October is coming to an end and in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness I have patronized BOB’s who gave me the opportunity to recognize the women I know that are currently struggling or have survived Breast Cancer and to honor those who have unfortunately loss their battle to Breast Cancer.
To close out breast cancer awareness month I decided to provide some important information regarding it’s detection. According to breastcancer.org about 1 in 8 U.S. women (about 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. In 2016, an estimated 246,660 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 61,000 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer. Therefore it is important to continue to raise awareness and knowledge regarding breast cancer.
I want to give a shout out to my cousin Joi who helped raise awareness and donations for the fight against Breast Cancer when she supported this year’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign. She along with family and friends walked along Hart Plaza on October 8th to “sock it” to breast cancer.
The monthly Breast Self Examination is an important step that all women over the age of 20 should start conducting. BSEs should be performed once a month after your menstrual period, when breasts aren’t tender or swollen. If you’re not always regular, do it on the same day every month. You can find The Five Steps of a Breast Self-Exam in the following link
http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/testing/types/self_exam/bse_steps
A mammogram is an x-ray of the breast. A mammogram can often find or detect breast cancer early, when it’s small and even before a lump can be felt. This is when it’s easiest to treat. For many years, the American Cancer Society (ACS) recommended annual mammograms starting at age 40, but in October 2015, they issued new recommendations that moved in the direction of those of the medical experts. They now recommend that women at average risk of breast cancer start mammography at 45, that they undergo annual mammograms from 45-54, and continue to undergo mammography every other year after that.
Please listen to my dear friend Dr. Stephanie Burrage encourage women to begin Queendom Living and in this video encourage them to have a mammogram. More information about mammograms can be found in the link below.
Additionally there are some blood tests that are important for breast cancer detection and monitoring. A Complete blood count (CBC) will be done to measure your red blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC) and platelets. A liver function test might be needed to see how well your liver is working. CEA blood test is used for a variety of reasons like to test for possible cancer, measure the effectiveness of cancer treatment, catch an early recurrence and determine possible metastasis. The BRCA gene test is a blood test that uses DNA analysis to identify harmful changes (mutations) in either one of the two breast cancer susceptibility genes — BRCA1 and BRCA2. Women who have inherited mutations in these genes are at an increased risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer compared with the general population.
Having a degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences I understand the importance of laboratory testing and the benefits it has by providing your medical physician important information for detection and treatment of this disease. So don’t be afraid of a little poke, it could save your life.
Like Stephanie questioned, “Do you love yourself?” If you do take the time to do a monthly Breast Self Examination, schedule your mammogram and schedule an annual physical examination with blood tests. Ladies let’s take care of ourselves, let’s “sock it” to breast cancer and more than anything else let’s love ourselves.