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Share your successes and stories about breast cancer.
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Susan,
Thanks for your post! That is true that the fear of the unknown is (sometimes) worse than the disease itself.
How are you doing now? We would love to hear your story on a SHARE (go to https://www.empowher.com and click on "SHARE")
June 12, 2008 - 6:23pmThis Comment
I hate going to the dentist, the mammo and the pap smear. In fact, I can be really good at stretching that 1 year into a year and a half due to my busy schedule or some other good excuse I can come up with. I think it is mostly due to the fear of the unknown. Getting the tests done makes us think about the possibilities that something bad could happen to us and that makes us uncomfortable.
I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 37. I have a family history and that is why I went in for my mammogram before age 40. Finding out I had an irregular mammogram scared the pants off me but it also probably saved my life. The mammogram caught my cancer very, very early. If I had waited a few more years to get my mammogram, that may not have been the case.
I thought getting cancer was the scariest thing that could ever happen to me. Now, 2 years later after having faced breast cancer and survived, I realize the fear was probably worse than the real thing. Maybe the worst thing that could have happened to me was not taking advantage of tests we have available because of fear.
Susan
June 12, 2008 - 5:45pmThis Comment
My daughter had a fibrous cyst removed from her breast, when she was only 17! We don't have a history of breast cancer on either side of the family, so it came as a surprise to us that our daughter had such a health issue. However, we do have a history of lymphoma on both sides, and my daughter's oncologist checks up on her every year.
How she found the lump was by self-examination, and I'm so grateful that she had learned this in her health science class in school, as well as from her Gynecologist. Had she not detected it, who knows what would have happened to our beautiful girl!
February 15, 2008 - 4:14pmThis Comment
Two days ago I went out to Mayo for my annual Mammogram. What I discovered was that I had missed last years test.
I must have been so busy getting the site ready, that I completely forgot about it.
Not a very good patient advocate, am I? "Not So Much" as I say! Advocate for everyone else, but NOT SO MUCH FOR OURSELVES.
Anyway, I was scared out of my mind that they were going to find something wrong with me because I'd waited too long in between mammograms. I'm telling you, the fear factor is enough to make you crazy. Then the sitting there, waiting..waiting.. for them to tell you it's OK for you to get dressed now...really sent me over the edge.
What I realized is that I've been scared into believing that I'm going to develop breast cancer. Is that a good thing? I hadn't realized how heavily it weighs on my mind, until I found out I'd missed my annual test.
What can we do to take some of the fear away? Do we quit reading all the negative stories? Do we stop watching rising statistics? Do we stop looking at anything that's pink?
Can anyone give me some ideas or suggestions on how they handle this?
I can't be the only one who feels this way. And I have to say that I am not easily scared. But,this truly frightens me. I can't begin to imagine what happens to a woman when she's told that she needs to have more tests.
Michelle
February 8, 2008 - 10:19pmThis Comment
Mammograms and breast exams aren’t enough, especially for women under 50! Mammograms and breast exams don’t work that well in women under 50 because younger breasts are too dense. Mammograms have saved a lot of lives, but did you know that by the time a lump is visible on a mammogram it’s been growing inside you undetected for about 8 years? And by the time you feel a lump it’s been growing about 10 years? My doctor offers a new test that checks for precancerous cells years before anything would be seen on a mammogram. The idea is to identify the problem before it’s cancer so you have a shot at preventing it. It’s called the HALO test. Some women say they wouldn’t want to know but I believe knowledge is power, and we make the best decisions when we’re informed.
September 23, 2008 - 11:42amThis Comment
I'm with you, Michelle! I get especially paranoid about breast cancer every year during breast cancer awareness month, when you're just bombarded with breast cancer messages and it seems as if it's inevitable.
I don't know what to do about the fear. I tend to try to block things out completely, I guess as a survival mechanism, and at times think that if I avoid going to get a mammogram then I'll be fine. No result is a good result, right? Uh..., as Michelle says, not so much.
I guess you just have to take a deep breath, appreciate the fact that breast cancer awareness is being spread, get that annual mammogram, pap smear, your teeth cleanings, etc., and simply live your life. A long, healthy one.
Kristin Park
February 23, 2008 - 3:50pmhttp://ppdsurvivor.blogspot.com
This Comment
I've realized as I become older, I have also started feeling more vulnerable to diseases that I do not have a family history with (for instance: after the birth of my son, I developed DeQuervain’s Syndrome (a.k.a. “mother’s wrist”), and after my weekly physical therapy makes my wrist sore, I wonder if I will develop a more chronic and debilitating tendonitis or arthritis that will make it impossible to hold my son?! I have no family history of either.
What an awful thought! Then...I realize I have to stop with this line of thinking. I have an aunt, just 65, who thinks she has every disease and condition known-to-humankind. I don't want to be like that. I don't want to live a life, wondering when it's going to end or when I'll be suffering.
** Don't Believe Everything You Think **
Our brains like to run through "worst-case scenarios", probably as a survival mechanism from the woolly mammoth era. Now, it's not so helpful, and THINKING about stress can actually CAUSE more physiological stress.
So...we have control over our thoughts. We don't have to BELIEVE everything that our not-always-helpful brains are thinking at every minute.
Resources such as Jon Kabat-Zinn (author) or practices such as guided imagery, visualization and mindfulness meditation provide helpful tips on letting go of harmful thoughts. When an unpleasant thought enters your mind, acknowledge it, and put it on a cloud to be taken away out of your head. Sometimes you need to imagine a very breezy day to carry out numerous unpleasant and unhelpful thoughts!
February 23, 2008 - 3:01pmThis Comment