Have you checked this month?

As most of you know October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. With all the publicity it brings it to the forfront moreso than any other time. So how many of you have done your breast exam this month? Or any other month for that matter? I was one of those people who never did breast exams. I had no family history, never smoke or drank, had normal periods, breast feed all three kids, was healthy, only in my thirties and besides, my boobs were kind of lumpy anyway...how would I be able to tell what was normal or not!?

When I found my lump (thats right, I found it) sort of by accident, I put off going to the doctor for a few months. When I finally went, my doctor didn't think it was anything to worry about and told me to wait a couple months to see if it went away. When I returned a few months later she still thought it was okay. At this point I was starting to become concerned and I had to "push" to get some testing done. All those months wasted because I didn't fit the description of who should have breast cancer.

1 in 229 women in their thirties will develop breast cancer. Wow! This is not just an "older" woman's disease. Over 80% of women with breast cancer have no family history! We are told that you only need to be concerned if there is breast cancer on your mother's side of the family. My surgeon told me that further studies and gene testing are beginning to show that "any cancer on either side of the family" is a indicator of an increase risk of breast cancer. My father's sister died of breast cancer and while that doesn't make me high risk, if I had of know of that connection I might have been more vigilant in checking and following up on anything unusual.

So if you would like to do something for me...please take the time to do a self breast exam. And if you don't want to do it for me, do it for yourself and your family. If you are not sure of what you are feeling, go have your doctor check it out. And if you are still not happy, INSIST on further testing. A mammogram really isn't that bad. Get your yearly pap smear and breast exam from your doctor. I would rather feel foolish for running to the doctor than feel sick from chemo!