Its October!!!!!

Anywhere you look there are boobs EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Myspace, facebook, twitter, telephones...everywhere....there are boobs....

And I am glad that they are making an appearance we need them to continue to make these appearances as well.

This year marks my mama's second October as a Breast Cancer Survivor and we are taking each step celebrating the victory of her survival. Every three months she goes through a series of tests and exams to ensure that the cancer has not made a reappearance...the last series of appointments we even saw an improvement in her T-Cell count(those are the white blood cells that the body uses to fight to invaders....the basis of antibodies...) that's a great improvement considering that she had the maximum amount of radiation possible for her lifetime therefore she needs as many T-cells as possible to continue to fight the possible cancer toxins as well as any other toxins that may occur.

Now that the Praise Report is out the way....time for the admonishments....

BLACK WOMEN

GET YOUR TITTIES, Breasts, fun bags, mammaries, milk jugs, tatas, and whatever else you call them checked!!!!
We are DYING at disproportionate rates! Though white women have more INCIDENCES of breast cancer, especially over the age of 45, WE are the ones dying almost TWO TO ONE!!!!
Why are we dying?

• Because mammograms hurt...well guess what? So does dying!

• Because we don't want to know if we do have it....great and you don't mind leaving your family behind either huh?

• Because you don't have a family history....well guess what?

About 70-80% of breast cancers occur in women who have no family history of breast cancer. These occur due to genetic abnormalities that happen as a result of the aging process and life in general, rather than inherited mutations. source: http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/understand_bc/statistics.jsp

so yeah...you may not have a family history but you can STILL get breast cancer!!!!

Quick story....15 years ago my mama began her crusade to encourage women to have their breasts examined so she began giving away pamphlets and paraphenalia to the women at her job...there were two women they called "the golden girls" they were older white women that decided that they would get their first mammograms because of my mama's encouragement...when they got checked out they found out that they had stage 2 and 3 breast cancer...one was out of work for a year the other for two years...but 15 years later they are both still alive and kicking...why? Cause they got mammograms!!!!
You never know whats going on inside your breasts!!!! If you feel something get it checked out!!! Do not ignore the lumps bumps and bruises!!! They are small tell tale signs that something else may be going on inside!!!

A few quick things to look out for:

Breast cancer typically produces no symptoms when
the tumor is small and most treatable. It is therefore
very important for women to follow recommended
screening guidelines for detecting breast cancer at an
early stage, before symptoms develop. When breast
cancer has grown to a size that can be felt, the most
common physical sign is a painless mass. Sometimes
breast cancer can spread to underarm lymph nodes and
cause a lump or swelling, even before the original breast
tumor is large enough to be felt. Less common signs and
symptoms include breast pain or heaviness; persistent
changes to the breast, such as swelling, thickening, or
redness of the breast’s skin; and nipple abnormalities
such as spontaneous discharge, erosion, inversion, or
tenderness.
http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@nho/documents/document/f861009final90809pdf.pdf pg 15

Please women...get checked out!!! It is time that WE as Black Women STOP dying from breast cancer!!!!!!
A few resources to get those breasts checked in the event that you don't have health insurance:

http://www.liv.com/free_mammograms.php
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/13/earlyshow/series/main577822.shtml
http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/nbccedp/
Atlanta:
http://www.gacancer.com/news/news-detailed.php?NewsID=268
Illinois:
http://cancerscreening.illinois.gov/
http://www.networkofstrength.org/illinois/programs/resources/mammogram.php
New York:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/cancer/cancerbreast.shtml
http://www.nysenate.gov/photos/2009/may/08/free-mammograms

For more info:
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/BreastCancer/index
http://ww5.komen.org/


It is time that we live and grow and thrive!!!!!

Yours in breast squeezing awareness....
Uppity!