National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
By: Ginger | October 02, 2009 | Category: Health
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I have several friends whose mothers have had breast cancer. My friends witnessed their mothers go through surgeries and cancer treatment therapies, so they are familiar with the disease. Because a woman's risk of breast cancer is higher if her mother, sister, or daughter had breast cancer, my friends pay special attention to their own breast health.
Early detection with regular mammograms and manual breast self-examinations, can increase survival rates. Women who do not have a family history of breast cancer should also have a mammogram and clinical breast examination by a health care provider every year. Treatments can be most successful and chances of survival are best when breast cancer is found at the earliest opportunity.
I have a little ritual I perform when I go to get my mammogram. I ask the technician, on a scale of 1 to 10, what kind of day she is having. If she responds with a 6 or lower, I joke with her that she needs to go have a strawberry margarita before putting me in the pincher (not the technical name for the thing, but you know what I'm talking about). If she responds with a 9 or 10, I joke with her that I am going to have to reschedule because she is a little too happy and might be a little overzealous in her job. It might sound dumb, but this little ice breaker helps me relax and it makes the experience... I won't say pleasant, how about, not so bad?
There are many resources out there that are useful, here are just a few that I was able to locate:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is featuring information on breast cancer awareness. The site also presents breast cancer statistics, information on breast cancer screening, and breast cancer publications.
- National Cancer Institute's section on breast cancer contains lots of valuable information, including information on: treatments, male breast cancer, and clinical trials. It also features "What You Need to Know About Breast Cancer" in both English and En Espańol.
- The MedlinePlus page has a good section on diagnosis/symptoms and a multimedia and cool tools section that has photos, tutorials, and videos.
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