Breast Cancer Awareness- What to Do and What Not to Do
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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and to help spread awareness, I want to share some information about this disease that takes so many lives each year.
Breast Cancer By the Numbers
About 1 in 8 U.S. women (about 12.4%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.
In 2018, an estimated 266,120 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 63,960 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.
About 2,550 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in men in 2018. A man’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000.
About 40,920 women in the U.S. are expected to die in 2018 from breast cancer, though death rates have been decreasing since 1989. Women under 50 have experienced larger decreases. These decreases are thought to be the result of treatment advances, earlier detection through screening, and increased awareness.
For women in the U.S., breast cancer death rates are higher than those for any other cancer, besides lung cancer.
As of January 2018, there are more than 3.1 million women with a history of breast cancer in the U.S. This includes women currently being treated and women who have finished treatment.
About 85% of breast cancers occur in women who have no family history of breast cancer. These occur due to genetic mutations that happen as a result of the aging process and life in general, rather than inherited mutations.
*statistics obtained from breastcancer.org
Recommended Breast Cancer Screening
The American Cancer Society recommends that women have mammogram screenings based on this schedule.
- All Women ages 40 to 44 should have the choice to start annual breast cancer screening with mammograms (x-rays of the breast) if they wish to do so.
- Women age 45 to 54 should get mammograms every year.
- Women 55 and older should switch to mammograms every 2 years, or can continue yearly screening.
Early Detection is Vital
Breast Cancer treatment has come a long way over the years. Now, if a woman is diagnosed early, it is now more common for a woman to live a long healthy life than it used to be. Getting an early diagnosis and treatment is vital to having good outcome and being a cancer survivor.
Breast Cancer – The Hard Reality
On November 10, 2017, my best friend, Marie lost her battle with Breast Cancer. At first, she was told that it was likely Stage 2 and her treatment options were laid out. After her bone scan came back the results showed that she had Stage 4 Breast Cancer. She fought her battle for almost 4 years and she fought it on her terms and in her own way.
Marie was one of the funniest, most opinionated and most caring people that I have ever known. Going through life this past year without her has been really hard and I still have times when I pick up my phone to send her a text. There are times when something will happen and I just want to tell her about it so bad.
If there is anything that this story about Marie should say it is this. Take care of yourself and take the recommended screenings. Do your self breast checks every month and go immediately to your doctor if you find something even slightly unusual. Do not rationalize or ignore any breast symptoms that you notice.
♥️I write this post in honor of my best friend. Marie is greatly missed by many people and always will be.
Side Note: Most people have pink splashed all over their Breast Cancer Awareness posts but Marie hated pink so I just can’t!
Similar Post: Life is too Short
13 Comments
cancer care Denver
The staging classification of the cancer has also to be ascertained as treatment of a cancer that has spread or is in situ can differ greatly.
Kyra Rodriguez
Awww. I cannot imagine losing my best friend. Marie sounds like an amazing and strong woman! Thank you for raising this awareness and trying to help others to do regular check ups!
Lucy At Home
Marie sounds wonderful, and I know that pang of pain when you momentarily forget and your brain falls into the old habit of thinking you’ll text/call someone… and then the reality comes crashing in. Thank you for using your blog to share this important message, though, and honouring your friend in this way. Those statistics make for startling reading.
Anyway, someone else really appreciated this post too because they chose to add it to the BlogCrush linky for you! Feel free to pop over and grab your “I’ve been featured” blog badge if you’d like it #blogcrush
Jaki
Very important post and well done for sharing and continuing to raise awareness. Thanks for joining in with #TriumphantTales.
Helen's Journey
So sorry to hear about your best friend Jen. But this post is a lovely tribute to her and spreading awareness in her name to try and help others with regular checks and early intervention.
Hugs, Helen x
http://www.helensjourney.com
Jen Cannon
Thank you!
Megan
So sorry to hear about your friend, but I bet her and other sufferers would be so happy to hear that you’re helping share their story. I didn’t realise that this month was for awareness so I’ll definitely try and get involved with that a bit more!
Megan // https://pixieskiesblog.wordpress.com/
Jen Cannon
Thank you!
Abby
I love that you didn’t add pink because Marie hated it. This is such an amazing, important post. Thank you so much for writing it. Marie sounded like an amazing woman!<3
Jen Cannon
She was funny, loud and opinionated! Everything that is wonderful and fun!
Thank you for commenting!
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Paula | The Value of a Moment
This is such an important post, Jen! I hope it gets shared far and wide! (I’ll do my part.) I am so very sorry to hear about the loss of your best friend, my condolences. I lost my Aunt to breast cancer, so heartbreaking! I hope this post will inspire someone to get screened. Well done. 💓
Jen Cannon
Thank you so much!