Breast Cancer, Not Just For Women
According to the American Cancer Society, eight out of ten women
will be diagnosed with Breast Cancer. And men are not exempt. It
affects more of us then we can ever imagine. Since there had
been no history in my maternal family line of breast cancer, I
felt I was at a very small to no risk. Of course, it would never
happen to me. On my father's side of the family, there were two
sisters with breast cancer, one in her late forties and again in
her seventies and the other in her seventies when they were
diagnosed.
Faithfully, I went for my yearly exams to my ob/gyn. Never had I
had any lumps in my breasts during an exam. Although I was in my
mid-forties, I had not yet had a mammogram. My list of reasons
for not doing it and my excuses were probably just like yours if
you haven't done it either. My doctor had advised upon getting
one; but I didn't sense any urgency. I had just gone through
pregnancy and nursing.
Considerably late in life, I gave birth to my son. I was busy
being a new Mom, breast-feeding and basking in the glory of my
little miracle. Fortunately, my pregnancy was fairly easy and I
had a very healthy baby in spite of my age. Jason was 7 lbs. 8
oz. and 21