Hello, Steph here. You may know me from such Webisodes as “Vegas 2006″ and “Seekers/Karoake Singing”. Bob asked me to guest blog about October & Breast Cancer Awareness. Breast cancer, luckily, is killing fewer and fewer people. The medical advances are helping detect it sooner, and are giving people more treatment options.

Now we’re going to talk about boobs. :)

Earlier this year, my mom had her routine mammogram, and found out she had breast cancer. “I feel fine,” she kept saying to us. She kept trying to feel the tumor inside of her, but it was so tiny, it escaped self-exam (it ended up being 4mm). It was distressing to think that she could go about her normal daily life feeling perfectly healthy, and not know that a tumor was growing inside her. My shock was not finding out the news she had cancer, but rather the realization when immediately after surgery, the surgeon told us they had found that it had spread to her lymph nodes. It finally sunk in that it was cancer – a spreading, deadly sickness. It was not like a bad tooth that could be yanked. I suddenly felt very vulnerable; I had not even considered up to this point that as the daughter of someone with breast cancer, I was at a higher risk now. I ended up doing a self exam, and finding something. My doctor felt it, too, so I found myself getting my first mammogram at the age of 32. I cried the entire time I was being smooshed (it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be), and I almost collapsed in relief when the technician told me the doctor saw nothing. It ended up that I have fibrocystic breast changes (perfectly normal boob activity).

It taught me an important lesson. I must, without fail, examine myself every month. “But,” I asked my doctor, “What am I looking for?” I could poke and prod and not ever know what I was feeling. So she informed me that I was feeling for a change. This is why it is so important to GET INTO THE HABIT AT A YOUNG AGE. I ended up frightening myself by feeling something completely normal. Had I been tracking myself from a younger age, I would not have been so scared. The best time to remember is the day after your period is done. This time is the optimal boob consistancy for self exam. Anything drastically different from one month to the next.

It’s also important for women over 40 to get mammograms. Talk to your doctor if breast cancer runs in your family; your doctor may want to start earlier. My mom’s life was saved by a mammogram. If she would not have caught it with her annual exam, it would have most likely spread through her lymph node system and up into other organs. Her doctors are confident that they removed it all. She finished up chemo about a month ago, and is now undergoing radiation daily (week days only! No radiation people like to work on the weekends, I guess!). Yes, she lost her hair. Yes, she was as sick as a dog. But my mom knew she had to do what she had to do in order to beat it. She was as determined as I’ve ever seen her. Some evenings after chemo, she would call me euphoric that she made it through the hours of IV drip – without any nausea! She never did get nauseous.

I talked to her on the phone today, and we celebrated because she is getting some peach fuzz on the top of her head. She gets another mammogram in 2 months. I don’t think I’ll be fully relieved until that one is clear. Many, many women beat breast cancer and are 20+ year survivors. I can’t wait to count my Mom in that category. Please take my advice.

The following links helped me immensely. I wanted to learn everything medical to know about breast cancer.

About Fibrocystic Breast Changes: http://www.chiro.org/LINKS/FULL/Fibrocystic_Breast_Changes.shtml

This link has pages and pages of up to date information on breast cancer:
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/breast/page1

If you want to buy something pink (a portion of the proceeds are donated to breast cancer charities):
http://www.pinkribbonshop.com/

If you want to donate/walk in the American Cancer Society walk:
http://makingstrides.acsevents.org/site/PageServer?pagename=MS07_GL_eventlisting#IN

Thank you for the guest blog,
Steph