Posted: 08 Sep 2009 12:20 PM PDT

I am now three years cancer free, and I need to periodically share my story in hopes of reaching other moms who face a similar ordeal. According to the most recent stats from the American Cancer Society (ACS), the chance of a woman having invasive breast cancer some time during her life is about 1 in 8. The chance of dying from breast cancer is about 1 in 35. Ladies, that means that when you're in your Little Gym class and you take a look around the circle of 8 women, one of you will likely get breast cancer. Please don't think it can't happen to you.

My cancer was detected through a routine mammogram. I never felt a lump or any pain at all. In fact, after the doctors knew exactly where the lump was, they still couldn't feel it. Believe me...they tried! Because my little lump was detected so early, my oncologist dubbed it an "excellent little cancer." As cancer goes, that was a nice diagnosis to have. It was excellent because it was found early was extremely susceptible to treatment.

I went through a few surgeries and a summer of daily radiation and have been in tip top shape ever since. There is little history of breast cancer in my family - it just happened and no one knows why.

So, to be the best parent you can be, you must take care of yourself. The ACS recommends that women without a family history of breast cancer get their first mammogram at 40. If you have a history, you need to talk to your doctor about the appropriate age to begin. A mammogram is a walk in the park compared to breast cancer treatment. Take a girlfriend, build in a lunch out at a real restaurant to celebrate your health.

Too Busy For a Mammogram

Posted: 08 Sep 2009 06:07 AM PDT

It was brought home to me this week how very important it is to get your mammogram when you turn 40. I didn't and now I am waiting on a biopsy for a mass that they found. I have had breast exams the last couple of years but - a mammogram caught something that neither I nor my Doctor did.

Early detection is the most important thing you can do for yourself to find and treat breast cancer, it is much easier to treat when found early. The chances that it can be removed and the spread stopped are so much greater when found early. This also means the cancer may not spread to other parts of your body. We know that remission and curing the cancer is much greater if found in the early stages, not to mention the surgery is much less invasive if you detect it early.

Excluding skin cancer breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Resources say that this type cancer is found in 1 out of 3 American women diagnosed with cancer. One in 9 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer by the age of 85. It is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women.

This is why it is so very important for you to do early screening and detection. Some women have abnormalities in their breasts, like scar tissue, fibroid tumors, and other irregular masses. There are many established risk factors for breast cancer, including family history, hormonal factors, irradiation of the chest area when young, personal history of malignancy, lifestyle, age, and proliferative breast disease.

If breast cancer is found during an early exam, it is usually confined in the breast area and small, not having time to grow larger and spread into other parts of your body. Age is the biggest risk in developing breast cancer. As you age you are more at risk that is why you should start having mammograms at age 40. Women that are younger than 50 usually are less inclined to be screened and don't realize the benefits of breast cancer screening. We tend to be busy and put off that screening and therefore the risk is extremely high in the spread to other parts of your body and harder to contain.

Another risk is family history. That is one of the first questions asked when you get screened. Women that have close relatives who have had this kind of cancer have an increased risk of being diagnosed themselves. The risk is greater if more than one close relative like mother, sister, or daughter has been diagnosed and if it occurred before menopause or if it was bilateral (both sides). This can increase your chances up to 8 times the normal risk. This means that people with close family that have been diagnosed with breast cancer can have up to an 80% greater chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer.

That is why if you are at risk in this category, or even if you are just 40 and over you should never, be too busy or put off your yearly mammogram.

What You Need to Know About Breast Cancer

Posted: 08 Sep 2009 05:38 AM PDT

Cells growing in a body and that captures a group of disease and increased out of control is called cancer. An original body part is named after cancer thus; breast cancer refers to the unpredictable growth and multiplication of cells that begins in the breast tissue. The group of cells that move in great speed may form a mass of extra tissue better known as tumors. Tumors are difficult to predict. It can either be very dangerous or not malignant. Harmful tumors enter and kill healthy body tissues. There is also a great risk of the cells within a tumor to separate itself and spread to various parts of a body.

Breast cancer has been the most common reason of cancer in women followed by the second most common reason of cancer death in women in the world. Breast cancers are determined by an unusual activity seen on a mammogram, a mass or consistency changes of the breast tissue and all these indications served as a warning sign of this deadly disease. Breast cancer awareness has since played an effective role towards educating the women today of the risk of breast cancer and ways to prevent it from happening. The increased number of women taking up the mammogram screening leads to an early detection of cancer has help tremendously towards increasing the rate of survival among women.

Breast cancers however are most common towards women in their forties and fifties. Research and studies has given many information related to the cause of breast cancer and doctors have reasons to believe that hormonal and genetic factors are breast cancer's major risk factors. Doctors from all over the world implemented and developed staging systems to mark the extent of a specific cancer spread so that necessary treatment options can be made prior to doctor's decision. The treatments for breast cancer take into consideration upon all factors including those that has spread to other part of the body. The available options for treatment includes surgery to remove the cancer alone, hormonal or radiation therapy as well as chemotherapy.

The fatal rate has since reduced by almost twenty percent over the past 10 years with many improvements conducted in diagnosis, treatment as well as screening and ongoing research is still being put into practice for a more advanced treatment and screening programs. The American Cancer Society has reported an estimation of one hundred and seventy thousand American women being diagnosed with breast cancer every year but fortunately, early detection with advanced treatments will definitely bring down the number of death in women with breast cancer. The American Cancer Society has also urge women between the ages of 35 and 40 years to have a standard mammogram schedule while women between 40 and 50 years old are advised to go for screening once in every two to three years. Women above 50 years of age should go for screening at least once a year.

Breast Cancer

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

“Breast Cancer Awareness - Moms Must Take Care of Themselves” plus 2 more

“Breast Cancer Awareness - Moms Must Take Care of Themselves” plus 2 more

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