Breast Cancer Awareness ~ Early Detection Helps Save Lives!

As Breast Cancer Awareness month comes to a close, I want to remind you that early detection saves lives!  Every 2 minutes, a woman in the U.S. is diagnosed with breast cancer.  Plus, 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed in their lifetime!  When you think about it, those statistics are very scary!  

I know personally just how scary breast cancer can be and how it affects your life and the lives of those closest to you.  I was diagnosed on with Stage 3 aggressive breast cancer on November 9, 2015!

 

This past year has been scary.  Full of emotions, fears, bumps, and even laughter... I know that if I had ignored what I found a year ago, that the outcome probably wouldn't be what it is now!

As a breast cancer survivor, I want to remind you how important it is to get checked! Do self exams (this is how I found mine), go to your yearly OB appointments, and get a mammogram!  Trust your gut!

I was hoping that what I found was just caused by changes due to my monthly cycle.  To be totally honest, I assumed it was nothing, but that it was best to get it checked out to confirm my assumption.  When I heard the words... "I'm sorry, you have breast cancer," I felt like I had just got kicked in the stomach!  Never in a million years would I have expected to hear those words.

Lesson learned: it's ALWAYS better to be safe than sorry!  My breast cancer was aggressive and had already spread to my lymph nodes.  If I hadn't gone in... I don't even want to think of the outcome!