Beyond Awareness

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I could not let this month close without publishing a post on Breast Cancer Awareness, something I am a very strong advocate for.

I recently heard from a coworker that when her daughter in law turned 40 yrs old, she decided to invest in her health a little more.  She scheduled an appointment for her very first mammogram and was found to have stage IV breast cancer. I can not imagine the wild whirlwind her life has taken on in the last month or so going from diagnosis to quickly undergoing an aggressive course of treatment. My heart aches for her and her family. 

Sadly, this is not a standalone case. There are many people who go to the doctor for a routine visit and leave with a life changing diagnosis; sometimes because they overlooked that spot, or that odd pain. The point I am trying to make is that we need to take care of ourselves. Sometimes we get so caught up in our busy schedules, or we just coast along because we’ve felt relatively healthy "all our lives", and we fail to take care of this body that takes us through those busy schedules.

Do not neglect your self.

Make time for those routine check-ups.

If something in your body does not seem right, get it checked out. It is better to have a routine check-up now when that pain is just a tiny nuisance than to have it progress later on.  

I understand that we are beyond awareness now, in regards to Breast and other types of cancers, but I still wanted to highlight the need for vigilance.  There are many things in this world that can contribute to that dreaded cancer diagnosis and there is no miracle drug that can prevent it. I honestly believe it is just the luck of the draw these days. However, I implore you to make those routine appointments and to do your self-checks, so that if you are ill, it may at least be diagnosed at an earlier stage.

Breast Cancer Awareness and Prevention Month

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 If you've been out to supermarkets, stores, or done some online shopping lately, you may be fully aware that it is now October and Breast Cancer Awareness month. Today is also the second annual "Blog for your Breasts Day". I wrote about my connection to and interest in Breast Cancer in this post last year, and it was both nerve-wrecking and relieving to share that part of me with readers.

I know many of you may be thinking that 'of course we are all aware of breast cancer by now', which may be true, but here are some other tidbits that you may not know:

1. Breast cancer is one of the major illnesses women face after the age of 40. 
2. Symptoms (other than a palpable lump) include: thickening and swelling of the breast, irritation or dimpling of the breast skin, pain in the nipple area, any change in size or shape of the breast, and non- lactation nipple discharge (i.e. blood).
   Mammograms are used as a method of detection. They are mainly recommended for women starting around 40 years of age. It is also highly recommended that women over the age of 50 receive a mammogram every two years. 
3. Tips for lowering risks of breast cancer include (Source: Center for Disease Control): 
1. Limiting your alcohol intake.
2. Maintain a healthy weight and diet.
3. Take note of your family's history with breast cancer. 
4. Do self-check exams regularly. If you feel something irregular, schedule a breast ultrasound, as this may be one of the least expensive mechanisms of detection. 

Lastly, remember that for all of us, "Breast cancer is not a pink ribbon", as this pin on Pinterest has so vividly portrayed. So won't you please join me in becoming a part of Dr. Susan Love's Initiative: Army of Women (AOW). For this "Blog for Your Breasts" event, she states:

We invite you to use your voice through your blog to spread the word about the Love/Avon Army of Women. The Army of Women initiative, a program of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, funded by a grant from the Avon Foundation for Women, is recruiting ONE MILLION WOMEN of all ages and ethnicities, with or without breast cancer, to sign up and participate in breast cancer research studies. If we can get ONE MILLION WOMEN involved in research, we are one step closer to understanding the cause of breast cancer and how to prevent it.
The Army of Women campaign is an online initiative, where women can sign up at www.ArmyOfWomen.org. We are dedicating ONE day to reach ONE million women to sign up for the Army of Women. Together, we can move breast cancer beyond a cure and eradicate it once and for all.

Believe it or not, cancer is a multistep cellular  process that affects everyone differently. If enough people from different racial backgrounds, ethnicities, etc sign up for AOW and participate in some of the research studies that they have going on, I'm sure researchers would be closer in finding a disease mechanism in which to attack. I promise you, you'll only receive about one email per month (a monthly update) delineating all the new things happening with AOW and any new studies that they're having that you may be able to participate in. Please consider joining Army of Women today. Not just for yourself but for our future generations.

Bloggin' for My Breasts-- One Million Strong

Christmas Eve, 2oo3, I was lying on the bed of Hahnemann University hospital in downtown Philly being prepped for the surgery to remove a mass in my breast. My memories of the past are kind of foggy, but I remember that day....[I was 16 yrs old].... That morning.... [It was 6am]. My surgery was scheduled for 8 o'clock that morning. The doctor was really nice. A young, White male who asked me what my career goals were. I told him boldly that I wanted to be neurosurgeon. I asked him what his profession was, he told me he was a cancer surgeon.

My career goals have changed since then, but my fear of cancer still remains. The tumor they removed that day was benign. Since then, I have had 2 more spring up in my breast that I don't even want to have removed. I feel as though I would lose a part of my femininity if my boobs were any smaller. But then I think about the many other women who DO have breast cancer. Those women whose lives have changed as a result. It's a hard thing to deal with, I'm sure, but I'm grateful that I was not afflicted. Ever since then, I've been trying to be as active as possible in informing my generation about breast cancer. It is not inevitable. Cancer is a disease of old age (as your cells continue to divide and more and more mutations are made), but you can never be "too young" to develop it.

Today starts Breast Cancer Awareness Month. About a year ago, I discovered the Love/Avon Army of Women website . I think I first heard about it on the TodayShow. as I am an avid viewer of the show [like a middle aged house-wife ;0)]. You can find out more about Dr. Susan Love here.

The goal of Dr. Love's website is to gather 1 million women (young, old and healthy and/or stricken with breast cancer) to sign up and participate in breast cancer research studies in order to find the cause of breast cancer and ultimately the cure. You see, with one million women in one centralized area, it is easier and more convenient to perform studies that would provide a significant amount of data. When conducting surveys, many people aim to have at least 100 participants, to represent an entire population of people. It is then that their data is considered plausible. How much more would 1 million participants be in the conductance of these breast cancer studies? Army of Women currently has 338,370 participants, which means we are a LONG ways off from having a million. Please join to help in this initiative.

Below is a video of their public service announcement. I like it a lot, but there were many other video entries here.

More about Love/Avon Army of Women:

• Men are able to sign up for the Army of Women too.
  
• When you sign up, you are signing up to be added to the Army of Women database to hear about research projects—signing up for the Army of Women does NOT sign you up for a study yet.
• The Army of Women Research Studies are prevention based, not clinical trials.
• Participants must be 18 and older—but they need ALL ethnicities—ALL ages, healthy women, women with cancer and women who are survivors.
• There is absolutely NO COST to join and take part in something this important—they are not asking for donations, just for women to sign up and agree to hear about studies. Participation in any of their studies is ALWAYS, COMPLETELY voluntary.
• Participants will be involved in important research to discover THE CAUSE of breast cancer—how to stop it before it starts.
• Women who join have the ability to participate only in those projects that interest them. They can opt to decline any study invitation, or accept any invitation of their choosing.
• Studies will require a variety of different things (women can be asked anything from filling out an online questionnaire to being asked for a blood sample). It all varies according to study.

So, JOIN please and INVITE a friend.