...and before it does, I want to take the opportunity to do something I haven't done previously.
October is indeed Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In my opinion, every month should be Breast Cancer Awareness Month, or just Cancer Awareness Month, in general.
While I've been affected by breast cancer, I've never felt the need to raise funds for research or promote awareness. What's different this year is my father's passing. He passed away from bile duct cancer, a fairly rare cancer with no warning signs/no preventative measures.
I started thinking about this and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I don't want to lose anyone else from a cancer that can be prevented or caught early enough to mitigate.
I said I'd personally been affected by breast cancer. My maternal grandmother passed away from breast cancer in 1982 at the age of 57. I was young so I don't have all the details, but from what I know/heard, she knew she had a lump but was scared to go to the doctor, so by the time she did, it was too late to treat her. I don't know if she got annual mammograms, but if I had to guess, I'd say she didn't.
It was the 1980's, so I don't know how robust treatment was then, but I'd like to believe that had she gotten mammograms or gone to the doctor as soon as she realized she had a lump, her life would have been prolonged.
My mom had breast cancer. She did get mammograms yearly and was lucky to catch it early. In 2008 or 9, she had a lumpectomy, they couldn't get clean margins, so she had a mastectomy. Four years later, she had a lump in the other breast and had that breast removed. Today she's cancer-free.
In 2016, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had said to John occasionally, "I know I'll get breast cancer, it's just a matter of when." I got mammograms annually and due to having dense breast tissue and my family history, it was recommended I go to the Breast Cancer affiliated with my local hospital. I remember asking my primary care doctor if she though I should go. She said, "It never hurts to have another set of eyes." I am glad I listened.
I went to the Breast Center and it was decided that again, due to family history, I should be watched more closely. The plan was that I would get checked every six months- alternating between a mammogram and a breast MRI.
The breast MRI I had in late December 2015 showed very early stage ductal carcinoma. A few months later I had a lumpectomy and a sentinel node biopsy. They got clean margins and the cancer was not in my lymph nodes. Hallelujah. I followed up with radiation. I am cancer-free.
So, please get an annual mammogram. (The 30 seconds of squeezing is minimal!)
If you are recommended to go to a breast center, please go.
If they want you to have breast MRIs, please do.
Early detection is key here.
Cancer is scary, but you have the power to make it less scary by being proactive and getting screened.
Thank you for "listening."
