My sister and I don’t speak on the phone much. It’s not due to any particular reason – just our circumstances over the years. She lived in Las Vegas for a few years in the late 1990s/early 2000s and the time difference was most definitely a factor way back then. Unfortunately, we just got used to not chatting. She currently works nights as a respiratory therapist too and our schedules don’t mesh. And since I have completely been sucked into the world of texting and social media, our typical chats nowadays are texts and Facebook banter. So when I saw her phone number on an incoming call into my landline one day last spring, I knew it couldn’t be good news. Stage 1 breast cancer.
I have a first cousin who is 11 years younger than me. About 6 years ago, coincidentally we were both having breast biopsies around the same time. Mine was the result of something found during my yearly routine mammogram and breast ultrasound. My cousin, well under 40 years old at the time, had felt a lump during a self-exam. The results of my biopsy were normal. The results of her biopsy were not. Stage 3 breast cancer.
My maternal grandmother passed away in 2005 from breast cancer. She was 84, so “they” say it doesn’t “count” as “real cancer” since she was elderly. Oh, and my mother’s first cousin (on that same maternal side) too. That’s quite the family history, which doesn’t even count one cousin through marriage.
Double mastectomies, reconstructive surgeries, chemotherapy, and/or radiation, etc….and thankfully, with the exception of my grandmother, the four incredible and outstanding ladies I reference above are SURVIVORS.
Breast Cancer by the Numbers
Unfortunately, it seems hard pressed to find anyone who hasn’t been touched by breast cancer. The statistics are somewhat staggering:
- Nearly 250,000 women and men will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.
- Breast cancer is the second most common kind of cancer in women.
- About 1 in 8 women born today in the United States will get breast cancer at some point.
- About 40,000 women in the U.S. are expected to die in 2018 from breast cancer.
- About 2,550 new cases of breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in men in 2018. A man’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000.
- As of January 2018, there are more than 3.1 million women with a history of breast cancer in the U.S. This includes women currently being treated and women who have finished treatment.
- For women under 45 years of age, breast cancer is more common in African-American women than white women. Overall, African-American women are more likely to die of breast cancer.
- Around 5-10% of breast cancers are linked to inherited gene mutations. BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are the most common. Women with a BRCA1 have a 55-65% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer and women with BRCA2 have a 45% risk.
Make Good Choices!
We all know this line – we use it on our kids all the time, right? In this case, it’s quite applicable to us women! While it is common knowledge that some of the factors associated with developing breast cancer cannot be changed – being a woman, aging, and genetics – there are some steps we can take to lower the risk.
Overall, breast cancer can’t be prevented, but here are a few things to consider:
- Avoid smoking cigarettes
- Limit drinking alcohol
- Exercise and keeping active
- Eat healthy
- Maintain a healthy weight
There are definitely important steps to early detection:
- Recognize potential symptoms
- Perform self breast-exams
- Clinical Breast Exams by a health care professional
- Mammograms and/or Ultrasounds
Miles of Hope
Miles of Hope is a wonderful resource right here in the Hudson Valley. This is a non profit organization that my aunt and uncle became involved in a number of years ago and I thought this was a perfect opportunity to reference the good work they are doing.
The organization was founded in 2004 by two women, Dana Effron and Cathy Varunok, who saw a need for increased services for those suffering from breast cancer right here in the Hudson Valley. The mission of the foundation is to fund support services for those affected by breast cancer within the nine counties of the Hudson Valley, New York (Columbia, Dutchess, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Ulster, Greene, and Sullivan).
All funds raised are used to support programs in the Hudson Valley, such as:
- Financial Assistance: “The Medical Gap Care Fund” was established to help those that are in treatment for breast cancer with a financial emergency not covered by insurance.
- Peer-To-Peer Counseling: “The Miles of Hope Peer-to-Peer Program” allows breast cancer patients to connect with trained cancer survivors. Anyone with breast cancer can participate in these programs, but it deemed especially pertinent for those newly diagnosed with breast cancer.
- College Scholarship Fund: This assists graduating high school students within the nine counties mentioned above whose lives have been affected by breast cancer.
- Complementary Medicine Programs; Support Group and Wellness Programs: These include yoga, acupuncture, camp for children affected by breast cancer and educational programs.
According to the data on their website, to date Miles of Hope has given away $2,000,000 to people of the Hudson Valley affected by breast cancer. To learn more about Miles of Hope and how they help families affected by breast cancer, as well as how you can help them, please visit http://milesofhope.org/
Revisiting My Family History
I’ve done some reading to get up to speed on the relationship between family history and breast cancer. Those who have a family history of breast cancer are in a higher risk group, but most women who have breast cancer have no family history. While only about 10% of individuals diagnosed with breast cancer have a family history of the disease there are different degrees to consider.
A mother, daughter, or sister are considered first degree relatives. If you have a first degree relative who developed breast cancer below the age of 50, it is recommended that you consider some form of regular diagnostic breast imaging starting 10 years before the age of your relative’s diagnosis. Raises hand.
If you have had a grandmother or aunt (second degree relative) who was diagnosed with breast cancer, your risk increases slightly, but it is not in the same risk category as those who have a first degree relative with breast cancer. Raises hand.
Yet, if you have multiple generations diagnosed with breast cancer on the same side of the family, or if there are several individuals who are first degree relatives to one another, or several family members diagnosed under age 50, the probability increases that there is a breast cancer gene contributing to the cause of this familial history. Raises hand.
That’s certainly a lot of information for me to digest! Yet, there are tools available and things I can do. The alternative is completely non-negotiable.
There is some good news in that death rates have been decreasing since the late 1980s. Much of this can be associated with advances in treatments, earlier detection, and increased awareness. So we have to keep fighting the good fight, my ladies. Heed any warning signs, speak up, keep those doctor appointments – and continue to take care of you.
Dedicated to my baby sis Julie, cousins Shari, Leslie, Janet and my beautiful late Grandma Florence.
But also…it’s all for this girl….
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Resources referenced:
National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. – https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/
American Cancer Society – https://www.cancer.org/
National Cancer Institute – http://www.cancer.gov
Breastcancer.org – https://www.breastcancer.org/
