Monday, November 24, 2014

LAST DAY OF RADIATION!  Hooray!  I was going to mention a few things in my last post, but I forgot.

Another one of those beautiful things I have seen traveling back and forth occurred on Veteran's Day.  My kids always have programs at their school to honor the veterans.  I knew I wouldn't be able to go to all of them because of my radiation appointment, but I wanted to go to what I could, for as long as I could.  I went to one program, but had to leave early.  It was a cold day; the first day we really had snow on the ground.  Only 5 minutes after leaving the program, I saw a bald eagle perched on a power pole.  It was beautiful, and seemed to be very fitting for that day.

On a more serious note, I wanted to mention a few things.  If I've mentioned them earlier, sorry.  Blame chemo for my forgetfulness.  :-)

There are a lot of things that we believe about breast cancer that are myths.  I want to get the word out about that!  First of all, there are a lot of different types of breast cancer, and the symptoms can vary.  Some can be diagnosed via mammogram, and others can't.  Add to this complex mix the fact that healthy breast tissue can be very dense.  All of this can make finding and diagnosing pretty tricky.

My early "symptoms" were not things that we think of as being symptoms.  I couldn't feel a lump.  But I did notice that breast was tender a lot of the time, even when the other one wasn't.  I didn't worry about it because A. I couldn't feel a lump, and B. I had read that breast lumps aren't usually tender.  In hindsight, I catch the word "usually."  But, please learn from me----even though they usually aren't painful, they can be.

Secondly, I have a family history of a lot of other cancers, but no breast cancer history.  Therefore, I couldn't have breast cancer, could I?  Wrong.  Now I know that 80-85% of all women that have breast cancer have no breast cancer history.  This can happen to any woman (and men, too), regardless of a history of breast cancer.  If you do have a history, your risk is even higher.

Thirdly, I'm too young to have breast cancer.  Wrong again.  I can't remember the exact ages, but the most common age group for breast cancer is about 50-60 (I say that pretty loosely, because I can't remember the exact age breakdowns.)  Now I catch the word "most."  That doesn't mean "all."  Since being diagnosed, I have heard of several women that have had breast cancer in their 30's.  Eric, one of the radiation therapy guys, told me that they had one patient that was 24.  She found a lump when showering.  I have also recently read that in recent years, there has been an increase in the number of young (being defined as 30-something) women being diagnosed with aggressive breast cancers.  They don't know the reason.

I guess from my perspective, what I want others to learn from this experience is this:  Do your exams.  If you miss one, do it when you remember.  Know what your breasts look like in the mirror, and what they feel like.  If something changes---looks or feels different---keep an eye on it.  If it doesn't go back to "normal" within a week or two, go in and just have it checked out.  Chances are good that you will be "wasting your money."  But, go check it out.  If it ends up being something bad, the earlier you catch it, the better.