Saturday, November 21, 2009

“Life After Breast Cancer” plus 4 more

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“Life After Breast Cancer” plus 4 more

Life After Breast Cancer

Posted: 20 Nov 2009 02:33 PM PST

After being diagnosed with breast cancer no matter what treatment you subsequently undergo, looking after yourself is vital. However, experience has shown that no matter how busy or how many demands are placed upon your time, ways can be found to meet your needs.

Asking for help is not easy, but you can draw upon support and arm yourself with a group of friends, neighbors and colleagues, not forgetting family, who will respond. There are many societies manned mainly by survivors of breast cancer, ready to help you. Lists of these organisations are often available at your hospital or clinic &/or care workers' offices.

Don't be afraid to speak plainly about your illness to your partner and/or offspring - they will be able to see through any misinformation and may resent such an approach.

Ask your doctor about the various treatments available and the side effects and, if possible, the prognosis, - he will support you all he can.

Comfort can be gained by meeting patients with similar symptoms who have survived. You will perhaps form your own circle - this has found to be more positive than any available literature.

You are now moving on with the rest of your life. You've had all the necessary treatments and the long road to recovery lies ahead. It will take months, possibly years to feel confident again, BUT CONFIDENCE WILL COME!

Will it recur: - don't go down this road but if it persists, your answer is "I'll battle that problem should it arise". Always think positively. It is very very important to be happy and not dwell on the 'maybes'. Surround yourself with friends and loved ones, have dinner parties and outings where breast cancer is not the main topic of conversation. Perhaps you could become a counsellor for other like patients who have lived with the traumas associated with this disease. If you take other peoples' worries on board they tend to diminish your own.

Finally you will constantly say to yourself "will I die"? The good news is most women do not die from breast cancer and no two conditions are the same so they cannot be compared. If your "lump" has been detected early the prognosis is good. Just enjoy life and try to plan ahead for a fruitful and enjoyable future. Also always remember research into forms of cancer is continuous and rapidly making progress. New discoveries using Stem Cell Research is remarkable and although still in its infancy is striding ahead and accomplishing astonishing results.

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Incidence of Breast Cancer in Minorities

Posted: 20 Nov 2009 02:02 PM PST

Several research findings seem to conclude that there are disparities in health care based on ethnicity of the patients. Now, new reports come out with the indication that minority women are not getting their mammograms done as regularly as desired. Since they also face a higher risk of aggressive breast cancer, this is not a problem that should be treated lightly.

Mammograms can easily be done by women across all socioeconomic strata, but minority women seem to be lagging behind in getting screened though they are at an increased risk for breast cancer. Researchers are keen on finding the answer to the vexing issue of why minority women are more susceptible to aggressive and advanced breast cancer in spite of having relatively easy access to screening facilities like mammograms.

When breast cancer is detected early, the chances of a complete cure are very high. This is why it is so important for all women to undergo regular mammograms, so that any suspicious lump or cell change may be detected as early as possible and treated.

Though some women do take their health seriously and get regular screening and check ups done, others are not so cautious and tend to take their health for granted. Several African American women fall into the latter category when it comes to screening and detection of Breast Cancer. When screening is not done at the right time and with regularity, the chances of early detection are drastically reduced. Add to it the fact that African American women are more at risk for more aggressive types of tumors, and therefore even when the diagnosis is made early enough, the tumor develops more aggressively and at a much faster rate.

This makes it especially important for African American women to take their mammograms seriously. Researchers suggest that it is better to start routine screening at 35 years of age rather than wait till 40 because of the higher risk prevalent in the population.

Research conducted seems to clearly indicate that African American women are falling short of getting their routine mammograms, and they are less likely to be screened. Researchers are digging deep into finding out why there is less likelihood of African American women getting screened with mammograms. Are physicians not ordering them or are the women not getting to the physicians at all?

The answer seems to be a combination of all the factors including doctors, other healthcare professionals and lack of awareness of the patients themselves. Sometimes women tend to neglect their health unless the community actively reaches out to them and reminds them of the importance of taking care of themselves.

Free screening clinics, concerted effort by churches and communities, and Medicaid are required to overcome the unfortunate situation of minority women not taking adequate precautions about their health.

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All You Need to Know About Breast Cancer

Posted: 20 Nov 2009 12:32 PM PST

The disease and its causes. Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer found among women, accounting for 25% of all the cancers in women. It occurs at all ages but is most common between the ages of 45 and 49. The cause is unknown. However, there always have been some questions about the relationship of a female hormone called estrogen to cancer, when estrogen is used in treating pre-menopausal women. Although this relationship is not firmly established, most doctors now think it best to avoid the use of estrogen in younger patients who have a family history of breast cancer.

Symptoms. There are few early symptoms. The first is usually a painless lump in the breast found accidentally or on routine examination. The size may vary but generally it is small and quite hard, and it may be attached to the skin. The nipples may be sore or there may be some discharge from them. Occasionally the veins in the skin over the tumor become quite prominent. The skin becomes tight and resembles an orange in texture.

