Breast Self-Awareness

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and recently, I was given the opportunity to speak to a group of women about breast self-awareness and breast cancer. Among these women were breast cancer survivors, those who have gotten their mammograms consistently year after year, and those who had not yet received one.

I was really touched by the testimonies of the five survivors who spoke. They told us about their experiences and how they walked through the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. If you have never had the doctor to call and tell you that a suspicious spot was seen on your mammogram films consider yourself blessed. It is a very scary experience to be told by a physician-in so many words- that you may be facing death or could potentially lose a part of your body.

The survivors began to explain how they received the news and the things they had to walk through such as the surgical biopsies, lumpectomies, mastectomies, chemotherapy, and reconstructive surgeries. One woman in particular talked about how the medical community treated her and I am sad to say that it was not favorable. She was already afraid and was looking to the medical community to reassure her, but instead she encountered apathy and complacency. As a medical professional my heart went out to her as she described her experience.

“I was really touched by the testimonies of the five survivors who spoke”

When these types of diagnoses are received it affects family, friends, and the community as a whole. There is good news! By the grace of Almighty God these women survived. They survived, because they were breast self-aware. They knew that something was wrong whether through a visual inspection, a pain that would not go away, or the detection of a lump.

Although October is the month that we highlight Breast Self-Awareness and Breast Cancer, let me encourage you to be self-aware every day. Be sure to get your mammogram this year, if you have not already done so. If you have recently received a diagnosis and have found yourself-like these ladies- walking through the fires of a cancer, I want you to know that the Grace of God is sufficient for you. He will see you through this trying time and bring you out on the other side.