Today I sat in a cushy waiting room, filled with tea and cookies and baskets with pink ribbons.
Unexpectedly I found myself in a robe with women who seemed older, but probably were not.
I waited my turn for what I was later told was ‘what us big girls do’ and silently told myself it was nothing.
It was nothing.
But for many it’s something.
The woman next to me maybe. Or the one that went in after.
I left with instructions on how to care for a swollen duct and relief. They left with tears and referrals.
According to the American Cancer Society, about 1.3 million women will be diagnosed with breast cancer annually. Worldwide about 465,000 will die from the disease.
Consider this your reminder to get a mammogram.
Okay, okay, okay, I’m going! I’ve had a sore boob for a week. At first I thought, “oh, it just feels like a plugged duct, it’ll go away soon,” but then I stopped and realized I haven’t been nursing a child for most of the past year. Uh… so, yeah. Must get that checked out, and soon.
I’m so happy to hear that your diagnosis was just a swollen duct.
My wife took her mother to her first chemo treatment. She is in stage three. Her double mastectomy was a little over a month ago. My wife is shocked and (obviously) very concerned. Her mother is still relatively young and is looking at 6 months of chemo followed by radiation. And, yes, my wife got checked out. Thanks for the reminder. It could save a life. My mother-in-law has a chance now. She wouldn’t if she hadn’t gone to get checked out when she got concerned.
Even breastfeeders should be checked, mamas! Two friends just went thru probs. One benign, and one just had her mastectomy in early December and had to wean to start Chemo. (see an item I make in her honor and her post mastectomy pic in my web page). In 2006, two young (30s) breastfeeding sisters I knew online died in the same year from breast cancer.
Yet, sigh, I’ve never been checked. I’m not quite 33, so I don’t think it’s covered by insurance yet. I’ll find out this year. Both mom and maternal grandma had benign lumps in their breast, but both have had devastating cancers elsewhere since, so I expect somewhere down the line, breast or elsewhere, I’ll have the same. Scary proposition.
So glad to hear that everything is fine with you. And thank you for this very important reminder. It’s so easy to be lax about something so scary.
Touchy subject for some, good post nonetheless, everyone should be responsible for their own well being.
I’ve had that scare and I don’t care to ever have it again. I had my first mammogram at 22, as I had a lump (which turned out to be 5 lump on the ultrasound). I went on to have a few biopsies, which came back fine. However, it puts so much in perspective for me. I do an exam every month and I still go to my breat surgeon every 6 months.
As far as breastfeeding goes, it kind of makes a mammogram hilarious, as I shot milk out when they smashed me. The tech didn’t seem too impressed, but I thought it was great!
Well…it seems I spoke too soon. I get to call a breast specialist tomorrow. oh…the joy. …/not
Oh Erin….I hope it’s all okay. I’ve done the specialist thing and it’s nothing, but I hope yours is the same. Just think of it as even more groping 🙂
Sensitive topic. Nice post.