Breast Cancer - The Indiscriminate Disease

Last year, in Canada alone, there were 23,400 cases of breast cancer in women, and 190 cases in men. Out of those cases in women, 5100 women lost the fight. Over a lifetime, 1 out of every 9 women in Canada will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her life, and 1 in every 29 will die. Three very close friends of mine have been diagnosed with breast cancer in the last eighteen months, two of whom were at deaths door for six months, and beat the odds. My other friend was not so lucky, and lost her short but fierce battle. I was racked with grief and fear. 1 in 3, those were terrifying statistics.

I had a scare myself, about five years back. I was 25 years old, and discovered a rather large lump in my left breast. It was about the size of a mandarin, very hard and quite painful. After a night of hiding out in my apartment, terrified of the possibility of some doctor uttering the "C" to me, I decided that time was of the essence, and if I had to do battle with cancer, I was going to make the first move. In the wee hours of morning, I marched myself to the emergency room and had a mammogram. In the end, it ended up being a benign cyst, and after two months of careful monitoring, it went away on its own. But false alarm or not, it woke me up to some scary possibilities.

The most frightening thing about breast cancer is that it can be a silent killer. You could be running a marathon and have no idea. Some visual symptoms can include things like a breast changing shape, dimpling or puckering of the breast, a thickening of the skin, inverted nipples, nipple discharge and/or a swollen lymph node under the arm.

After my scare, I wanted to know and understand what my risks are, and what are my chances? My doctor walked me through my family history. There were no incidences of breast cancer in the family, but there were incidences of ovarian cancer, plus I had thicker than usual breast tissue which was also a factor I would forever need to consider in terms of detection. I also actively take the birth control pill which increases my risk slightly. So now I was officially on breast cancer's radar. Now what!

Until the point that I had my first mammography, I had always been told that I was far too young to be screened, and was not at risk. I soon realized that I had never been asked the right questions, and I would need to not only take charge of my body, but I would need to start monitoring any changes in my body, on a regular basis.  My three girlfriends, when diagnosed, were all under the age of 30, two of whom had absolutely no risk factors in their medical history. So what this confirmed for me, is that breast cancer doesn't discriminate who it makes ill. Young, old, risk, no apparent risk, it could happen to any of us, at almost any time in our lives. Do yourself a favour, and don't wait to be screened. If a doctor tells you you're too young, get a second opinion. Take control of your life, your body and your health, and do your self-breast exams every single month. Don't wait for death to come knocking at your door.