We agonize over cancer...

Today I was surfing through some quotes about cancer, and I read this one:

"Women agonize... over cancer; we take as a personal threat the lump in every friend's breast." ~Martha Weinman Lear, Heartsounds

It's true! As soon as I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I felt like I needed to make sure my sister, my mom, and my friends were all ok. My mom and sister both had testing done. Everything was a-ok. Then, my friend, Leslie, had a needle biopsy done to check on a lump. Everything was a-ok. Phew! Then, my friend, LoriAnne, got a "call-back" letter after she had a mammogram. The wait for an appointment was agonizing. I didn't want to let her know how worried I was, so I tried to be upbeat and tell her not to worry until she absolutely had to. (That was stupid advice, I admit). But, everything turned out a-ok. Double phew!

Every time someone I know goes in for a mammogram, I seem to hold my breath until the results come back. Is this what having breast cancer has done to me? Made me a nervous wreck? Yeah, probably. It's ok, though. I'd rather be hyper-aware, than unaware. I hope that what happened to me helps my friends and family be hyper-aware too. Being proactive is what saved my life. Know your body. Be aware of changes and then have those changes checked out. Breast cancer is getting to be too normal. Today, when I was at the hospital having blood drawn, I counted no less than 4 other women without hair! I only saw a total of about 20 people, so 5 out of 20 was incredible! They all looked like me - with their hair just starting to grow back. I hope they are all on the road to recovery.

Here's an idea that I've found on several other cancer blogs: do a self-exam on the 15th of every month. I'll try to remind you, ok? If you don't know how to do an exam, go to my sidebar on this blog and find the picture of the self exam and click on it. That will take you to a page that explains how to do the exam. Do it - it could save your life!