I'm refering to a mammogram!!
I attended the 17th Annual Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation's Awareness Luncheon.
I sat at a table with 9 other wonderful Abbotsford Ladies and enjoyed a delicious meal. Others in attendance included Priemier Gordon Campbell, Pamela Martin and Dr. Rhonda Low, just to name a few.
The main theme I left with was that we are all responsible for breast cancer awareness. We live in the best place in the world for beating breast cancer, but even then not even 30% of BC women are getting a FREE annual screening mammogram!
The first mammogram you get, which should be at 40, is the one they will compare all future mammograms too.(this is called a base line mammogram) If all women would get a mammogram every year from the age of 40 on, we would see a drastic reduction in breast cancer deaths. We could realistically see a survival rate of 95%+ for 20 years+ if this were to happen.
So I challenge you! If you are 40+ and haven't had a baseline mammogram, get off your ass (while you still have one) and go get one!!
If you have been smart and had your baseline AND continue to go EVERY year, then encourage other women you know to do the same. WE might not have a cure for breast cancer, but we know that if we catch it early, there is a slim chance we will lose our life to this disease! Please take this life saving tool, that we are so priviladged to have (mammography) and USE IT!! There are many women all over the world dying of breast cancer right now wishing they had the resources for early detection that you have. They are mothers,wives, sisters, daughters, grandmothers, aunts and friends...if you can't motivate yourself to suck it up and do it for yourself and your family...then do it for them!!! I'm very passionate about this and possibly even more fired up than I was before.
If you respect me and my life...If you respect you and your life...be smart and get a mammogram! Don't be stupid and ignore what has been made obviously undeniable through this email. I'm not calling you stupid, but every once in awhile we need to humble ourselves admit we were wrong and do better because we know better! And every once in awhile shame is a nasty motivator. It's never to late to make a good choice!!
Share your knowledge and inform women you care about and love. WE can save lives with early detection and I remain living proof of that!!
For young women who have dense breasts and mammography isn't as effective, we are in luck that digital mammography is making a huge difference in early detection of breast cancer in young women and Breast MRI is becoming more available.
We may not be able to cure breast cancer in the next 10 years, but there's no reason why my girls should grow up in a world where breast cancer is so feared and seen as a killer. We look forward to a future when breast cancer is seen as a treatable disease, because when caught early enough it is not life threatening.
Working towards creating a future, without the fear.
Please take your life into your own hands...
Thanking God that I'm still here to bitch at you:)
Feather Janz
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1 comment:
I was surprised when last year at 40, people were SO suprised I had a mammogram. Even the people at the mammogram center asked if I had a sister or mother who had ever had cancer. When I said "no", they asked "Then what to hell are you doing here, you're only 40?".
They even said that they wouldn't get good pictures, because young breasts are too 'dense'. I had the mammogram anyway, because I figured it would be a good baseline one to compare to if I ever have a problem in the future. Good thing I didn't listen to them and just leave right then!
I think people have heard scary stories of how painful mammograms are, but, truthfully, I didn't find it painful at all. Of course, I breastfed for 5 years - so I know swollen breasts and pain! I think MANY people - including health care professionals, are under the impression that you don't need a mammogram as young as 40, unless you have a family history of cancer.
Keep up the great work of getting the word out Feather! You're going to save women's lives by making them think about their breast health!
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