October National Breast Cancer Awareness

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  I know most women are so busy taking care of others they forget to take care of themselves.  Too often women and mothers are wrapped up in our family with work, home, breaking up sibling fights, making sure our husband has what he needs, scheduling baby well visits, kids dentist and eye appointments that we sometimes don’t make the time to schedule our own doctor appointments. 

I am grateful for the church I attend our pastors frequently remind us to take care of our bodies, to eat healthy and exercise.  Our pastor is a big promoter of physicals and colonoscopies.  I personally know members in our church whose lives were saved as a result of following through with recommended medical examinations.

Preventive care is the best care, many times; if you detect things early, you can attack it properly and beat it.  This is true in our everyday lives, our spiritual lives, financially and in regards to our health.

Breast cancer is the second most common kind of cancer in women. About 1 in 8 women born today in the United States will get breast cancer at some point.

The good news is that many women can survive breast cancer if it’s found and treated early.

If you are a woman age 40 to 49, talk with your doctor about when to start getting mammograms and how often to get them.

If you are a woman age 50 to 74, be sure to get a mammogram every 2 years. You may also choose to get them more often.

Don’t wait till your 40, make it a habit now at whatever age you are to take care of your body and be mindful of your health.

Talk to a doctor about your risk for breast cancer, especially if a close family member of yours had breast or ovarian cancer. Your doctor can help you decide when and how often to get mammograms.

Visit this website: http://goo.gl/Az7iF to create your personalized early detection plan, they have app’s to help remind you of self-checks and mammograms.

Tips for Performing BSE (Breast Self Exam) - from www.BreastCancer.org

Few women really want to do a breast self-exam, or BSE, and for many the experience is frustrating — you may feel things but not know what they mean. However, the more you examine your breasts, the more you will learn about them and the easier it will become for you to tell if something unusual has occurred. Breastcancer.org believes that BSE is an essential part of taking care of yourself and lowering your risk of breast cancer.

• Try to get in the habit of doing breast self-examinations once a month to familiarize yourself with how your breasts normally look and feel. Examine yourself several days after your period ends, when your breasts are least likely to be swollen and tender. If you are no longer having periods, choose a day that's easy to remember, such as the first or last day of the month.
• Don’t panic if you think you feel a lump. Most women have some lumps or lumpy areas in their breasts all the time. In the United States, only 20% of women who have a suspicious lump biopsied turn out to have breast cancer.
• Breasts tend to have different “neighborhoods.” The upper, outer area — near your armpit — tends to have the most prominent lumps and bumps. The lower half of your breast can feel like a sandy or pebbly beach. The area under the nipple can feel like a collection of large grains. Another part might feel like a lumpy bowl of oatmeal.
• What’s important is that you get to know the look and feel of your breasts' various neighborhoods. Does something stand out as different from the rest (like a rock on a sandy beach)? Has anything changed? Bring to the attention of your doctor any changes in your breasts that last over a full month's cycle or seem to get worse or more obvious over time.
• You may want to start a journal where you record the findings of your breast self-exams. This can be like a small map of your breasts, with notes about where you feel lumps or irregularities. Especially in the beginning, this may help you remember, from month to month, what is “normal” for your breasts. It is not unusual for lumps to appear at certain times of the month, but then disappear, as your body changes with the menstrual cycle (if you are still menstruating). Only changes that last beyond one full cycle, or seem to get bigger or more prominent in some way, need your doctor's attention.

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