October: Breast Awareness Month

 October: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

By now you may have come across at least once someone talking about breast cancer awareness.

You may know or may have heard of at least one person who had breast cancer.

When my daughter was growing up she had a friend in our neighborhood who was the daughter of one of my colleagues. Both girls graduated from high school and went to college in the Los Angeles area. They remained close. When they were 21 I got a message from my daughter that her friend found a lump in her breast while both her parents were on vacation in India. The girl stayed calm, decided not to worry her parents until they were back. She showed it to a doctor on her campus. An ultrasound and diagnostic mammogram was ordered. Both tests were suspicious for cancer. A biopsy was recommended. When the parents were back in the USA she told them what was going on. Despite being doctors themselves they drowned in worry. There was absolutely no family history of cancer on both sides. The girl was so young , not an age one would expect cancer ! 

The worst fears turned out true. Biopsy was positive for breast cancer. 

After the initial lumpectomy and lymph node dissection the rounds of radiation and chemotherapy began. The girl lost all her beautiful hair but not her faith, hope, grit and poise. She went through the whole jarring experience with tremendous courage. Not only that she was accepted in to the medical program at UCLA. Thereafter started a residency and now a fellowship. The treatment for her breast cancer was successful . She was in remission and with God’s grace remains in remission.

How I wish all stories that have touched my life had such a happy ending ? 

And those are the stories that motivate me to educate as many women to pay attention to their bodies,pay heed to their Dr’s advice and stay on top of preventive care.

Some of the common questions I get from my patients are :

When should I get a mammogram?

If you are 50 and above, get a mammogram. 

If you are above 40 but not yet 50, you can still get a mammogram if you wish. I will start harassing you to get it after you turn 50. 😃

What if I am less than 40?

Female breast tissue tends to be very dense and mammogram is not a reliable test to detect breast cancer in such cases.

I check my breasts regularly. I don’t want a mammogram.

It is a good practice to check your breasts with your hands regularly when you shower. A lot of breast cancers are discovered by the patients when they feel their breasts.

Yet a lot of breast cancers are NOT felt with the hands.

Vice versa, mammograms alone fail to detect some breast cancers. So even if you get a mammogram regularly ( every 1-2 years) don’t stop checking your breasts at least once a month.

Nobody in my family has breast cancer. Nobody in my family has any cancer. I don’t want to have a mammogram.

Several breast cancers arise from random mutations like the story I shared above. You may be the first one in your family to get it ! 

I don’t care if I die, I don’t want to know. I don’t want a mammogram.

Just because you didn’t do regular mammograms you can’t NOT KNOW you have cancer. It will make its appearance some day for you to know.

True, we all must die one day. But why suffer and die?  We may avoid dying with suffering if we nip a cancer in time before it invades the entire body. That’s the whole purpose of preventive care like mammograms, papsmears and colonoscopies. 

You can’t cure me if I get cancer !!

That may be true if you come too late with the cancer . If we find the cancer early we may actually cure you . That’s the whole reason for spreading awareness. Mammograms save lives with early detection of breast cancers.

The purpose of awareness is not to spread fear. But to make cancer fear you and stay away from you. 

I am 56 and I got my mammogram last month ! If you are above 50, did you gets yours within the last 2 years ? I most certainly hope you did 🙏🏼🙏🏼

If you did not, today is the best day to call and schedule one. In the future, schedule it in your birthday month. It is easy to remember that way.💕💕

A silk jamdani in baby pink.