Breast Cancer Rant

I don't usually drone on and on about things like Cancer. I don't wear those pink pens or have a pink magnet on my car or walk in the Relay for Life. But I see things in my job that scare me just the same and it's important to me to remind those I care about that it is so careful to take care of yourselves.

A woman’s chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer in the United State is:

from ages 30 to 39. . .0.44 percent (often expressed as "1 in 229")
from ages 40 to 49. . .1.46 percent (often expressed as "1 in 68")
from ages 50 to 59. . .2.73 percent (often expressed as "1 in 37 ")
from ages 60 to 69. . .3.82 percent (often expressed as "1 in 26 ")

Most breast cancers occur in women over the age of 50. The number of cases is especially high for women over age 60. Breast cancer is relatively uncommon in women under age 40. The NCI fact sheet Probability of Breast Cancer in American Women provides more information about lifetime risk. This fact sheet is available at http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Detection/probability-breast-cancer on the Internet.

Those stats are staggering. Think about the population of the town you live in and then calculate how many women in their 30's are probably being diagnosed with breast cancer every year. We think that because we are under 40 or because our mothers haven't had breast cancer that we are probably safe. But the statistics make me think we are not as safe as we would like to think.

1) Do your self breast exams if nothing more, do it when you are in the shower. They say that women rarely find a lump that way (normally they find them on a mammogram) but what women do notice is breast tenderness that is not around your period, nipple discharge, skin thickening, a change in density in the breast, or sometimes a lump.

2) Get your annual paps and make sure your doctor does a clinical breast exam with the pelvic exam.

3) Women over 40 should have a mammogram every 1-2 years, preferrably every year.

4) Women who have a higher risk should talk to their doctor about having a mammogram before age 40.

5) Risk factors such as personal history of breast cancer, family history of breast cancer, long-term use of hormonal therapy (such as hormones after menopause or hysterectomy) etc. might mean that your doctor would want you to have a mammogram before you turn 40.

6) Studies show the more a woman drinks, the higher risk.

7) Physically innactive women have a higher risk.

8) Overweight women have a higher risk.

9) Women who had their first child after 30 or who never had a child are at a greater risk.

10) Women who started their periods before age twelve may have a higher risk.

11) There is a test that women can take to find out if they have a gene that make them have a much higher risk of breast cancer. The genes are BRCA1 and BRCA2. Ask your doctor about whether he suggests testing for you.

12) Have a good relationship with your doctor. Ask questions. If something doesn't seem right, don't take no for an answer until you are satisfied. If you are still not satisfied get a second opinion. Take charge of your healthcare!

13) You know your body, listen to what your body is telling you.

14) And don't neglect your health because you are afraid of what you might find out! I hear so many people say that they don't want to have a certain test run because they are afraid of the results. Are you more afraid of the diagnosis or the death that could result because you were afraid to get checked out?

It's ALWAYS light outside at 6:30 a.m.......DUH!

OK so I figured out why I am so blah today. It's that time of the month when I get in touch with my emotions. A little too in tune with them. Today is the day that I get teary when I look at babies. Nothing my husband says today will make any sense and I will be really irritated with him. This morning I was ready to rip his head off. I looked out the window and at 6:30 it was mostly light. It seems like just a week or so ago, it was still dark at 6:30. So I said, "Wow, I can't believe it's light outside and the boys are getting on the bus!"

So he says, "It's ALWAYS light out when they get on the bus!" I was this close to hitting him. OK, possibly the fact that it's getting lighter earlier has escaped me. But I know for a fact that not too long ago it was frickin dark when the boys were gettting on the bus. I remember watching down the road for headlights to know if the bus was coming. But he says it's ALWAYS light when the bus comes. Like I just am imagining that the pictures that I took on the first day of school were in the dark! And that for months they've waited for the bus in the dark! So I'm pretty sure I'm not nuts...at least about the bus. He does stuff like that all the time. I tell him something and he completely ignores me. Then later he acts like I am 100% insane when I suggest that I already told him something.

