July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Help eliminate need for pink ribbons (10/15/07)
As I See It
By By DIANA DOLECKI-
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I encourage you to get your mammograms. I wish I could promise that the electricity won't go out while you are caught in the machine like it did to a co-worker, but I can't.
I want you to go to your doctor if you notice any changes in how your breasts feel or look. Sagging due to age and gravity doesn't count. Skin that looks like an orange peel is a cause for worry. A new tattoo is not. And if you are in the habit of waking up with unintended body art then you have more problems than a newspaper column can warn you about.
My mom said her cancer felt like there was something hard, like a marble, inside. Other cancers may feel different. Mom also said it hurt even though every piece of literature I can find says otherwise. The literature was probably written by people with no first-hand experience. Mom has been cancer-free long enough to go off the anti-estrogen drug, Tamoxifen, which is supposed to help prevent the disease from recurring. The thought of the evil condition returning haunts her and colors my decision to have my own mammograms and exams every year. I am careful not to go to the same place as my now-freed co-worker.
Pink ribbons adorn everything this time of year. They are on chocolate bars, shampoos, lotions, shorts, umbrellas, shoes, and anything else that one can imagine. There are pins, earrings and necklaces. Most of the items sporting the ribbons donate a portion of their sales to breast cancer research but not all of them do. Some just want to jump on the bandwagon and make you think you are doing something good when all you are really doing is increasing their profits.
Honestly, if wearing a ribbon would cure anything then many of us would be covered in the things. There are different colored ribbons for different diseases. Purple is for pancreatic cancer, red for AIDS, a different shade of red for blood cancer, blue for prostate cancer, yellow for liver cancer and on and on and on. We could wear a rainbow of colors and it still wouldn't protect us from every malfunction our bodies are capable of. The hard fact is that at this time nobody knows exactly what causes cancer or how to prevent it. The advice is the same as it is for all other diseases that nobody knows how to prevent - exercise, eat right, don't smoke or take recreational drugs. Oh, and go to church. A positive social network is beneficial. It helps if you have chosen parents with good genes but once you are born it is a little late to change that. Even if you do everything right, cancer can still sneak up on you.
The best we can do is to try to catch it while it is still small enough to conquer. Much progress has been made in the treatment of breast cancer. My great-great grandmother died from the disease. I do not know how it was treated or even if it was treated.
In the not-so-distant past the procedure was to lop off the offending breast and anything remotely close to it. This left women maimed and disfigured but alive. Usually.
My girlfriend had her surgery in the days when the lymph nodes were also removed. She has been cancer-free for decades now, but has recurring problems with lymphedema, or swelling and inflammation of her arm due to her impaired lymph system. I don't recall anyone warning her about this possibility. Since it is a recurring problem they also don't seem to be able to fix it once and for all.
My mother was lucky. Sentinel node biopsy was just coming into vogue when she had her surgery. They took one or two lymph nodes to make sure the cancer hadn't spread and left the rest. So far she hasn't had to deal with lymphedema or any other cancer-related problems. Personally, I am waiting for the day when all cancers can be zapped and eliminated in a doctor's office. Better yet, will be a vaccine that is more effective than the new cervical cancer vaccine. Until that day comes our best chance to beat cancer of any kind is to catch it early. So wear your ribbons, get your mammograms and make sure the machine has an emergency release switch.
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I want you to go to your doctor if you notice any changes in how your breasts feel or look. Sagging due to age and gravity doesn't count. Skin that looks like an orange peel is a cause for worry. A new tattoo is not. And if you are in the habit of waking up with unintended body art then you have more problems than a newspaper column can warn you about.
My mom said her cancer felt like there was something hard, like a marble, inside. Other cancers may feel different. Mom also said it hurt even though every piece of literature I can find says otherwise. The literature was probably written by people with no first-hand experience. Mom has been cancer-free long enough to go off the anti-estrogen drug, Tamoxifen, which is supposed to help prevent the disease from recurring. The thought of the evil condition returning haunts her and colors my decision to have my own mammograms and exams every year. I am careful not to go to the same place as my now-freed co-worker.
Pink ribbons adorn everything this time of year. They are on chocolate bars, shampoos, lotions, shorts, umbrellas, shoes, and anything else that one can imagine. There are pins, earrings and necklaces. Most of the items sporting the ribbons donate a portion of their sales to breast cancer research but not all of them do. Some just want to jump on the bandwagon and make you think you are doing something good when all you are really doing is increasing their profits.
Honestly, if wearing a ribbon would cure anything then many of us would be covered in the things. There are different colored ribbons for different diseases. Purple is for pancreatic cancer, red for AIDS, a different shade of red for blood cancer, blue for prostate cancer, yellow for liver cancer and on and on and on. We could wear a rainbow of colors and it still wouldn't protect us from every malfunction our bodies are capable of. The hard fact is that at this time nobody knows exactly what causes cancer or how to prevent it. The advice is the same as it is for all other diseases that nobody knows how to prevent - exercise, eat right, don't smoke or take recreational drugs. Oh, and go to church. A positive social network is beneficial. It helps if you have chosen parents with good genes but once you are born it is a little late to change that. Even if you do everything right, cancer can still sneak up on you.
The best we can do is to try to catch it while it is still small enough to conquer. Much progress has been made in the treatment of breast cancer. My great-great grandmother died from the disease. I do not know how it was treated or even if it was treated.
In the not-so-distant past the procedure was to lop off the offending breast and anything remotely close to it. This left women maimed and disfigured but alive. Usually.
My girlfriend had her surgery in the days when the lymph nodes were also removed. She has been cancer-free for decades now, but has recurring problems with lymphedema, or swelling and inflammation of her arm due to her impaired lymph system. I don't recall anyone warning her about this possibility. Since it is a recurring problem they also don't seem to be able to fix it once and for all.
My mother was lucky. Sentinel node biopsy was just coming into vogue when she had her surgery. They took one or two lymph nodes to make sure the cancer hadn't spread and left the rest. So far she hasn't had to deal with lymphedema or any other cancer-related problems. Personally, I am waiting for the day when all cancers can be zapped and eliminated in a doctor's office. Better yet, will be a vaccine that is more effective than the new cervical cancer vaccine. Until that day comes our best chance to beat cancer of any kind is to catch it early. So wear your ribbons, get your mammograms and make sure the machine has an emergency release switch.
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