Have You Checked Your Breasts Today?

Tomorrow I’m having a biopsy on my left breast and I’m absolutely petrified.
Not so much from the procedure itself (although I cringe when I think about that loooong needle they are going to insert) but from what the results may reveal.
You see I have a dense lump on my left breast that has remained the same size and shape for the last 2 years but during my recent follow-up mammogram (which I have been diligently getting every 6 months), the results indicated that the lump grew in size. Darn!
Having any sort of medical condition seems a lot more stressful nowadays with the wealth of information available at our fingertips. It’s at moments like these that I wish we were back in the 80s just to go back to a time where information was harder to obtain.
I think we’re all guilty of it. We go online, type up a symptom and we’re instantly overwhelmed by the countless possibilities, illnesses, and other scary scenarios that stare back at us from our screen. If we look long enough, we’ll find things that can make for nightmares while awake. And so, for me, this is how the anxiety begins. My mind goes into overdrive with all the what-ifs and the maybes.
So, what do I do? I stop and breathe. I stand up. I take a step back. I take a walk.

I remind myself what the doctor said during my last visit: “the majority of lumps are NOT breast cancer.” In fact, more than 80% of them end up being benign. And although I have yet to get my biopsy and await my results, I catch my breath again because I know that breast cancer, when found early, is highly treatable and curable.
And that is the point of this blog post.
As much as we are changing emotionally, physically and spiritually during our rocking 40s, so are our “girls.” They are going through their own metamorphosis and experiencing an array of changes both externally and internally – and certainly, after menopause – breasts become more fat with less glandular tissue, while cysts become more and more common. And unfortunately, breast cancer risk increases during this decade too, so biopsies are not a rarity during this decade.
Now more than ever, I urge you to be “breast-aware” at ALL times. Know your breasts. Be proactive. Be alert to any changes. Become proudly obsessed over them. Don’t delay, keep tabs on any changes like lumps, dimpled skin or swelling that develops. Schedule your breast screening exams, like yesterday. Remember, early detection is KEY.
Keeping your girls healthy and fit should be a lifelong proposition moving forward, after all, they have given us so much throughout our lives and epitomize all the magic of being a woman.

This is your turning point. Honor them for all they have been through, done for you, and represent. Start now.
Yours truly,
Cynthia