Last night was one of those nights. At the PTA meeting something was mentioned about permission slips for a trip to Exploration Place. They were supposed to be in Monday. I haven't seen any permission slips, but then Andy most days helps the boys get started with homework. Wyatt says he gave the slip to Andy. So I call home and ask him on my way home. I figure that if I don't call when I am thinking of it, I'll forget. (Because I'm nuts remember?) So he says, he has the slip. Put it on the counter. Have to send $6. So I get home and read it and though it's kind of confusing, it seems to me that the $6 is only for parents who want to go too. So I say, "Honey, the way I read this, we don't have to send a check unless we are planning on going. The kids are free I guess." Not 5 minutes later he said, "So did you write a check for the field trip?" And I'm the crazy one? And I'm thinking, "Oh I'm sorry, I don't think we've met...nice to meet you! You should meet my husband...I think you two would really hit it off!"

So back to my commune with my emotions. I logged onto a business associate's cancer website and have once again gotten myself a little emotional today. He has been diagnosed with oropharynx cancer. The tumor is on the back of his tongue basically, but is really dangerous because of the close promimity to the lymph nodes and brain. He has been at Loma Linda in California and has completed 28 radiation treatments and has now lost his taste buds and saliva glands. And at this point I'm not sure what the odds are that the cancer has been cured. They have to wait until after Easter and then have a PET scan to see if the cancer has responded to treatment. They have one child who is in her early teens.

I began thinking that even when I am having a day (like today) when I can scarcely look at anyone and think negative thoughts, I am lucky to be healthy. And lucky that my children and husband are healthy. Some families are contemplating how they might go on without a loved one in their life and I am frustrated with my husband because he is constantly exaggerating and ignoring me. It could be so much worse.

Tonight I probably still won't like him. But I'll still watch him sleep. And like him better that way. And thank God that I have him and that he loves me despite my crazy hormone overload. And in a few days it will be all better.

Now if I could just get him to stop moving my things....

Public Service Announcement

I must interrupt this blog for an important public service announcement.

Apparently there has been some confusion as to the intent and purpose of this blog.

This blog is not meant for the eyes of children or men. Period. Of any age or sexual orientation. If you can't legally drink beer or if you have a penis, you should never ever attempt to read this blog. You wouldn't understand it.

If you are a woman who has been tempted to or has shown this blog to her husband, you should know that you have aided in espionage. Your husband has used you as a pawn. You are now considered a traitor and cannot be trusted to be involved in top secret matters. You have broken the code.

Do men tell us what they talk about with their buddies? Does your husband tell you about the women that he and his buddies talk about when you are not around? Do they tell you what they talk about when they talk about their marriages and their sex and their jobs etc? Men have a code. They don't break the code of silence. They have secrets from us and that's good. If we knew what they thought all the time or what they talked about with the guys, we would be hurt.

We have a code too. When you talk about personal things with the girls, keep it with the girls. The same goes for this blog.

This blog is for women. Written by a woman, read by women about stuff that interests women. I will vent somedays. Some days I will make no sense, other days I will make perfect sense. Some days I am serious. Other days I am not. I can't control who reads this. I've invited only women friends to read this.

I work with men, live with three men and this is truly the one part of my life that is just for me. A way to catch up with women.

I can't keep men from reading this all together though it's unlikely that most would want to. If I invited you to read this, I'm glad you are. But if I wanted your husbands to read this, I would have invited them to read this. If I wanted my husband to read this, I would have posted pictures of naked women with huge boobs holding semi-automatic rifles.

If you can't uphold the code, delete this link from your computer. If the things I write about upset you, don't read my blog. This blog is not about being right, hurting anyone's feelings, or being politically correct.

If you can't relate, don't waste your time reading. But don't judge me because I talk about personal things.

People who blog about how wonderful their life, kids, job, husband and dog are EVERYDAY are lying. They are bloggin bullshit. That's not real. No one is happy everyday. No marriage is good everyday. Some days being married sucks. Some days being a mother sucks. (I can say sucks all I want on here because it's my blob...SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS) Some days marriage and parenthood are cooler than I ever thought they could be. This blog is real. It's personal. And it's mine. This blog is never going to read like those cheesey letters that people write at Christmas about how perfect their family is and how wonderful their year has been. Those are usually pretty much a crock of shit.

This blog is not about bullshitting anyone. It's about life.

And if you hang in there long enough to read another blog of mine, congratulations! That means that you are not logged in to read aboud a fairy tale. You are logged on because you care about what I have to say and you are able to read my writing with a sense of humor and are able to take it with a grain of salt.

And if I scared you off, then you weren't ready to read this blog anyway. If you're still here, then you understand.