Breast Cancer Awareness Month (Breast Cancer Relief)

Member Name: beckee

Product:	Breast Cancer Relief
Date:	06/10/01 (73 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: May save your life

Disadvantages: None

Did you know that one in three people is likely to get cancer? Did you know that one in eleven women will get breast cancer? To help you realise just how many women that is think of where you work, or where you live. How many women are there in your department/housing estate/village? Now work out how many women are likely to get breast cancer on the 1 in 11 ratio... Scary stuff...
Did you realise that men can and do get breast cancer too? That doesn't occur to a lot of people.

I suppose all I want to say really is PLEASE make sure you check for lumps/discharges/dimples etc that weren't there before. If you're not sure of what to look for you can quite easily get a leaflet from the doctors surgery or a clinic.

My mum had breast cancer. She found a lump, went straight to the doctor, had a mammogram, had a biopsy all within a few short weeks. She ended up having to have a mastectomy, so that just goes to show that it can be quick and painless, she really wasn't worried and thought it was just a cyst. These things can't be left, not even for a week. Tomorrow never really comes does it?

I had a lump removed about six weeks after my mums mastectomy. I knew it was benign, in fact it was one of the few lumps that was least likely to develop into cancer, but I decided that it wasn't worth the risk.

Most doctors will be likely to be able to tell whether a lump is dangerous or not just by feeling it, checking whether or not it's hard or squishy, static or "floating", and there's certainly no need to be embarrassed about it. It would be more embarrassing to have to tell your family you're going to die because you couldn't be bothered/couldn't face the doctor for a few minutes...

If they are worried at all, or just not sure, you may be sent for an ultrasound or mammogram, dependent on your age. You may also have a needle biopsy.

An ultrasound is completely
painless, a mammography is apparently uncomfortable, but certainly bearable nonetheless.

A needle biopsy is fairly painless, and gives you results fairly quickly, without leaving a scar, it's certainly not as terrifying as losing your life. A long needle is inserted into the lump and a small amount of fluid is extracted for examination.

A lumpectomy (removing the lump, the same as I had), is done under a local anasthetic, it's odd, to say the least, but obviously not painful, well, not at the time! It's only a small incision, lasts really only a few minutes, and it's over.

There really is nothing to be scared of, or worried about. If you are found to have cancer then the treatment rate is very high for catching it early. It really does make all the difference to do something straight away.

I suppose that's it really. Just make sure you always check at the same time every month, and remember that most lumps and bumps are just those dreaded hormones setting out to cause disruption in our otherwise fairly calm lives!

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