So October Breast Cancer Awareness month is over, but being aware of your body never stops.
I’d like to challenge you to continue with your self-checks and keep an eye on your health? Here’s why:
Did you know that breast cancer takes out one of four women in a room? To remind you, the disease, though manageable, still attacks many lives much before their expected date of death.
Black Canadian women under the age of 45 are encouraged to get tested if they have a history.
In saying this, while it is ok to have a mammogram, I strongly encourage women to do their monthly self-checks — this is something that you have some control over. Checking your breasts takes less than three minutes. You know your body. You know what doesn’t feel right, what feels out of the ordinary – so when it does feel out of the ordinary, get it checked out. No one has a more intimate relationship with your body than you so MAKE the time to check YOUR breasts.
No one has a more intimate relationship with your body than you so MAKE the time to check YOUR breasts.
Notice it and check it again! If you notice there is something out of the ordinary that seems to be lingering, make an appointment to speak with your doctor and have it checked out.
On the flip side — do not panic. The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer centre suggests that ”women with a family history of breast cancer should start getting a clinical breast exam every six months and a mammogram every year at least ten years before the age of the earliest diagnosis in the family (but not before age 25 or after 40).”
There is so much information available to us, and I don’t want to overwhelm you, but I do want to encourage you to be self-aware. Look at your body and listen to your body. When you are in tune with its feeling and, you know when something feels out of sorts. God has given us intuition otherwise known as a gut feeling or our “sixth sense”. Your “gut” feeling is powerful. Don’t dismiss your gut but don’t put your life on it either.
Don’t dismiss your gut but don’t put your life on it either.
In 2003 I was doing my self-check and felt an unusual pebble-like lump that I had not noticed before. By the time I felt that tiny bump it had been in my body for several years! I share my journey in my book (updated version coming soon) which was one I never expected to travel in the prime of my life. I will tell you this, that it changed my life for the better but not without suffering some pretty rough days and months.
We all know someone who has experienced the challenge of this disease. And while the stats show that breast cancer is still on the top 5 of deadly diseases women die from, make no mistake, IT IS NOT A DEATH SENTENCE! I shout that at the top of my lungs with as much vibrato as I can muster. Once you determine that in your mind and your heart you are ready to fight. Game on! We need each other and cannot do it alone. More to come soon on what to do if you’ve been diagnosed.
Blessings!
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