October Is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

My Grandmother had breast cancer . She survived and lived several more years.

My Mom had a premenopausal soft mass discovered when she was in her 40's. She is now an 18 year survivor. She is my hero for all she went through, and copes with every day.

My Mother-in-law had a lump removed last year in January,(2007). My Christmas 2006 gift to her was to take her to and from surgery, be there when she needed help, and fix a huge pot of chicken noodle soup for her.

I had my first mammogram when I was 30. I was called in for a sonogram because they weren't sure about what they saw on the mammogram. The sonogram tech called in a doctor because she wasn't sure about what she saw. (During all this my 2 1/2 year old son played with cars on the floor of the exam room.)

The doctor walked me though the inner hallways of the hospital to get another mammogram, right then and there. He stuck around and read the x-rays as soon as they came out. Luckily for me, it was just dense tissue.I was still alright 5 years later when I went back for my second mammogram. When I turn 40, I get to have the girls smushed every year to be safe.

Please take care of yourself. This goes for the guys out there, as well. You may not know it, but men can get breast cancer, too. It is not as common, but it happens to you tough guys as well.

There is a wonderful site: thebreastcancersite.com, to help women who can't afford mammograms. You can click their button once a day, and at the end of the day the clicks are tallied up and the corporate sponsors of the site pay for mammograms.