round.

The best part, all of the brands included will donate half or all of the proceeds to furthering breast cancer research. Talk about a worthwhile purchase. Check it out:

A ton of bouncing, naked breasts descended on London Thursday and took commuters and by-standers by surprise. Fortunately or unfortunately, it may not be exactly what you're picturing. While nobody was topless, there were 60 women wearing large, fabric boobs performing in a flash mob to raise awareness for breast cancer. The organization, called Coppafeel, took the West End by storm in one of the most creative awareness-raising initiatives I've ever seen, and danced to the Black Eyed Peas "My Humps" and  "I Feel For You" by Bob Sinclair. Perfect, right?

Boing a boing a boing ... you gotta watch.

Tattoos aren't for everyone, but they're a compelling way for anyone to take ownership of their body in a visual way. Whether you're a cancer survivor or just supporting someone you love, a tattoo in support of breast cancer awareness can be a gorgeous and strong way to wear your message. We've compiled some of the coolest breast cancer awareness tattoos we could find right here.