Oct. is Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Don't become a Statistic!

Both myself & mother have this in our health history. While all my biopsies have returned normal & not the most enjoyable experience I've been through (repeatedly, I'm one of those dense breast candidates), my Mother was not so lucky. Though it cost her her left breast. While the procedure was considered successful, complications did in the end cost her life- at the age of 53. The times back then were not where a woman was comfortable expressing concerns about problems with their bodies & she had waited until the growth had grown to the size of a Soft Ball. How she hid it for so long & my Father never bringing attention to it, I'll never know. Plus the fact that we as a family did not have Health Insurance added to her burden. We were poor & resources available for Free Health Care in a rural town in AR were limited.

The surgery was costly, painful & I looking back now, must have been terribly hard on us financially & emotionally for both her & my Dad. No in hospital stay was allowed without the proper insurance, no proper follow-up care, radiation or support as we know it today. That her life was cut short in regards to her care after this surgery has still lingered all these years with me, I was too young & ignorant to help her. She died a short 3 months from complications of brain swelling & pneumonia.

I urge everyone both men & women to know how to perform a monthly exam & follow through with any abnormalities with their health care provider. You can find the latest information @ http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/breast