As growth gets larger, there may be swelling of the upper arm on the side involved, chest pain, and pain in the armpit with noticeable swelling in the area. Finally, there is weakness, weight loss, and general symptoms of illness.

Complications. Complications are the same as for any malignancy - when the cancer spreads to other organs, there is generalized deterioration and eventual death.

Prevention. Routine breast examination by a trained observer is the only effective means of preventing the deadly progression of this illness. Any breast lump or swelling should be investigated, since there is no way of distinguishing a benign tumor from a malignant one in the early stages. In women over 30, the investigation should probably be done surgically. There is no known means other than biopsy (examination of a piece of tissue removed from the breast) to establish a certain diagnosis. Special X ray studies have been found helpful as a diagnostic aid. If neglected, the malignant lump can spread to the point when little can be done. It is far better to remove a benign mass (one that will not have a cancerous growth) than to take the chance of allowing a malignant one to develop beyond the early stage.

Once the diagnosis of cancer is established by means of a biopsy, all suspicious areas and beyond are promptly remove surgically. Early diagnosis and therapy offer the only hope of eliminating this disease.

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Women's Issue - Breast Cancer

Posted: 20 Nov 2009 07:14 AM PST

Cancer is a disease that is considered fatal killer in the world. This is for the reason that a significant number of people have been affected and as of present time, there is still no cure discovered for several types of cancer known. Two of the cancers that kill women are breast cancer and cervical cancer. However like other types of cancers, these two can be treated when known at an early stage.

Contrary to what most women believe, annual breast check up by clinically observing any lump that may have formed into the breasts does not guarantee that you are 100% cancer free. Breast cancer symptoms are not initially manifested by feeling a lump on the breasts. It is not always the lump that speaks itself loudly but can be the gradual silent killer that weakens the body. This is because not all breast cancers can show symptoms and in some cases would manifest its symptoms when it is on Stage 4 or when the condition is already severe.

There are various types of cancers of the breasts and have varying degree of severity.

- Ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS, is the most common kind of non-invasive cancer of the breast

- Lobular carcinoma in situ, or LCIS, is generally considered to be a pre-cancerous condition

- Invasive ductal carcinoma, or IDC, accounts for about 80% of all breast cancers

- Invasive lobular carcinoma, or ILC, accounts for about 10%-15% of all breast cancers

- Inflammatory cancer of the breast is a very serious, aggressive form in its kind that accounts for about 1% to 5% of breast cancers in the U.S. and is not defined by a lump and is not found by an average mammogram.

It is important that you are able to monitor breast cancer's progress when it is discovered and after it has been treated. There is a possibility of recurrence and spread (metastasis) of cancer after treatment or removal.

Treatment for cancer of the breast can be done by hormone therapy, radiation, chemotherapy or surgery when it has spread to a large tissue area.

To monitor the possibility of cancer in women, annual clinical check up may be helpful. Moreover, as an added caution, women over 40 should have a yearly mammogram especially when you have a family history of cancers.

Breast cancer can be treated or removed when discovered at an early stage. Make an annual visit to your physician and make sure that you have a healthy body.

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Breast Pain After Breast Cancer Surgery Or Radiation Therapy - Nurse's Report

Posted: 20 Nov 2009 07:13 AM PST

If you're currently a breast cancer patient or survivor as I am you may be interested in a new study. If you're scheduled for or you've had any kind of breast radiation treatment or breast cancer surgery including radiation therapy, axillary lymph node dissection (lymph node removal), and/or breast conserving surgery, you may be interested in knowing about the recent study done by Danish scientists regarding breast pain.

The study was revealing and confirms what many women with breast cancer who've had surgery or other breast procedures think. The pain they're having in their breast or breasts is directly related to the treatment, therapy or surgery they had even if it occurs two years later.

The scientists were able to confirm that at least half of 3000 women in the study had experienced this pain. It's not likely that the women were aware they would be experiencing this post-radiation therapy or post-surgical pain or at least not two years later.

Following surgery, the average length of time when the pain started, was about two years. The pain was moderate to severe and only one in five of the women had told her doctor about it.

In breast cancer patients or survivors not in the study, the likelihood of reporting this breast pain to their doctors, went up if they were younger women or if they had several breast procedures, specifically radiation therapy, axillary lymph node dissection and/or surgery to conserve the breasts. It's not known how many women have never reported this pain not realizing there may be a connection.

It's already known that lymphedema can occur following lymph node dissection and women can feel a golf-ball size or tennis-ball size lump in their armpit, causing pain and discomfort ongoing.

There is a nerve that runs under the arm that may have been damaged while doing some of these breast cancer therapies, procedures or surgeries, in turn causing the breast pain later.

Doctors who know about the study may try to find ways to avoid damaging these nerves however there may be doctors and surgeons who aren't aware of this new study. If you're scheduled for any type of breast cancer surgery or radiation therapy, you may want to discuss this study with your doctor to make sure he or she is aware of it. You may be able to save yourself a lot of breast pain down the road. Also, many women today find they have more options and are choosing alternative treatments or methods for a more natural route to curing breast cancer, as I did, many years ago.

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