October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
About 360,000 Americans are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. About 316,950 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in the United States, except for skin cancers. It accounts for about 13 % (or 1 in 8) of all new female cancers each year. About 42,450 women will die of breast cancer. Breast cancer mainly occurs in middle aged and older women. The median age at the time of breast cancer diagnosis is 62. This means half the women who developed breast cancer are 62 years of age or younger at the time of diagnosis. A very small number of women diagnosed are younger than 45, according to the American Cancer Society.
Awareness of breast cancer is ongoing.
This is Shelly’s story: I am a single mother, and I was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2010. I was 47. My paternal grandmother and my mother had breast cancer. I have been getting mammograms since I was 18 and have performed regular self breast exams.
In March of 2010 during a self exam, I found a small lump in my left breast. I could move it, so I really was not concerned about it. I made an appointment with my OBGYN, who gave me a surgeon’s name and referred me for a mammogram and an ultrasound. The radiologist read the test as normal.
Through the summer, I could feel the lump through my clothes. I made an appointment with a surgeon in November who biopsied the tumor. A week later, the surgeon called me at work and said I had breast cancer.
I cannot tell you what she said afterwards. I remember saying, “You are saying I have breast cancer?” She said “yes.”
I was feeling devastated and in shock. I thought this happens to other people but not me. I had to go home ill.
When my co-workers asked “What’s the matter?” I could not get the words out. I was crying.
I finally said, “I have breast cancer.” I was diagnosed with two types of cancer: HER-2 positive and hormone receptor.
I had a lumpectomy. Chemotherapy and radiation were suggested after my surgery. My first thoughts were “I want it all because I want to live and raise my 13-year-old daughter Olivia.”
The worst part of having cancer was my emotions. I felt stalled and helpless. I lost my hair, which was a part of my beauty and the radiation burned my skin. Food tasted like cardboard.
I am now cancer free, and my hair is coming back. I am among the living ,and I have hope. I feel pretty again. I made it through to the other end, and I am stronger.
With all the pink ribbons and new pink items for breast cancer awareness, there are still women who are not getting their mammograms and not performing self breast exams. Early detection is still the best defense women have against the disease.
Digital mammography is an improvement in the defense of breast cancer. It has been shown to be better for women in their 40s or with dense breasts in premenopausal women. This is because the radiologist can manipulate the picture to magnify the areas of concern. It gives a clear picture of the breasts out to the edge of the skin line. It is better than film/screen mammography because it can find up to approximately 28% more breast cancers at an early age. Digital mammography has a lower radiation dose and is in place at many hospitals and imaging centers.
Love can’t cure cancer. The earlier breast cancer is detected, the more likely treatment can be curable. A good read is “Promise Me,” a memoir by Nancy G. Brink, the founder and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the cure.
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