Breast Cancer Awareness: self-exams essential in early detection

Maryann Castronovo is an SDNN columnist.

Have you felt your boobies lately? I know, cheap way to get your attention. But seriously, have you? I’m talking to the dudes out there, too.  It’s October, and it is also National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. A month dedicated to creating awareness and, hopefully, early detection of breast cancer.

Surely you don’t spend every day probing yourself. I never did. But when I had to, because my sister had just been diagnosed with breast cancer, I found something.

I felt so awkward lifting my shirt and going to second base with myself. Then I bit the bullet and did and it went like this:  soft, soft, soft, wow, kind of harder…that’s weird. It felt like a ball in my breast tissue. I kept rubbing and circling. Hmm. I didn’t feel any pain, I just felt hardness. Taking that moment saved my life.

So go on, just do it. Do a self-exam. You are not too young, too old or too male. Men get breast cancer, too. The American Cancer Society predicts that approximately 1,910 cases of breast cancer in men will be diagnosed in 2009. You are not a girly-man if you rub your breasts. This only takes a minute and it can save your life.

The American Cancer Society states that breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer for US women. One out of eight women who live to the age of 85 will develop breast cancer, a risk that is up from one in 14 in 1960. There will be over 200,000 newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer this year. This is serious, people.

I didn’t think it could happen to me. I was 37 years old. Between 2004 and 2005, 95 percent of new cases of breast cancer were among women over 40-years-old. But the age median is getting younger. It is not uncommon to get breast cancer under 40.  And the younger you are, the more likely your cancer will be swift, so self tests are highly recommended on a monthly basis.  That is where the early detection starts.

Related: Handling breast cancer with grace

Mammograms are suggested to begin at age 40 but my personal recommendation is getting a baseline mammogram earlier. It’s a great investment in your future. If there is any cancer in your family, breast or otherwise, you’ve got a great case for your insurance company to pay for it. Ask for it! The average price of a mammogram is anywhere from $80 to $120. If you cannot afford it, there are many breast cancer organizations that will help you get one.

You can call the National Cancer Institute at 1-800-4-CANCER to locate your local FDA-certified mammography facility. You can also call the local chapter of the American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345 to get information on low-cost or free mammography programs. If you are unable to pay for a mammogram, most mammography facilities will be willing to work out a payment plan.

You have one body that will serve you your whole life, why not know exactly what is going on in there? If I hadn’t felt myself that night and really concentrated, I would not be here today.

I used to think I was invincible. Oh, it’s just a cold, or it’s just a sore muscle, I’ll be fine. But pain in my body is not fine anymore. As I get older, and as we all get older, pain means something, and it’s up to us to figure out what it is before it gets worse.

The thing about cancer is that you can’t really feel the pain until it is worse. So be proactive. Be your own advocate. Feel your bodies! Pay attention to aches, pains, and I mean this in the nicest possible way, stool color.

Listen to what your body is telling you.

Do a self-test.

Get a physical.

Lower your cholesterol.

Exercise.

Eat right using less meat and more vegetables.

Get the right amount of sleep.

Manage your stress.

Early detection can save your life. It did mine.

Maryann Castronovo is an SDNN columnist.  She can be reached at raisingmommy@aol.com.

Tags: American Cancer Society, breast cancer, early detection, mammogram, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, National Cancer Institute, SDNN, self-exam

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 at 5:38 pm and is filed under Health, Maryann Castronovo . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.