October is the month dedicated to making ourselves more aware of Breast Cancer and it is also the month that breast cancer has affected the life of someone very close to me. Just yesterday one of my best friends got the terrible news that her mother was diagnosed with an agressive form of breast cancer. Please keep her and her family in your prayers this month as they fight this thing together and take the steps you need to to keep yourself cancer free.
From the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month's website:
While you can't control the age at which breast cancer strikes, you can take steps to up your odds of diagnosing it early, which in turn ups your odds of beating it. For starters, if you have a family history of the disease, begin screening 10 years earlier than the age at which your relative was diagnosed, says Shockney. If possible, go to a facility that offers digital mammography, which has higher detection rates than standard mammography in women under age 50, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). If you have a strong family history of the disease -- two or more first-degree family members, like your mom or sister, have been diagnosed -- ask your doctor about more specific diagnostic tests like BRCA gene testing, which looks for hereditary gene mutations that are linked with breast cancer. And know that even if you don't have breast cancer in your immediate family, you may still be at risk if you have relatives with hormone-driven cancers like prostate or ovarian cancer, which are also linked to BRCA gene mutations.
Regardless of your age or family history, have an annual clinical breast exam and do a monthly self-exam. If you do find a lump, don't panic -- about 80 percent of biopsied breast lumps are benign. But do call your ob/gyn right away to discuss further testing. And if he says you're too young to worry, tell him you're too young not to -- and find another doctor.
http://www.redbookmag.com/your/who-gets-breast-cancer
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