Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is NATIONAL BREAST CANCER MONTH and we wanted to take the opportunity to spread the word to all our loved ones and friends. In particular, our message for this month is Self-Examination.

We relied on mammograms. Had we relied on regular self examinations, we would have caught this tumor before the mammogram did, because the mammogram did not catch it. Lobular cancers often do not show up on mammograms, but once we knew where the tumor was located, we couldn't believe how obvious it was.

Many women, including Lois, report not self-checking because they don't know what it is they are feeling for. What we learned regarding what to look is simply this: CHANGE. Without regular self-exams the change is undetectable. Then after a few months, the change is obvious; but no self-exams are happening, so now it is undetected - and growing!

We no longer trust mammograms and both our surgeon and chemotherapy oncologist seem to agree that in our case, we're not unreasonable.

Are you running regular self checks? Do.

Not sure about how to do a self-examination? Check out THIS SITE, and if you have a life partner (husband, etc.) have that person read the article too. It could SAVE YOUR LIFE.

Jim and Lois