CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq – It can happen to you. It can happen to your mother, daughter or sister. It can even happen to your father, son or brother. I would know. My grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Breast Cancer Awareness month was founded in 1985 by a manufacturer of breast cancer drugs with the goal of promoting mammography as the most effective way to fight breast cancer.
In October 1983, the Race for the Cure was held for the first time in Dallas with 800 participants. In 2002 participation reached 1.3 million and was held in more than 100 U.S. cities. Other nations of the world also began participating including Australia, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Pink ribbons were originally established to represent breast cancer awareness in 1993, but the Susan G. Koman Foundation used the ribbons in 1991 to hand out to participants in the New York City race for breast cancer survivors.
Breast cancer is a serious issue, especially for women. According to the World Health Organization, in 2005 it was the second most common type of cancer following lung cancer and the fifth most common cause of cancer death in the world.
The first symptom of breast cancer is usually a lump in the breast that feels different than the surrounding tissue. According to The Merck Manual of Medical Information, more than 80 percent of breast cancer cases are discovered when a woman feels a lump and are usually confirmed by a mammogram. Other symptoms that may indicate breast cancer are changes in breast size or shape, skin dimpling, nipple inversion or single-nipple discharge.
I encourage all women and even men to be aware of any changes in your breasts. Breast self-exams are a great tool in identifying lumps and noticing these changes. Mammograms are also an important tool in breast cancer identification. Research from a 2009 study in BMC Medical Informatics and Decision-Making indicates that repeated mammograms beginning at the age of 50 save 1.8 lives in every 1,000 women screened in the course of 15 years .
While mammograms are an important tool to save lives, they are not 100 percent effective. The estimated number of cancers missed by this procedure is 10 to 30 percent. I feel it’s still important to do what you can to identify breast cancer. There is no way to always recognize it, but everyone should do their part in trying to reduce these cases, even if it’s just talking with someone about breast self-exams. You never know who is going to be effected. I never thought my grandmother, who is healthy as a horse and more active than a lot of people I know that are half her age, would be diagnosed.
In case you’re wondering, my grandmother had a mastectomy and her pathology report came back negative for any more cancer. It was quite a scare for us, but she is nearly back to her normal self.
