43,000 women will die this year...

by Shakita 10 Replies latest jw friends

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  Shakita

  43,000 women will die this year from breast cancer.

  This killer is a personal one for me. I lost my mother last year to this horrible disease. She battled this cancer for a long time and endured much pain since her diagnosis. Twenty years ago, she found a lump in her breast and waited. I am not sure what she was waiting for. Maybe for it to go away. I don't know. After a few months, she finally got the courage to see a doctor. She had a mastectomy and chemo. The rest of the story is a long one. A long battle with a cancer that would not go away. It finally ended up in her bones. Bone cancer is very painful. In the end, it was this cancer that finally ended up killing her. Twenty years. I guess that was a gift compared to my husband's mother. She was diagnosed with breast cancer one month after my mother. She also found a lump in her breast herself. Difference was, she immediately went to the doctor. She also had a mastectomy. But the doctor recommended no chemo in her case, since it had not spread. My wonderful mother-in-law's fight with breast cancer was not as long. Her cancer spread to her lungs. She died five years after diagnosis. Breast cancer has robbed our family of the love of two wonderful and caring people.

  I have had mammograms myself since age 35. I encourage all women to get an annual mammogram. In my case, they suggested a baseline at age 35, every two years after till age 40, then every year after. Every women should consult with their own doctor to see what the recommendations are in their case. Remember, 75% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of the disease.

  There is a site called THEBREASTCANCERSITE.COM where you can "click on" to help give free mammograms to those who cannot afford one themselves. Also, women can check out their own cities and find where they can get free mammograms. Please do this for not only yourself, but for the ones you love.

  Take Care. Mrs. Shakita
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  Princess

  Great reminders Mrs Shakita. I'm so sorry you lost two great women to this horrible disease.

  We lost my mom's cousin last year to breast cancer. At Wasasister's suggestion we participated in The Race For the Cure (Susan Komen). Seeing all those women in survivor pink shirts is inspirational. We spent the whole morning choked up with emotion. We decided to make it a regular thing and I also ran in the Walk 4 Hope last weekend. Anything to help support the cause.

  Thanks for sharing. We can never hear the reminders for self breast exams and mammograms enough.

  Rachel
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  jack2

  Shakita, thank you for posting this, and I am very sorry about the losses that your family has had to endure due to breast cancer.

  This is month is the official month for breast cancer awareness, and this week's issue of Newseek carries an article on page 10 with some updates on current reasearch into effective prevention and treatments.
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  Shakita

  Princess:

  I, too, would like to participate in "Race for the Cure". I will look into it in my own area.

  jack2:

  Thanks for your reply, also. We cannot bring back those we have lost, but we can try to do our part in informing others of the need for preventative measures that can be taken to catch this disease early.

  Mrs. Shakita
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  Princess

  here is the link for the Race for the Cure, it's an awesome experience, let us know how it goes.

  www.komen.com

  I stumbled across this small race in Seattle, also a great breast cancer money raiser.

  www.walk4hope.org

  Rachel
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  jozb5

  A really sweet nice gentle wonderful woman who I am so proud to call my friend just lost her battle with breast cancer. I miss her and I'm glad I got to know her and will always treasure my momories of her.

  Josie
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  Shakita

  Rachel:

  Thanks for the link. I found out the next race in my state is on October 20, 2002. I have two jobs scheduled for that day, but will find out the time the run starts and take it from there. Thanks again.

  Mrs. Shakita
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  Shakita

  Josie:

  I am so sorry. It seems that everyone knows someone who has had breast cancer. Some are able to beat this cancer. Others are like our loved ones. They will be missed terribly. I try to hold on to all the good memories and pray(which is very difficult for me lately)that they will find a cure soon. You will be in my thoughts. Take care.

  Mrs. Shakita
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  Marilyn

  I come to this thread rather late as I've spent the last few days reading about breast cancer on the internet - it's where I am when I'm not here. My mother is now stage 4 and her sister died of bilateral bc. One thing I would encourage women to do is learn more about the disease because when you get it (1 in 8 women in America will get breast cancer in their life time) you realise there is such a lot to know. You should never trust your doctors 100%. They make lots of mistakes with breast cancer. In my mothers case her surgeon didn't get all the cancer when he performed a lumpectomy. Nor did he tell her he should go back and get clean margins or do a mastectomy. My mother is aged 77 and was diagnosed 10 yrs ago. She has been lucky that her cancer initially responded well to hormone blockers. But now she has it in her bones and she is very ill. I recently found out that about 30% of breast cancers over express a protein called HER2. So a few weeks ago I insisted my mother be tested for this. Mum was HER2+ and is now receiving a very expensive antibody (herceptin) in the form of a weekly infusion which has a good chance of buying her some more time. Also the bisphosphonates drugs are a new treatment for bone cancer which strengthen the bones and make it more difficult for the cancer to spread thru them. There are many new treatments for breast cancer, but sadly the death rate hasn't dropped much in 50 yrs.

  I could go on all day on this subject. to you Mrs Shakita, learn all you can - because I don't believe they have found all the familial genes responsible for bc yet. Try: www.bcans.ca/ this is where I learnt about bc - certainly enough to keep my mother alive when her doctors didn't appear competent enough to do it.

  Marilyn
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  Prisca

  I lost my mother to breast cancer 21 years ago. She discovered a lump and told the dr about it, but she told my mum not to worry about it. The lump was still there a year later, and my mother had to have a mastectomy.

  A few years later she was diagnosed with lung cancer, and died within 5 years of that diagnosis.

  (((((Hugs))))) to all who have lost mothers, sisters, daughters and friends to breast cancer.